鈥淎ny other educators out there feel like failures? I hate it because I KNOW I鈥檓 a great teacher. I鈥檓 perpetually behind in what feels like EVERYTHING. I鈥檓 basically in survival mode as I prioritize tasks daily. It鈥檚 only November. I. Can鈥檛. Do. This.鈥�
鈥攆rom special education teacher Wade Buckman鈥攂lazed across social media, striking a deep chord with Buckman鈥檚 teaching peers who shared their own feelings of distress and flagging spirits.
As we kick off the second half of the hardest school year in modern history, teachers are battling low morale and exhaustion as the prospect of any widespread return to normal schooling looks unlikely until the fall of 2021. At the same time, students鈥攅specially those in remote learning鈥攁re dealing with sluggish levels of motivation.
This is not just anecdotal. The Education Week Research Center conducted nationally representative surveys in November of teachers鈥攁s well as students in middle school and high school鈥攖o capture the mindsets of both groups.
Nearly 75 percent of teachers told us their morale is lower than it was before the pandemic. And roughly the same share of teachers said their students鈥� morale is either much lower or somewhat lower than before the pandemic. That鈥檚 a tough environment to feel successful in.
More than half of students who are in full-time remote learning said they have lost motivation to do their best in school. And among those who get to attend school in person at least part-time on a hybrid schedule, more than half said they are also less motivated to do their best in school.
School and district leaders have an imperative to confront these challenges of morale, motivation, and engagement urgently, but they must also do so thoughtfully. Concerns that significant numbers of students are disengaging from school completely or losing major academic ground can鈥檛 be addressed without tending to teachers鈥� feelings about their effectiveness and getting more students to consistently engage in their learning.
The news is not all grim. Overall, students in our survey express more hopefulness and resilience than their teachers鈥攁 heartening takeaway for the grown-ups who are worried and stressed about the pandemic鈥檚 long-term negative effects on kids. And we do know there is a small, but meaningful, subset of students who are thriving as full-time remote learners鈥攁 phenomenon that can鈥檛 be ignored when things do return to normal.
