Student mental health and well-being is a growing area of concern for educators and families alike. But students aren’t the only ones who are struggling. As stress levels rise in schools, the adults in our buildings — specifically, those on the front lines — want (and need) well-being support.

Just how hard do teachers and staff have it at work these days?

In a recent Education Week report, editor Madeline Will cited a Rand Corp. study, which suggests that teachers are nearly twice as likely to suffer from job-related stresses compared with other industries and 10 percentage points more likely to experience burnout, pointing out that frequent and long-term stress is a contributing factor to common mental-health problems, including anxiety and depression.

Truth is, it’s easy to pay lip-service to supporting the adults in our buildings. Every administration talks about actively listening to its teachers and staff. But the reality is that few schools offer bonafide programs in response to what the professionals in the trenches with students are actually telling them.

In a recent poll just two percent of responding educators said their schools offered comprehensive support for adult mental health and wellness.

Educator, author and entrepreneur Carla Tantillo Philibert is the founder of Class Catalyst and Mindful Practices and a sought-after speaker on the topic of student and adult well-being.

In recent years, Tantillo Philibert has crisscrossed the country talking with school leaders and developing plans that would empower teachers and staff to self-advocate for their own personal and professional needs in the workplace.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time folks I talk to are so well intentioned,” says Tantillo Philibert. “They care about their staff, they care about their district, they care about their teams.”

So, why aren’t people satisfied working in their districts?

“We’ve got to start by looking at numbers, looking at data, then being strategic,” says Tantillo Philibert.

Her solution: stop looking at adult well-being as a perk — mani-pedi and pizza Fridays are great and all — and start seeing it for what it is: an intentional process, one that requires a true commitment from the leaders in your building and a change in culture.

As part of that process, Tantillo Philibert offers up a five-part framework that schools can use to organize around adult well-being. That work begins with finding your “starting point,” she says. “And it’s different for everyone.”

5-part framework for adult well-being in K-12 schools

#1 Find your own starting point

• Learn to understand & evaluate your approach to work
• Confront big feelings like guilt & anxiety in the workplace
• Develop a process for self-compassion & care,

#2 Differentiate your approach

• Turn your focus toward students & their needs
• Identify & allocate resources for self- and student-care
• Communicate your needs (& needs of students) with administrators

#3 Get immersed the ‘practice of well-being’

• Develop clear personal & professional goals
• Adopt a process for personal & professional fulfillment
• Balance personal needs with the needs of the school community

#4 Work in the right system

• Evaluate your needs in the context of your school environment
• Develop a ‘personal system’ to succeed in your environment
• Adopt ‘practical well-being templates’ to be both efficient & effective

#5 Learn to embrace & actively practice ‘self care’

• Review & implement practical adult-well-being strategies
• Develop a working plan to support personal & professional growth
• Develop self-efficacy & support yourself with actionable goals

Source: A five-part framework for supporting adult well-being in schools, RocketPD 2024.