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Table of Contents
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Introduction
Objectives of this Resource Guide
Background
Organization of this Guide
Letter from Bob Chase, President, National Education Association
Section I - Stress 101: A Primer on Stress for School Employees
Why Should We Concern Ourselves about Employee Stress in Schools?
What is Stress?
What are the Symptoms of Stress?
Section II - Violence and Schools: Separating Myth from Fact
Statistics on School Violence
Violence Against Teachers: Are Schools Safe Places to Work?
Statistics on Violence Directed at Teachers
School Practices/Policies Related to Safety
Section III - Reducing Violence-Related Stress in Schools
Violence-Related Stress for School Staff: 4 Most Critical Stressors
What Can School Employees Do as Individuals to Reduce Stress?
Stress Busters
What Can School Systems Do to Reduce Stress?
Stressor 1: Feeling isolated and/or powerless.
- Build/sustain peer connections by providing intern programs, providing mentoring programs; designating teacher leaders; and organizing teaching teams.
- Involve teachers in decision-making.
- Provide recognition.
- Provide performance incentives that increase cooperation rather than foster competition.
- Build/support effective community involvement in schools.
Stressor 2: Lack of training and/or skills needed to identify and address students' behavior that is potentially problematic.
- Build and maintain partnerships between schools and post-secondary schools of education and other post-secondary education institutions for pre-service and in-service training.
- Provide experiential learning and classroom simulation in pre-service and in-service training.
- Recognize and utilize existing expertise among school staff for in-service training and workshops.
- Develop and maintain school/community partnerships for access to community-based training and consultation resources.
Stressor 3: Lack of clear expectations and lack of classroom and school-wide management to meet those expectations.
- Develop clear, concrete, school-wide (i.e., for all classrooms and for all non-classroom school settings) expectations for student behavior.
- Effectively communicate expectations regarding discipline and student behavior to everyone in the school community.
- School leaders and administration must support school staff whenever they take action that is within school guidelines and/or policy to respond to student behavior or discipline problems.
- Identify/research best practices for your (i.e., the teacher's or the school's) particular needs.
Stressor 4: Fear of verbal, emotional or physical intimidation.
- Training/participation in violence prevention programs.
- Provide a realistic assessment of risk and facilitate adequate, accurate communication among school personnel, parents and others.
- Maintain school safety and crisis response plans and procedures.
- Create/maintain partnerships with law enforcement, mental health and other community-based agencies and personnel.
Section IV - Recommended Resources
School Violence Prevention Resources
Resources for Developing School Policies
Resources for Building Parental Involvement and Community Partnerships
Classroom Management/Student Discipline Resources
Resources for Mental Health Following a Crisis
School Violence and School Mental Health Information/Technical Assistance Centers
Relevant Resources from the NEA Professional Library
References
Project Advisory Group
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