91福利 study cited in NEA Today article on compassion fatigue among teachers
A study conducted by University of Maine alumna Sherry Pineau Brown and associate professor of educational leadership Catharine Biddle was cited in a recent article published in . The article explores the concept of 鈥渃ompassion fatigue鈥 among educators, a term that describes how people who work in so-called helping professions like teaching internalize or absorb the trauma of the people they work with, such as students, to the point of emotional and physical exhaustion. Brown and Biddle surveyed Maine teachers in an effort to identify some personal and professional factors that help mitigate compassion fatigue, as well as burnout, among educators. The results of the study, which was part of Brown鈥檚 dissertation research, suggested that resilience, compassion satisfaction (the satisfaction derived from being a successful teacher) and working in a positive school climate were all factors that could help. , now a lecturer in education and coordinator of teacher education at Colby College, told NEA Today: 鈥淭he聽heart of healthy communities are healthy schools, right? And we need healthy adults working within those schools to help our kids because we know聽they’re聽not healthy.鈥 She also urged schools to amplify teacher voice and not resort to 鈥渢oxic positivity鈥 and 鈥渃utesy wellness.鈥