I used to think that teaching for 10 years was a long time. Then I passed the 15-year mark, then 20, and I am now embarking on my 25th year in chinuch. In other words, a quarter of a century of my life has been dedicated to teaching Hashem’s children. It is a milestone and achievement I am proud of. But when I began asking the morahs around me how long they were in chinuch for, I felt like a baby! One woman answered 30, another 40, and yet another morah told me she had been in teaching for nearly 50 years. Wow! Fifty years teaching Hashem’s words, 50 years handing down mesora, 50 years molding neshamos, 50 years of mesiras hanefesh for the klal. What an unbelievable zechus!
In last year’s back-to-school
article, I focused on child development and preparing students and their
parents for the school experience. This year, in recognition of a milestone in
my teaching career, I would like to pay homage to those in the trenches, who
give of themselves to our most precious commodity, our children.
Teaching is not an easy pursuit –
especially if one views it as a “job.” But if one takes the perspective that
this is avodas hakodesh (holy work), it becomes an honor to
uphold. Chinuch is a calling. Some of us feel that push as soon as we
enter the work force. Some discover it by accident or finally embrace it well
into their working life. And some discover that they shouldn’t be in this line
of work at all. Some people, coming from a long line of mechanchim, have
chinuch in their blood. Other are the “Nachshon,” the first in their
family to become a teacher.
I credit my passion for chinuch
to my family history. One of my great grandfathers was a rav in several
villages in Hungary, served as av beis din, and published many sefarim.
Another great grandfather was a melamed, and his daughter, my namesake, grew
up in that environment of Torah, continuing that mesora to her own
children. Whatever the history or reason for going into chinuch, being a
rebbe or morah is an endeavor that must be recognized for the great avoda
that it is. It is an avoda that lives up to its name; it is hard work! ?
(In fact, one young adult questioned why anyone would go into this field as she
sees how hard her mother works.) It is a tremendous achrayus (responsibility)
yet also brings great merit.
My Unscientific Study
When I learned of people teaching
for many years, I wondered what keeps them there for so long. It certainly
isn’t the paycheck; teaching is certainly not an easy way to earn a buck. So, what
is it that keeps people in a career that is notorious for a high burn-out rate?
According to one statistic, 52 % of teachers feel burned out constantly.
Twenty-eight percent of teachers deal with serious mental health issues in
their students, and 58% of teachers struggle daily with behavioral challenges. These
numbers are certainly not encouraging for a field that keeps losing talented
people, causing somewhat of a chinuch crisis. Therefore, in a nod to my
milestone and my peers, and to inspire a new wave of dedicated mechanchim,
I decided to give a glimpse into what makes teaching so great and how to stay!
In researching the topic of what I
call “teacher resilience,” I was surprised to discover many general articles on
teacher support, burnout, and resilience, especially in regard to Covid, but very
little on the topic in our frum world. Resilience as defined by the
American Psychological Association is “the process and outcome of successfully
adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through
mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and
internal demands.” It makes sense that the more resilient a teacher is, the
more successful she is with her students.
This is my unscientific yet authentic study in
the form of man-on-the-street interviews of educators I see daily as well as
those from Australia, Connecticut, Denver, Detroit, England, and New York whom I
have never personally met. They work in the spectrum of schools, from the
mainstream day schools to chasidishe schools, including special
education.
Developing Resilience
Support: When asked about coping skills they
learned from both the demands of the job and the frustrations of difficult
situations, many agreed that administrative support made a world of difference.
As one of them said, “With that, you can accomplish anything.” Reaching out to
others in chinuch also provided support.
Boundaries: In reference to parent
communication, one teacher said, “You do not have to answer the phone late at
night!”
A better fit: One teacher said, “When you need a
change, listen to that voice!” I encountered several teachers who did make a
change. Some left high school teaching because of the tremendous amount of
paperwork (grading) and other demands. One teacher left, sadly, after many
years in chinuch due to the lack of administrative support and
challenging student behaviors. Another teacher left the preschool world as it
was physically draining and switched to special education, working one-on-one.
There was a teacher who switched schools – not out of frustration, rather
because she wanted something new, a different flavor. Another teacher left the
classroom to become a principal; however, she misses the daily interaction with
her students.
Give it time: One teacher, now a principal,
suggested giving yourself a week before responding to something difficult.
Preparation and reflection: An interesting tool that some morahs
shared was mental preparation and music before stepping into the classroom for
the day. Another teacher felt that the ride home gave him time to process and
reflect on what happened during the day, what worked, and what didn’t, which
student needs more attention, etc.
Introduce novelty: Rabbi Goldberger stated to a group
of morahs in a back-to-school meeting that the way to have hischadshus
(renewal) when doing something for a very long time, whether it is rabbanus
or teaching, is to begin a new limud (study).
Another
tip to develop teacher resilience is to change things up a bit. Find new
projects, teach new topics, employ different media (especially sensory), and create
new bulletin boards. The children love to see their work on the wall, which
inspires a positive work environment that is beneficial to all. Happy teacher
equals happy student equals happy school equals success!
Marvel at the children: All the teachers agreed that it is
the new students they greet each year that keeps their work exciting. It is
through the eyes of this child that you see the world and gain a new
perspective. As one veteran morah passionately summed it up: “Teaching
is a job with ups and downs. It is holy, beautiful work. One needs to truly
love children to stay in the field. There are so many firsts you as the teacher
introduce to the child, whether it is aleph beis or niflaos haBorei
through science. Sometimes a student says something so profound and pure that
it brings you to tears. Watching a child’s neshama grow and seeing the
middos tovos actualized is the ultimate reward. You realize you are doing
Hashem’s work.
“At the same time, it can be
exhausting, especially in the younger grades. It is especially draining when
the school system does not provide the necessary support. That is when you turn
to peer support and pull out the heartfelt thank you notes accumulated over the
years. Parents have no idea how these notes buoy us.”
My Personal Resilience Tools
I hope that this article sheds a
little light on what the important person in your child’s life does. This is a
professional who is teaching skills that extend far beyond the classroom. One
of my favorite pesukim and one that personally keeps me going is what
Shomo Hamelech says in Mishlei: “Chanoch l’naar al pi darko…” Educate
the young child on the path that is best for him so that when he is old, he
will not turn from it. For me personally, it is early childhood education that
is the foundation and must be taught b’simcha, with joy – not just for
the student but for the mechanech himself. This is why I consider teacher
resilience a critical topic to explore and foster in our mosdos, for chinuch
is, in essence, not what that’s taught but how.
I still remember my kindergarten morah,
Morah Eisemann, a”h, with love and reverence. I entered her kindergarten
class in Bais Yaakov shortly after my father died, and I have tremendous hakoras
hatov to her for her warmth and caring.
Another thing that gives me
strength: Baruch Hashem, I have learned so much from the many little
boys I have taught over the years. I appreciate every mitzva note I receive
from parents about the lessons their child absorbed and practiced at home. I am
privy to so many great “one-liners” that the kids randomly say and that I proudly
share with the parents. I am ever so grateful to feel Hashem’s presence
constantly in my classroom, and it is there that He sends me the messages that
I davka need to hear. Rebbeim have shared with me that they too have
experienced this.
There is yet another tool that fuels
my resiliency – perhaps the most powerful one – and that is tefilla. I
daven at the beginning of the year to have the koach (strength) and hislahavus
(enthusiasm) for my task, and again throughout the year for siyata d’Shamaya,
especially when I am tired and worn out.
Finally, I marvel at the supreme example
of the resilient teacher, R’ Preida in the Gemara, who taught his talmid
the same lesson 400 times(!) until the talmid understood. On one
occasion, when the student found out that R’ Preida had to leave, he became
nervous about not learning the material. R’ Preida taught him another
400 times until the student retained the lesson.
And do you know what his reward
was? A bas kol offered him the choice of 400 years to be added to
his life or eternal life in olam haba for him and his generation. R’
Preida chose the second option, and Hashem rewarded him with both.
What keeps me here in my little
classroom after 24 years, besides the zechus (privilege) of speaking Toras
emes and hopefully earning nitzchiyus (eternity)? It is the nachas
and feedback I get when boys from prior years say hello or smile at me in
recognition. This year, I received the biggest nachas note thus far. On
the last day of school for the eighth grade, I wished one of my former students
a happy summer and hatzlacha in the year to come. He looked at me and
with a big smile on his face said, “Morah, I have to thank you because it
all started with you.”
Need I say more? Who’s joining the
team?!
