Mental health days for educators: vital, valedictory, or just not worth the drama?

52% of educators say that their school or district taking a positive attitude toward mental health days would help them in their role. But in practice, is it actually a viable option for those of us at the chalkface?

We’re diving in today.

The theory of taking a mental health day as an educator

If you’re a teacher you’ve probably experienced burnout: around 90% of us have. It’s a high-stress job. It extends well past standard working hours. You’re probably on your fourth cup of coffee right now.

Taking a mental health day can be good for educators, and an opportunity to realign, prioritize self-care and return to the classroom feeling refreshed and ready to give it your all.

The reality of taking a mental health day as an educator

But a mental health day requires prep— so much prep.

In-depth sub planning needs to be in place for cover teachers, and it usually needs to be done on the fly. It can take hours, and a lot of mental bandwidth: so much so that some educators say that the stress of preparing for a mental health day simply isn’t worth it because so much work has to be prepped for the educator covering the lesson. And that’s assuming that an educator can be found, too: there’s a teacher shortage and a supply teacher shortage, so a lot of absences might not get the qualified cover that learners need.

Unfortunately, some districts don’t always see mental health days as legitimate reasons to be out of class either. Some still refuse to authorize it, see it as a poor alternative to ‘learning to cope’ with classroom stressors, or even view it as a warning sign for a teacher likely to leave the profession—  which can mean that professional relationships and development opportunities become strained.

Unplugging isn’t easy, especially with the guilt

The guilt many educators impart upon ourselves when taking mental health days (and even sick days) can be powerful too. What if a learner who needs things explained in a certain way doesn’t speak up, or what if behavior takes a dive due to a change in routine, or what if they can’t get cover, or—

You might have to go over that work with them again when you’re back. But when? You’d better look at your planning. And maybe you’d better check your emails just once whilst you’re online, just in case…

It’s a growing problem: educators are expected to be ‘always on’, which makes it hard to switch off, even on a mental health day.  

Mental health days and the bigger picture

Everybody needs a mental health day once in a while, but when it comes to educators, we have to look at the wider environment. It’s fairly likely to say that many educator mental health day requests will have their roots in the nature of the role: we’re twice as likely to be stressed than those in other occupations, and faced with high demand, low starter salaries and a recruitment crisis, it’s understandable even to those outside of the sector. Millions of educators across the US need in-job mental health support and attention dedicating to working conditions.

Taking a mental health day as an educator isn’t an easy decision. It takes a lot of prep and mental bandwidth, and many feel that it just stores work up for a tighter deadline, later in the week. When even emergency stress-busting measures like this seem to just generate more stress, it might be time to take a closer look at educator workloads, and if we’re supporting those who support our learners anywhere near well enough.

Have you ever taken a mental health day as an educator, support professional, or other in-school role? Let us know how you found it in the comments below…