A groundbreaking Australian study exploring the impact of second-hand trauma on staff in schools reveals 37 per cent of respondents are considering walking away from education and another 18 per cent are undecided if they will stay.
Dr Adam Fraser and a team from Deakin University conducted the study. Almost 2,300 school staff participated in the study and 1,068 people documented comments of second-hand trauma. Moreover, 107 educators shared their experiences in a detailed interview with researcher Dr John Molineux from Deakin University.
Their research found 16 per cent of educators said they are often or very often depressed and 51 per cent said they experience some degree of depression due to the ‘silent cost’ educators are dealing with.
The ‘silent cost’ is called secondary traumatic stress (what happens to you when you see or hear about someone else’s trauma). It is a significant problem within schools with 39 per cent of education staff frequently affected by the trauma of others, with a further 38 per cent experiencing it sometimes.
The researchers said educators are becoming the social workers of society as they are having to support more and more students with trauma, because they cannot find services to help students (often due to a lack of funding and resources).
The study shows secondary traumatic stress and burnout are the biggest predictors of rumination about work at home, mental health risk and likelihood of leaving the role. The research found:
- 61.6 per cent feel worn out due to work often or very often.
- 5.6 out of 10 educators scored in the moderate to very high mental health risk category (versus 3.6 out of 10 in Australian adults).
- Almost 65 per cent of staff in schools said they were preoccupied about one or more students that they help.
- 45 per cent of staff said they sometimes or often feel as though they are experiencing the trauma of students they have helped.
For educators, the impact of second-hand trauma from the students they teach has a more devastating impact on them than their own individual trauma.
Younger educators (up to 29 years of age) are most affected showing worse results than older educators (60 years of age and over) in:
- Burnout: 8 per cent worse
- Ability to cope with trauma: 7 per cent worse
- Mental health risk: 20 per cent higher risk
- Likely turnover: 11 per cent higher risk
There were two other main trends identified. In almost all measures in this study:
- Rural and remote schools scored higher or worse than regional and metro schools.
- Staff within Special Education and in particular Special Education units within mainstream schools scored higher or worse than mainstream schools.
Many educators said a significant source of stress is that they cannot access services to get help for students living in abusive or neglectful environments. This leaves them with no other choice than having to send students back into unsafe home environments.
Educators also commented that the top four sources of trauma for students are domestic violence, parental neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse.
Despite this, educators remain incredibly committed to the profession with 75 per cent believing they can often or very often make a difference to these students through their work, and 81 per cent are proud of what they do to try and help students.
More reading: Trauma-responsive teachers are critical for creating safe learning environments
