This is the actual final version used in a talk on Improving the mental health of English language teachers - 10 April 2018. Including the quotation about the perception of stress.

1. Improving the mental
health of English
language teachers
Phil Longwell
IATEFL Presentation - 10 April 2018

2. Improving the mental health of English
language teachers
▪ Introduction + Background
▪ Personal Experience
▪ Interview for Time to Talk
day – 2 Feb 2017
▪ Sarah Mercer’s plenary at
IATEFL Glasgow 2017

3. Human Resources
“One of the more depressing phrases in
the English language is the phrase
‘human resources’. The phrase itself
is a contradiction in terms. A resource
is something that is used for a
purpose, only has value when it is in
use, and is disposed of the moment it
ceases to be used.
A human being is a person and should be
subject to none of those things.”
Eyre, C. (2017) The Elephant in the Staffroom:
How to Reduce Stress and Improve Teacher
Wellbeing. Abingdon: Routledge

4. Existing Research

5. Blog Posts

6. Research Overview
• 1 Dec – 21 Dec 2017
• BaaL recommendations
• Anonymised Data
• 14 questions
• Qualitative data
• 501 individual responses
• Over 66,600 words.

7. Breakdown of Informants
Above: What is / are your role(s) in
English Language Teaching?
Right: How long have you been in the
EnglishTeaching profession?

8. Diagnosed Conditions
Out of 490 responses, 325 said they had none
• 93 ‘depression’ was most common
• 67 ‘anxiety’
• 9 ‘depression and anxiety’
• 8 ‘PTSD’
• 7 ‘panic attacks / disorder’
• 6 ‘ADHD’
• 4 ‘burnout’
• 4 ‘suicidal ideation’
• 3 ‘OCD’
• 2 ‘bipolar disorder’
• 2 ‘distimy’ (dysthymia)
Many of the diagnosis were mixed with multiple diagnosis at different times.
Some were also temporary, while others were more permanent.

9. vs Undiagnosed Conditions
420 responses. 327 said ‘no’ or 'none’.
58 used the word 'depressed' or 'depression’
49 used either the words 'anxious' or 'anxiety’.
25 used the word 'stress' or a variant of it.
'Tiredness', 'exhaustion’, 'burnout’, 'insomnia'
and 'short term memory loss’.
A lot of people described physical symptoms.
For both of these questions, some of the symptoms mentioned were
elaborated upon in the next question.

10. Have you ever had a mental health issue in the workplace
which affected your attendance or performance?
‘Yes' or 'No'. If 'Yes', how did this affect you?
301 simply said 'no' or similar.
36 simply said 'yes'..
stories of workplace anxiety,
panic attacks, severe depression
leading to lesson cancellations,
time off work, no sympathy for
feeling burnout, insomnia, being
hospitalised and resignations.
"I was signed off by the doctor due
to depression and panic attacks.
The fear of going back to work and
picking up all the mess you left
behind made it worse, it was
almost better to try and do the
impossible - stay in work and try to
continue."

11. If you answered 'yes' to the previous question could
you say whether you felt supported in the workplace
and in what ways?
Around 200 responses.
Several examples of support, such as line
managers willing to listen, colleagues who
helped or didn't raise uncomfortable
questions, timetables changes and being
allowed time off work with no
consequences.
However, there were more examples given
of little or no support.
"No, but that may be because I didn’t tell
anyone I was depressed. I have to admit,
though, that I’ve always somewhat
resented that no one in my immediate team
ever mentioned that I was unusually tired,
cranky, stressed or distracted and offered
me any kind of support.Yet they clearly
responded in other (punitive) ways, like
avoiding including me in new projects,
which - when I asked why - they explained
by saying they were trying to help as I
seemed quite stressed.They just made that
decision for me and would have said
nothing if I hadn’t asked. It felt like adding
insult to injury."

12. As an employee would you feel comfortable
disclosing a mental health condition
upfront or in an interview? Why / Why not?
NO !
“As a former school coordinator, I know I would think
twice about hiring someone with a diagnosed mental
health condition. I know it sounds harsh, but
considering the business and all the responsibilities
involved, it would be hard for the school to deal with
such a thing. … I’ve already dealt with a bipolar
teacher in my team and it was extremely hard to do so,
especially because we don’t have the right skills and
information on how to best deal with the situation.”
486 responses
Approx. 280 said
‘no’. 120 said ‘not
really’ or ‘never’.

13. As an employee would you feel comfortable
disclosing a mental health condition
upfront or in an interview? Why / Why not?
YES !
“I am comfortable with who I am. I think my
employer should be aware of a condition that
can affect my performance, so that
appropriate support is put in place. If they
cannot provide such support or discriminate
against me we are not a good fit. We might as
well establish that in the interview.”
73 said ‘yes’.

14. What kinds of factors do you think could be a cause
of stress for language teachers? This could be your
own or a colleague's experience. 501 responses
Perfectionism
Misbehaving
students
Bad working environment
Workload Job
insecurity
Poor
pay
‘Absurd’
contracts
Constant
observations
Homesickness
Demanding
parents
Culture Shock /
Differences
Large class
sizes
Meeting
deadlines
Unmotivated
students
Lack of
support
Unrealistic
expectations
Imposter
syndrome
Harassment /
bullying
Lack of
appreciation

15. Cause of stress..
"Unfair/difficult working conditions, professional
instability, irrational expectations from employers,
general social underestimating of my profession,
working load that isn't reflected in work pay.The
latter is a main cause of frustration and feelings of
depression"
"In general, not having job security and not being
paid enough. Personally, I was bullied by my
DOS and others were bullied by her, too, I later
found out.There was no support for teachers and
upper management supported the DOS because
she was in a management position."

16. If you are an employer or a manager, how confident
do you feel at recognising symptoms of poor mental
health in teachers?
181 responses
'very confident’ (35)
'fairly confident’ (14)
said 'somewhat confident’ (6)
"I believe I am fairly good at recognising
poor mental health either due to my own
personal experience or from having
observed others"
"Not that confident. I feel I would need
proper training.What the behavioural
psychological model favoured by
management theories assumes is that
mental health issues in the workplace are
visible & somehow affect colleagues and
also performance. Only then is it considered
an issue. It also assumes a certain way of
behaving in the workplace. I think we need
to approach mental health in a much more
holistic way."
confident !
not confident !

17. If you have suffered any mental health issues, do
you have any tactics or coping mechanisms to deal
with any symptoms you might have suffered with?
376 responses
Tactics or Coping mechanisms
Medication
Meditation
Mindfulness
Physical Exercise
Breathing techniques
Talking to Friends
CBT
Drinking & Smoking
"I try to walk away from situations if I
can and tell people I'll come back to
them later when I'm calmer/more able
to deal with situations. If I notice
myself getting stressed I give myself a
talking to and tell myself to focus on
positives or on breaking down the
things I need to do so that they're
more manageable."

18. In what ways do you look after your
own mental wellbeing as a teacher?
486 responses
Physical Exercise (64)
Meditation (25)
Diet / eating well
Getting enough sleep
Having a life outside of work
Taking time off
Hip-hop dancing
Faith
“Trying to have time off, for example by
going to the cinema [or] dance classes once
a week - it's something completely different.
Trying to plan food and cook for myself
whenever possible so that I'm eating
healthily. Making sure I have routines in the
evening to calm me down so that I can get a
good night's sleep ... mental and physical
health are so intermingled.”

19. In what ways do you feel that employers and
institutions within ELT could support the
mental health or wellbeing of its employees?
466 responses / over 10,000 words
• Training (61)*
• Counselling (31)
• Awareness (30)
• Pay
• Working conditions
• Job security
*Have you ever received training in how to
support teachers’ mental health? If so, can you
describe the kind of training you received.

20. "It's not up to the ELT industry, it's up
to the individual (or their friends or
family). It's silly and redundant to try
to integrate this into the ELT industry
- another useless branch - it's like
taking care that your employers have
a balanced diet and investing money
and human resources into trainings to
recognise if they don't and how to
react to it. Stop worrying about stuff
that's so obviously not ELT related."
Individual vs Structural
"I'm worried that too much of a focus on the
psychology and well-being of teachers
detracts from the broader systemic issues that
cause these issues in the first place"
"Create special interest groups supporting
and networking teachers struggling for safe
pay, conditions, and terms of employment.
Work to free teachers from discrimination.
Recognise our rights and advocate for
them."

21. Conclusion
Thanks to Kieran Donaghy for his mentoring
support and Sarah Mercer for her advice in
wording the questions on the survey.
@teacherphili philiplongwell@gmail.com
Extensive summary of the research findings
here https://teacherphili.wordpress.com/
Slides: https://bit.ly/2GuNzq9

22. References
▪ A full collection of blog posts including those mentioned can be
found here: https://teacherphili.wordpress.com/2017/12/
▪ Education Support Partnership /YouGov Health Survey 2017
report:
https://www.educationsupportpartnership.org.uk/resources/resea
rch-reports/2017-health-survey
▪ Eyre, C. (2017) The Elephant in the Staffroom:
How to Reduce Stress and Improve Teacher
Wellbeing. Abingdon: Routledge
▪ Mahmoodi-Shahrebabaki, M. (2017)The effect of perfectionism on
burnout among English language teachers: the mediating role of
anxiety. Teachers andTeaching. 23 (1), 91-105.
▪ Mercer, S and Koustoulas, A. (eds) (2018) LanguageTeacher
Psychology. Bristol: Multilingual Matters
▪ Images licenced from Shutterstock.