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The Wiltshire Lab for Teachers and Children 

 

 

Is there a Remedy for Teacher Burn Out and Stress? UTEP Researcher Seeks to Find Out

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Think back to your earliest days of school, do you recall your teacher’s attitude or demeanor? For many, a teacher’s disposition in the early years of their schooling might be a distant memory or seem inconsequential. However, a new study by a researcher at The University of Texas at El Paso seeks to investigate how a teacher’s levels of stress may have implications for student outcomes.

The research, which is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, will focus on Mexican-American early childhood education teachers in the El Paso community. The study aims to understand the psychological and physiological stress experienced by teachers, record their experiences and examine associations between teachers’ stress and academic and socioemotional outcomes of the Mexican-American children they teach. 

Cynthia A. Wiltshire, Ed.D., an assistant professor of Early Childhood Education in the College of Education, is the study’s principal investigator and knows firsthand the importance of the teacher-child relationship.

“I was a classroom teacher for 20 years prior to pursing my doctorate. During those decades, it became clear that how we, as teachers, faced the children in our care had consequences for how the children navigated the classroom, their learning, and their relationships with us and with their peers,” said Wiltshire. “Understandably, a teacher’s ability to be kind, warm and relational is partly attributed to their personal circumstances; the ways they themselves feel, their state of well-being. The research I will undertake this fall aims to record a comprehensive picture of teacher well-being, asking of their lives, and the day-to-day challenges faced by the teachers who care for and educate our society’s future.”  

Wiltshire’s study comes at a time of need for the field of education in El Paso. Hundreds of teachers have left their jobs in recent years, she said.

“Like anyone, teachers do their best to show up as their best selves day after day for their students’ well-being and academic advancement. We must, however, ask ourselves, as a community and society, whether there are implementable solutions to alleviate teacher stress rather than fostering the narrative that teacher stress is simply a part of the job,” said Wiltshire. “My work as a part of the UTEP College of Education endeavors to examine the stress incurred by Mexican-American teachers in the El Paso community and thereafter provide insight into actionable policy and practice to alleviate burden and burnout not only for teacher well-being, but also to improve student outcomes.”

By Mario Vasquez

UTEP Marketing and Communications

IES Funding Awarded 

We are delighted to announce that The Wiltshire Lab for Teachers and Children (PI: Dr. Cynthia A. Wiltshire) was awarded $587,216 by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.

The Early Career Development and Mentoring Program for Faculty at Minority-Serving Institutions (84.305B) grant will provide four years of funding to support the project entitled, Associations Between Mexican-American Early Childhood Teacher Stress and Mexican-American Child Executive Function and Vocabulary (Award Number: R305B240034).

This is a first for the UTEP College of Education and we couldn’t be prouder of this accomplishment!

Many thanks to project mentors: Dr. Richard G. Lambert (The University of North Carolina - Charlotte), Dr. Amanda M. Dettmer (Human & Animal Integrated Research (HAIR) Lab, Yale Child Study Center), Dr. Emily C. Merz (Colorado State University), and Dr. Johannes M. Strobel (UTEP).

The Lab

Here in the Wiltshire Lab at the University of Texas at El Paso, we investigate early childhood education teacher well-being and what effects teacher well-being may have on child outcomes in academic and socioemotional development.

Our aim is to:

1) listen to and learn from early childhood education teachers in order to advance short- and long-term benefits for, both, teachers and children, and

2) inform educational and policy interventions for the promotion of children and teachers.