Module 2.1 Health and Wellness for Educators

Jane Krieg; Janice Quade

Module 2.1 Health and Wellness for Educators

Learning Objectives

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

Identify the factors that contribute to educators’ emotional health, positive work environment, and reflect on their own health, safety, and well-being.
Understand Occupational Health and Safety policies and applicable training.
Identify employee and employer rights and responsibilities in a safe and healthy workplace.

Introduction

It is worth noting that a solid foundation for educator wellness parallels that in which we strive to offer the children and families. This foundation includes appropriate sleep, nutrition, and physical activity. As we work to create healthy spaces, we must enter our workdays ready to handle big emotions and physically demanding work. This requires a level of understanding of our own emotional wellness and regulation. Taking care of the caregiver first allows us to be in a space where we can provide a healthy environment for children and families. This unit will examine the many levels of wellness in the workplace, from digital wellness, wellness strategies, to our obligations under law and regulation.

Almost 50% of Early Childhood Educators leave the field within the first 5 years of working, according to participants in a report, The Burnout Crisis: A Call to Invest in ECE and Child and Youth Workers, (2022). While many want to come into the field, many factors including the COVID pandemic have added to this crisis. A strong focus on educator wellbeing and mental health has become a priority while advocates work to fix the structural challenges of low pay and lack pensions and benefits.

Emotional Health, Positive Work Environment and Well-Being

Educators who feel valued, respected and heard will be motivated to provide the best possible education and care for children (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2018).

Well-being is a term that encompasses our physical and mental state. As educators we are in a role of mentoring (children, families, colleagues) and play a key role in fostering their wellbeing. Children are affected by how educators respond, interact and how they feel about themselves. Research tells us that children are affected by how their educators view themselves (Khattar & Callaghan, 2015) and that children are at the greatest risk when the people caring for them are experiencing persistent and severe adversities (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014). Caring for yourself and your wellbeing is paramount to being a caring educator.

Digital Wellness

Digital wellness is a fairly new aspect of the health and wellness portfolio and has become more essential coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been a growing link between mental health and the overuse of digital tools. There are many benefits to having access to digital tools but like so many other topics we have covered, setting boundaries, and finding time for other pastimes is essential to one’s overall wellbeing.

In an article by Tchiki Davis (2023), from the Berkley Wellbeing Institute, she explores several apps, strategies, and research-based ways that technology can support our well-being. She suggests that it starts with being mindful and intentional of your technology use. By paying attention you can control your use and ensure it is having a positive effect on your health, not the opposite. Some ways she suggests are taking mindful photos or creating prosocial posts. You can control what you see and what you post. Your language matters. Practice random acts of kindness online and create an online circle of support. The other aspect of technology that can support your wellbeing is looking for online courses or activities that can boost your health and well-being. Use social media, and technology to your advantage. There are many tools so use what you need!

A person sits in front of a laptop holding a coffee in one hand and a phone in the other. — Figure 1 – Mindful use of technology. (Image by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC)

Indigenous Perspective

The First Nations Perspective on Health and Wellness is intended to serve as a starting point for discussion by First Nations communities on what they conceptualise as a vision of wellness for themselves and the FNHA. Below shows the holistic vision of wellness.

Centre – wellness starts with self, taking responsibility for our own health.

Second – balance between mental, emotional, spiritual and physical facets.

Third– represents the overarching values that support and uphold wellness: Respect, Wisdom, Responsibility and Relationships.

Fourth– the people that surround us and the places from which we come. Land, Community, Family and Nations are all critical components of our healthy experience as human beings.

Fifth– depicts the Social, Environmental, Cultural and Economic determinants of our health and well-being.

Outer– The people (children, families, elders. And people in communities) are holding hands to demonstrate togetherness, respect and relationships.

A visual depiction of the First Nations Perspective of Wellness. — Figure 2 – Visual Perspective of Wellness taken from First Nations Health Authority

Occupational Health and Safety

Educators support children by maintaining a safe and healthy environment through the prevention and management of illnesses, by ensuring safety checklists are regularly completed, by conducting daily health checks, through modeling appropriate nutritional practices, and through the implementation of so many more measures. Educators are entitled to work in safe and healthy workplaces while they are nurturing the wellness and growth of young children.

Employers have the responsibility to provide safe working environments for employees. Employers are accountable to the Ministry of Labour and must provide health and safety training for all employees. Employees have the right to understand how to protect themselves and keep others safe in workspaces.

Educators, working in licensed childcare, are in a unique position as licensed childcare organizations are exempt from Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) coverage (Essential HR, 2023). Many larger licensed childcare organizations opt into WSIB coverage, but some organizations manage worker health and safety issues through independent insurance policies. Regardless of the type of insurance coverage it is mandatory for all places of employment to provide basic workplace safety training for employees.

Ontario’s Occupational Health & Safety Act (OHSA) gives employers responsibility to:

Keep a safe and well-maintained workplace; to take all reasonable precautions to protect your workers from illness and/or injury.
Provide information about the hazards in your workplace, proper safety equipment, training, and competent supervision.
Post the WSIB’s “In Case of Injury at Work” poster and to follow proper procedures in case of injury.
Post the Occupational Health & Safety Act in your workplace.
Have worker representation for health and safety-if you have 20+ workers or deal with a designated substance you must have a joint health and safety committee (JHSC). Workplaces with more than 5, but less than 20 are required to have a health and safety representative.

Your supervisors also have responsibilities in the workplace. These include:

Providing a safe workplace and to assign safe work; taking all reasonable precautions to protect workers from illness and/or injury.
Informing workers about job hazards and training them to do their jobs safely.
Providing supervision to ensure that they work safely and use equipment and protective devices properly where required. (Workplace Safety & Prevention Services, 2023)

Employees of early learning environments also receive basic health and safety training, information about hazardous materials through Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) training, and knowledge of preventative measures to ensure optimal health and safety conditions for all employees while working in their specified positions.

Occupational Health and Safety Committees & Representatives

Workplaces with more than 20 employees must have a joint health and safety committee (OHSA, 2023). The joint health and safety committee has a minimum of one worker representative and one employer representative. At least one worker and employer member of the joint health and safety committee must participate in approved mandatory training to receive certification.

Any workplace with 6 – 19 employees must have a health and safety employee representative (OHSA, 2023). Regular monthly health and safety inspections must be conducted by the worker representative with concerns reported to management. Employers must rectify concerns as soon as possible to ensure safe workplaces for employees. Worker representatives are nominated by staff in the workplace.

Workplace Violence and Harassment Policies

Employees have the right to be free from violence and harassment in the workplace in Ontario. Early learning settings have policies in place to prevent and deal with workplace violence and harassment. These policies will be introduced during the orientation/on boarding process when you initiate employment.

For more information about workplace violence and harassment read this brochure from the Ministry of Labour.

Safe Lifting Techniques

Educators are often lifting children up onto change tables, carrying infants around the classroom to soothe them when they are upset, and bending over to pick up toys when cleaning up the learning space. Educators need to protect their backs when lifting, bending, kneeling, and carrying heavy loads. Training in safe lifting techniques can help educators protect their backs and ensure physical wellness when working in early learning settings.

Workplace Health and Wellness Benefits

Employees may want to inquire about health and wellness benefits they can receive when accepting an offer of employment in an early learning setting. Workplace insurance, short- and long-term disability benefits, prescription allowances, dental care benefits, pension plans, and paramedical services may be part of employment packages. Typically, there is a probationary period to complete before being eligible for health and wellness benefits.

Many early learning employers offer professional learning allowances to help grow capacity and to support RECEs in maintaining their CPL requirements with the College of Early Childhood Educators. Professional learning may take place internally with a dedicated plan for pedagogical growth or employees may be eligible to receive funding for learning opportunities and paid time off to attend professional learning sessions. Tuition allowances might also be part of a hiring package. Under the new Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) program, Ontario now funds the equivalent of two paid professional learning days for each licensed home childcare provider and employees working in licensed childcare centres, family centres, and Early ON centres (OME, 2022).

Another benefit offered by licensed childcare agencies may be the provision of discounted childcare fees for employees’ children. These reductions in fees often range from 10 – 50%. Childcare fee discounts may be slowly eliminated under the new CWELCC program as fees are slowly being reduced to $10 per day.

Early learning organizations have attendance management and disability policies that outline the amount of time each employee is entitled to for sick days, health and wellness days, and bereavement days. Vacation policies are also outlined during the hiring and orientation process. All employees are entitled to 10 working days off after one year of employment according to the Employment Standards Act (2023). Employees can determine if the health and wellness policies at an organization are a good fit for their lifestyles.

As students complete their early childhood education programs and become registered with the College of Early Childhood Educators, they begin seeking employment with early learning employers, if they have not already gained employment in the profession. Many positions are available, allowing new graduates the opportunity to find a good fit in employment that matches their professional and personal philosophies in care work with children and families. Health and wellness in the workplace are essential for retention in employment.

Pause to Reflect 💭

What does staying healthy mean to you?

What do you do (or could you do) to manage your stress, reinforce your resilience, and keep yourself physically healthy (nutrition, activity, etc.)?

How could your employer help you stay healthy?

Are you able to share these ideas with your employer and colleagues?

Important Things to Remember

A strong focus on educator wellbeing and mental health has become a priority while advocates work to fix the structural challenges of low pay and lack pensions and benefits.
Being mindful and intention when using technology, you can control your use and ensure it is having a positive effect on your health.
Employers are accountable to the Ministry of Labour and must provide health and safety training for all employees. Employees have the right to understand how to protect themselves and keep others safe in workspaces.
Health and wellness in the workplace are essential for retention in employment.