11 minute read
INTERVIEW Melissa D. Wood
Photography by Allen Zaki 24 California School Business Fall 2022
Melissa D. Wood
Special ed director and school psychologist discusses how leaders can support their teams’, teachers’ mental health
By Julie Phillips Randles
As the world throws its worst at us some days, Melissa D. Wood, president of the California Association of School Psychologists (CASP), has accepted the role of helping people navigate their way through just about anything that lands in their laps.
Even President Joe Biden called out tackling mental health in his 2022 State of the Union Address. But things like mass shootings, hate speech, coverage of foreign wars, COVID and California wildfires all play a role in the mental stress our teams carry on their shoulders when they walk into their offices, classrooms or cafeterias, or take a seat behind the wheel of buses.
Wood is an excellent candidate to lead this solutions-based charge. She spent seven years in the middle school and high school classrooms at the beginning of her career, after graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2003 with a bachelor’s in history and a single-subject teaching credential. She has taught everything from physical education to English, math, science and geography.
Wood has a history of saying “yes” to where she is needed to make an impact. She holds a Master of Education in technology from Grand Canyon University and an MS in school psychology from National University in Bakersfield, California. She worked as a school psychologist and director of special education at Taft City School District before accepting a position as the Kern County Consortium Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) coordinator in October 2019. Currently, she is working as the director of special education programs for the Panama Buena Vista Union School District in Bakersfield.
Thanks to her unique background and hands-on experience, we reached out to Wood to discuss how leaders can evaluate which employees may be quietly struggling, and exactly what districts can do to meet the mental health needs in their organizations.
What advice would you give your 10-year-old self?
I would tell my 10-year-old self that achieving total perfection is not necessary to be successful in life. I was very much a perfectionist as a child, and sort of still am, and I worried a lot about life choices, making mistakes and letting people down.
Today, I’d assure that little girl that everything was going to be OK, and that
Melissa D. Wood
it’s fine to make mistakes because that’s how we learn.
How should a leader go about measuring/evaluating the mental well-being of their staff?
The very first step is building rapport with your staff. In my experience, just having a desire to get to know my staff has really helped me identify the areas where they might be struggling. I’m not only getting to know them to evaluate their mental health, but as I’m getting to know them as people, I’m noticing more and more things about my staff as a whole.
So as you’re building that foundation and establishing yourself as an empathetic leader, you’re going to have space to discuss important things as needed.
Education has been stressful for the last two or three years. And for me, just letting staff know that they can come into my office and shut the door, and even if it’s just for five minutes to vent and be heard, has been incredibly beneficial. And this comes after getting to know them as people and coming to understand what they need.
Often, we just accept the idea that life is stressful without realizing it might be more. What should a person look for (in themselves and in others) to know they are not in a good place?
When we see in others or ourselves that stress is taking over and preventing us from enjoying the things that we previously found relaxing or joyful, that’s a red flag. For example, personally, I know that stress is taking over when I’m not sleeping well or I’m not doing the things that bring me joy, like exercising, playing with my kids, or making plans with friends. Instead, I’m allowing those stressful events to take over every aspect of my life.
Stress is part of life and we have to learn how to cope with stress. But when the stress from our job or the stress from any aspect of our lives starts to invade those other happy areas of our personal lives, that’s when it becomes a problem.
What if you observe that someone at work is not mentally healthy, but they don’t see it themselves? How should your organization go about that conversation (or does it)? If it does, who should have the discussion with that person?
I think it goes back to the rapport you have established with your staff. If you’re in a place where you know your staff and you feel comfortable, the conversation might sound like, “Hey I’ve noticed that you seem stressed. What do you think?”
As a director, the first thing I try to do is to ensure that I’m giving staff what they need to manage their caseloads or jobs appropriately. Because sometimes I can immediately intervene to reduce some stress and offer support.
And in the absence of that, it’s about having a conversation and planning with specific staff. And if they’re not yet in a place to see it, it’s important to provide resources that can help address their mental health issues.
A few years ago, I worked with a staff that was very well versed in all the resources available, but when any one of us would get overwhelmed, we had a brochure full of resources that we had created and we would just say, “Do you have any questions about the resource brochure?” and that helped realign our thinking, even if the response was, “No, I’m fine.”
The brochure was something we designed for our community and staff, but we ended up using it as a team because it was about addressing mental
health issues. So it kind of became a code word.
That team had a challenging workload, but leaning on them for support was so beneficial. It was about, as a supervisor, having the kind of rapport with your staff that allows you to have those conversations that are very honest, sensitive and kind about what you’re seeing, and then just offering support. Asking “What do you need for me as your supervisor?” is sometimes music to their ears. It can really help alleviate stress when they know they have someone to lean on.
This is best coming from the team’s immediate supervisor. For me, as a director, I want to have those conversations; I don’t want anyone else to have this conversation with my staff. I care for my staff and I want to be sure that I’m providing the help they need, and running it up the chain of command or giving that to someone else makes it less authentic and takes the power away from these conversations.
When I’m seeing something in my staff, additional conversations might sound like, “What can I do for you? Or what resources can I provide you?” And letting them know that I’m there for them as a resource as well.
We know that employee well-being is crucial to organizational health. Organizations simply can’t function effectively with struggling and suffering workers. What are three initial steps districts can take to be sure they’re meeting their team’s mental health needs?
The first thing that districts must do is ensure that staff has what they need to
Melissa D. Wood
What I’ve found, particularly when it comes to teachers, is that it’s important to bring them in as stakeholders when creating a plan.
meet the mark. In the case of teachers, for example, they had to make an incredible pivot in the last couple of years, and it’s been very challenging. There was just this incredible ask of teachers without, in some cases initially, being able to lend a lot of support.
If we’re asking staff to do X, Y and Z, we need to be sure they have the support necessary to produce the outcomes we’re expecting.
Second, we need to be sure they know who to go to for support when needed. It sounds pretty simple, but staff sometimes feel like they don’t know who to go to, and they kind of feel hopeless.
Third, identifying the actual resources out there that can support staff if they’re experiencing a little bit more stress than usual, or they need a little bit more support. What do those resources look like, because when you’re in the moment and trying to find them yourself, it’s almost impossible.
Some organizations have reduced work hours or offered more flexibility to improve employee well-being, yet recent Gallup research found that fewer than one in four U.S. employees felt strongly that their employer cared about their well-being – the lowest percentage in nearly a decade. How can leaders turn that statistic around? In what ways have you seen that adding more workplace flexibility successfully contributes to improvement in how employees view their employers’ concern for their well-being?
This is tough because sometimes in education, we can’t always offer a lot of flexibility. But what I’ve found, partic-
ularly when it comes to teachers, is that it’s important to bring them in as stakeholders when creating a plan. They’re more receptive – even if the answer isn’t exactly what they want – if they’ve had some input in terms of how this will be rolled out, or created or managed.
An EdWeek Research Center survey conducted earlier this year found that the most common step among district and school leaders to address staff mental health needs was offering professional development on selfcare. Many teachers say sessions on superficial self-care – like breathing exercises, yoga, and reminders to take a bubble bath or go for a walk – are no substitute for the kind of broader, systemic change that would keep them from feeling that their jobs have become untenable. What long-term, organization-wide solutions can leaders implement that go beyond offering individual employees a self-care, band-aid approach?
What I’ve found in the districts I’ve worked in is that teachers just want to make sure that they have enough support. And in addition, that we’re not overloading their classrooms and that they, in the case of special education for example, have enough paraprofessionals in the room to support them in what they’re doing.
In general, teachers don’t want to be inundated with meetings and other training unless these programs pertain to what they’re doing in the classroom. And it makes sense; their time is very precious. They’re planning their grading, evaluating, instructing – so we want to make sure that any kind of activity that we ask them to be pulled away from the classroom for is incredibly beneficial and pertains to what they’re doing in the classroom with their students.
And then we need to make sure that they have enough support to implement the new ideas or curriculum, and that they have the training and support to make sure that any rollout is clean. And in terms of “self-care,” I’ve heard from a number of teachers that things like yoga are great, but that’s not going to address the issue.
I think school leaders need to ask themselves, “Does the three- to five-year vision for my district include a plan for supporting staff at all levels in the district?” Basically, are we planning accordingly in terms of what’s right for students and the district in terms of growth or declining enrollment? And then asking whether the site administrators and teachers have the tools they need. It’s about ensuring we have a plan that works for the long haul.
Melissa D. Wood
Mental health resources
Melissa Wood, CASP president and director of special education programs for the Panama Buena Vista Union School District, recommends these mental health resources to school leaders:
• Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength and Happiness.
• Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Service
Administration website: findtreatment.samhsa.gov/.
• Mental Health America website: mhanational.org/.
• 988 Suicide and Crisis
Lifeline website: fcc.gov/988-suicide-andcrisis-lifeline. A study by RAND found that positive school environments where educators are involved in decision-making and feel supported are linked with better educator well-being and a decreased likelihood of quitting. Teachers and principals also told RAND researchers that positive relationships with their colleagues help them cope with the stresses of their jobs. How can district leaders help facilitate those positive relationships?
I think this goes to what leaders’ conversations with staff look like when they’re happy with the way things are going and when they’re not happy. Are you validating their concerns? So, for example, staff might come to me very upset about something in terms of a change, and that’s OK. I need to allow them the space to vent and be upset and to tell me how they feel. And then how do I approach them and say, “I hear you,” and support them? My approach needs to be empathetic, open and kind.
That’s why, to ensure a positive working environment, I allow them the space in either good times or bad to come to me and communicate how they’re feeling. It can be tricky when things are not going great or they’re frustrated, but we need to still allow them to do that. z z z
Julie Phillips Randles is a freelance writer based in Roseville, California.
PIGGYBACK PURCHASING CONTRACTS
