Mental Health Challenges of Teachers in the Post-COVID Classroom

DOI: https://doi.org/10.63345/ijre.v14.i5.1

Raghav Agarwal

TCS

Greater Noida, UP, India

raghavagarwal4998@gmail.com

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated an unprecedented global shift in educational delivery, compelling teachers to rapidly adapt to hybrid and fully remote classroom environments. While student achievement, instructional continuity, and technology adoption dominated early policy debates, the mental health of educators—who absorbed the brunt of operational uncertainty—received far less sustained attention. This manuscript examines the prevalence, patterns, and drivers of mental health distress among K–12 teachers in the post-COVID classroom, with attention to the lingering effects of crisis pedagogy, technology-mediated work intensification, health anxiety, shifting accountability expectations, and inequities in institutional supports.

A mixed-methods investigation was conducted with 250 teachers from urban and rural public school districts across three states. Quantitative survey instruments assessed perceived stress, burnout dimensions, technology-related strain, and perceived institutional support, while qualitative interviews (n = 30) captured nuanced narratives about role overload, work–life boundary collapse, caregiving conflicts, community loss, and emerging strategies for emotional recovery. The study found that more than 70% of participants reported moderate to high stress, and over half scored in the elevated range for emotional exhaustion. Teachers identified four persistent stress clusters: (1) instructional complexity across multiple modalities; (2) digital escalation—managing learning platforms, student data privacy concerns, and continuous messaging; (3) psychosocial compression—juggling caregiving, household disruptions, and extended availability expectations; and (4) health and institutional uncertainty—changing guidelines, staffing volatility, and perceived lack of systemic support.

Keywords
Mental Health, Teacher Well-Being, COVID-19, Burnout, Educational Support

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