Give teachers a say: Facing the challenge of teachers’ work-related stress in the COVID-19 crisis

Throughout the world, teachers and schools are responding to one of the greatest disruptions to education systems in living memory. Routines and practices they have followed for decades have been changed, overhauled or suppressed to reduce the risk of contagion for students, teachers and parents, while ensuring continuity of teaching and learning. This puts the role and importance of teachers in the spotlight, while adding new demands and pressures to an already delicate job. When the COVID-19 crisis struck, teachers in many education systems had to teach in a new context of online contact and uncertainty over the reopening of schools. When schools opened again, they did so amidst varying safety measures and the constant threat of school closures. All this is likely to have substantially affected teachers’ job satisfaction and stress.