‘At a tipping point’: Alberta teacher survey finds ‘record-high’ levels of stress, warns of burnout

The Alberta Teachers' Association says a recent survey is raising "red flags" about the state of classrooms.

The president of the Alberta Teacher’s Association (ATA), Jason Schilling, says a recently released survey of educators yields “concerning” details about the state of education in Alberta.

A Pulse Research Study was conducted between Nov. 21 and Dec. 5, about a month after the Alberta government used the notwithstanding clause to send striking teachers back to work. It heard from more than 5,200 teachers and 500 school leaders. The margin of error was 1.5 per cent.

The ATA confirmed that 10 per cent of all teachers in the province took the survey.

Its summary suggests that Alberta’s teachers are reporting “record-high levels of occupational stress, the highest in the world” compared to international teaching surveys done by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development.

It points to systemic and structural challenges in classrooms that teachers say have strained their day-to-day operations and concludes that teaching in Alberta has become “a profession at a tipping point.”

“Teachers and school leaders are not asking for sympathy. They’re calling for real solutions, including staffing and other resources that match the conditions they are facing every day,” Schilling said at a press conference about the survey results on Wednesday.

“The premier and minister of education must move from statements of concern to measurable action.”

The complete findings, dubbed A Polycrisis: Class Size and Complexity in an Education System Under Duress, outline four levels of Alberta teachers’ feedback on ongoing pressures in schools.

Level I: ‘Collapsing teacher well-being and moral distress’

The first level of the study outlines overall teacher well-being, which it found to be “deteriorated to alarming levels,” especially post-strike.

“Only eight per cent of teachers reported feeling happy in their job, while 61 per cent described themselves as unhappy,” it read.

Three-quarters of those who responded did not feel hopeful about their work or their ability to recover from the strike while 94 per cent were “pessimistic” about the future of teaching as a profession in Alberta.

Level II: ‘Overwhelming classroom complexity and lack of supports’

The second level looked at the complexities of student needs combined with class size and supports in schools. According to the survey, eight in 10 teachers reported increasing diversity and complexity challenges among their students.

Teachers found top contributing factors to be social-emotional student needs and behavioural challenges.

Many also described class sizes of 30 to more than 40 students that required varying degrees of specialized learning needs, including English language learners, refugee students, students with individual support plans for social-emotional or learning needs and students with disabilities or cognitive needs.

More than one-third of teachers were waiting for student assessments like speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy and psycho-educational assessments.

Level III: ‘School-level strains and resource gaps’

Systemic strains were the next level of the survey, especially in the aftermath of labour action.

“Many schools began the year under-resourced, facing unfilled teaching and support positions, high student needs and morale challenges,” the survey said.

Resource adequacy, like a lack of learning materials or teacher availability, have led to reports of operational stress and increased workloads.

Teachers reported loss of prep time and unmanageable expectations in addressing language and literacy gaps in the Alberta school system.

Level IV: ‘Systemic and policy pressures’

The last portion of the survey directly addressed ongoing legislative and regulatory changes by the United Conservative Party government.

Aside from use of the notwithstanding clause, teachers cited “serious concerns” over curriculum changes, proposed funding model changes, new assessment requirements and “controversial social policy directives” surrounding student pronouns, gender identity and school library restrictions.

“These policy changes are seen as top-down pressures that ignore the input of teachers, diminishing their professional autonomy, creating additional work or even conflicting with their fundamental professional values,” the survey wrote.

Provincial response

The province says many of the “unprecedented pressures” teachers are feeling are a result of the more than 80,000 new students that have entered Alberta classrooms in the last three years.

“(This is) mainly due to out-of-control federal immigration policies, which has significantly increased both class sizes and complexity,” Garrett Koehler, the press secretary to the minister of education and childcare, said in an emailed statement.

“We have also seen a sharp rise in English-language learners and a concerning increase in aggression in classrooms – issues that place a huge strain on teachers.”

Koehler pointed to recent commitments to hiring 3,000 more teachers and 1,500 educational assistants as well as the provincial committee set to analyze classroom complexity, which was announced by Premier Danielle Smith in November.

“This work is supported by the nearly $10 billion we are investing into Alberta’s education system – the highest level of provincial education funding in Alberta’s history,” he added.

Education minister Demetrios Nicolaides also announced $69 million over three years from the province’s 2025 budget to address classroom complexity, specifically student mental health supports, in early December.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Miriam Valdes-Carletti