Preventing Compassion Fatigue Among Educators: An Educator Resiliency Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In this chapter, we present both quantitative and qualitative findings from the Educator Resiliency Project, which aimed to understand educators’ risk and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning among 321 educators in a diverse and urban school district in Northern California. The quantitative findings revealed how educators’ perceptions of online teaching self-efficacy, educators’ social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies, and school connectedness factors concurrently and interactively influenced educators’ compassion fatigue during the pandemic; and the qualitative findings illustrated the main themes of sources contributing to their compassion fatigue and other individual struggles during the distance learning. Based on the quantitative and qualitative findings, we also discussed the practical implications and strategies to prevent compassion fatigue and promote wellness among educators during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.