Image by Marco Aurelio Conde on Unsplash.
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<h2 dir="auto"><strong>In this op-ed, educator Rebecca Thomas asks if dysregulated classrooms might be a product of teacher stress. </strong></h2>
<p id="viewer-9od8s526" class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto"><span class="L6Pq-">It’s easy to look at the rising dysregulation in classrooms and wonder: </span></p>
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<li class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto"><strong>Are these &#8220;COVID kids&#8221;? Is something fundamentally different about this cohort?</strong></li>
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<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Or</p>
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<li class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto"><strong><span class="L6Pq-">Are we seeing the impact of structured spaces that no longer flex?</span></strong></li>
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<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Perhaps the more confronting answer is: it’s both.</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto"><span class="L6Pq-">Then there’s the third element we’re not talking about nearly enough: </span><strong>Increased teacher stress.</strong></p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Not the kind that a day off or a few deep breaths can fix. But the kind that builds day after day, term after term. The kind that comes from trying to meet expectations in classrooms where children are coming in hot, raw, and already on the edge.</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Structured literacy.</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Structured maths.</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Structured assessments.</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Structured progressions.</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Teachers are not resisting structure because they don’t value learning. They are resisting the rigidity that leaves no room to breathe, no space to adapt, no time to connect.</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">At the core of all this lies a simple, urgent truth:</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto"><strong>Regulation in the classroom depends on the adult.</strong></p>
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<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Co-regulation is not a technique; it’s a nervous system state. It’s not about <em>doing</em> calm—it’s about <em>being</em> calm. A stressed teacher, no matter how experienced or well-intentioned, has less capacity to lend their calm. When our own tanks are empty, we stop seeing the cues behind the chaos. We move to control, not connect. And when we move to control, children move to protect.</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">We are watching a feedback loop unfold:</p>
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<ul class="_7S5TO _7F2iW">
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<p id="viewer-vy4rn1031" class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir=""><span class="L6Pq-">Increased expectations lead to teacher stress.</span></p>
</li>
<li class="ums8B" dir="auto" aria-level="1">
<p id="viewer-vv8lk1034" class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir=""><span class="L6Pq-">Teacher stress reduces capacity for co-regulation.</span></p>
</li>
<li class="ums8B" dir="auto" aria-level="1">
<p id="viewer-iplfi1037" class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir=""><span class="L6Pq-">Reduced co-regulation increases student dysregulation.</span></p>
</li>
<li class="ums8B" dir="auto" aria-level="1">
<p id="viewer-x4taj1040" class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir=""><span class="L6Pq-">Student dysregulation disrupts learning.</span></p>
</li>
<li class="ums8B" dir="auto" aria-level="1">
<p id="viewer-fs8m81043" class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir=""><span class="L6Pq-">Disrupted learning increases pressure.</span></p>
</li>
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<p id="viewer-fs8m81043" class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="">And caught in that loop, we stop seeing behaviour as a signal. We miss the cues as unmet needs or unsolved problems. Instead of leaning in with curiosity, we react with control. And the cycle tightens further.</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="">Round and round it goes.</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="">Every week, teachers share the same things:</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="">“I don’t have time to think anymore. It’s like I’m just reacting all day.”</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="">“I know what this kid needs. I can see it. But I’ve got 28 others and a timetable that doesn’t stop.”</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="">“I feel like I’m constantly choosing—do I meet the emotional needs in front of me or keep up with the structured programme I’ll be questioned about?”</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="">“I’m implementing approaches I’ve had zero training in. I’m scared I’m getting it wrong, but I don’t even have time to reflect on what right looks like.”</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="">These aren’t isolated stories.</p>
<p class="-SRE- qUjZI _7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="">This is the emotional climate of our classrooms.</p>
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<div id="viewer-bbwyi1610" class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto"><span class="L6Pq-">“I’m an educator, not a therapist.”</span></div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #2b2b2b;">Absolutely—and you don’t need to be a therapist to solve problems with kids.</span></div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">We just need time and trust.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Educators have always done this. We are the frontline agents in society doing the most essential work: socialising our tamariki. That was never clearer than during COVID. When the world shut down, schools didn’t. Teachers responded overnight to deliver learning, connection, and comfort—often to the most vulnerable.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">It was <strong>us,</strong> alongside the medical profession, who held the community together. Supporting regulation and emotional safety isn’t therapy—it’s pedagogy, and it’s grounded in humanity. It lives innately within every teacher.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">There’s increasing international research suggesting that children born during the pandemic are entering school with developmental vulnerabilities—especially in language, social-emotional readiness, and regulation.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">While New Zealand has no longitudinal study specifically tracking pandemic-born children into early schooling yet (which is surprising, given we were world-leading during that time—with a Prime Minister the world envied and an education system that rose to meet the moment), <a class="exdlk ovRxE" href="https://www.evidence.ero.govt.nz/documents/insights-for-new-entrant-teachers-oral-language-development-in-the-early-years?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-hook="web-link"><u>ERO’s 2024 </u></a>report revealed that nearly two-thirds of early childhood and new entrant teachers believe COVID has negatively impacted spoken language.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Teachers are observing five-year-olds with limited vocabulary and sentence structure, attributed to reduced early social interaction and increased screen time. Yet ironically, some of the same ERO reports highlighting these concerns are now being used to justify mandates that run counter to their own findings. The data tells us our tamariki need more time for oral language, connection, and relational support—yet teachers are being told what to do without the time, training, or systemic space to do it well. Mandates are getting in the way of what ERO itself found to be true for twenty percent of our children.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Considering this evidence—and the fact that two-thirds of new entrant and ECE teachers report oral language concerns—it would make sense to structure Year 1 of school differently. Not as a race to hit academic milestones, but as a dedicated foundation year. One focused on communication, connection, and co-regulation. A space where teachers are empowered to model, guide, and build the essential skills ERO rightly identifies. Because if we want those outcomes, we have to create the conditions for them to emerge. These are different children in front of us now and we must acknowledge that. When this cohort enters tightly structured environments that offer little relational buffer, it’s no surprise we’re seeing amplified dysregulation.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">If we want to calm our classrooms, we need to calm the system.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">That means trusting teachers.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">It means valuing relational teaching as much as structured delivery.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">It means making room for flexibility—and having a Minister who understands the lived reality of our classrooms; one who genuinely listens, learns, and leads with humility.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Because these aren’t just &#8220;COVID kids.&#8221; These are children shaped by uncertainty—and children reacting to rigid environments that demand regulation &#8211; but offer none.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">And teachers? They’re not just tired. They’re wired. Holding too much, too often, with too little support.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">So before we roll out another programme or track another data point, please, let’s ask:</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto"><strong>Who is holding the adults who are meant to hold our tamariki?</strong></div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Because when the adult is supported, the child is safer.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">And when the adult is regulated, the child can begin to be too.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">We don’t co-regulate from a checklist. We co-regulate from a nervous system that feels safe enough to offer calm. And that begins not with another policy, but with compassion.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">We need leaders—at every level—who read the research and respond with the same trauma-informed care we ask of teachers.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Leaders who understand that healing-centred education begins with the adults in the room.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Leaders who know that structure matters—but not at the expense of human nervous systems.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Leaders who are bold enough to ask: what would it look like if wellbeing wasn’t an add-on, but the core of our approach?</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">This is how leaders coped during COVID—they trusted their staff, honoured their judgment, and prioritised connection over compliance. That wisdom shouldn’t be lost now.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Research from New Zealand&#8217;s COVID response reinforces this—principals led with empathy, decentralised decision-making, and trusted their staff.<a class="exdlk ovRxE" href="https://www.nzcer.org.nz/nzcerpress/set/articles/lessons-leading-through-covid-19-secondary-principals-perspectives?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-hook="web-link"><u> A 2021 study by Thornton and Rodley </u></a>found that secondary school leaders prioritised wellbeing over curriculum, engaged in collective leadership, and remained transparent even under immense pressure. ERO’s 2020–21 survey likewise highlighted the relational leadership and innovative flexibility shown across schools.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">This wasn’t just a crisis response—it was a blueprint for what works when trauma is real, and compassion leads.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">One can’t help but wonder—does Minister Erica Stanford make herself aware of findings like these?</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">If she did, perhaps she might connect more deeply with the people she’s trying to persuade—because the answers are already living and breathing in our classrooms.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">Because in the end, it’s not just about policy or performance. It’s about people.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto">And they need holding, not handling.</div>
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<div class="_7F2iW _1g8cS" dir="auto"><strong style="font-size: 20px;">This blog was first published on the author&#8217;s blog, Engaging Learning Voices, and it is republished here with permission. To see the original,<a href="https://www.engaginglearningvoices.com/post/increased-teacher-stress-decreased-co-regulation" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> click here</a>.</strong></div>
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