Introduction

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, many countries implemented tight measures, such as social distancing and city lockdowns, to decrease the imperious spread of contagion and mitigate the propagation of new infections [1–3]. With respect to the education sector, schools across the world were closed, thereby leaving more than 90% of students without any face-to-face instruction [2–5]. In conjunction with school closures, online instruction had been adopted by educational institutions worldwide to lessen the spread of Covid-19 among students and school personnel. The shift to online instruction occurred, regardless of whether teachers were prepared to employ online instruction platforms [3, 4]. In addition to the shift to online instruction, general education teachers had to integrate new methods to maintain students’ engagement during online classes and redesign educational content to facilitate their learning [1, 4–7]. For special education teachers, the situation was increasingly complicated; they were obligated to develop individualized contingency learning plans (ICLPs) to describe instructional delivery using online modality, adjust evidence-based (EB) interventions to suit online modality and train caregivers or parents to deliver them at home, inform caregivers or parents of new ways to record data so that teachers could monitor students’ progress, and set learning goals for students with disabilities that accommodate their needs during the period of online modality [8]. Indeed, these new work-related responsibilities expanded special education teachers’ workload and further aggravated their mental health.

No studies have explored the mental health of special education teachers during lockdowns. However, a large body of research has investigated the mental health of general education teachers during lockdowns [5, 7, 9–14]. For example, a qualitative study reported that teachers experienced high levels of stress and burnout because of three factors. First, lack of resources (e.g., equipment) impeded teachers from executing their roles effectively. Second, training parents to navigate online instruction platforms (e.g., Google Classroom) expanded their workload. Last, students exhibited maladaptive behaviors, including demotivation to learn, inattentiveness, and lack of autonomy and ownership [15]. Another qualitative study reported that teachers experienced heightened levels of anxiety and fear because of three facets. First, online instruction negatively affected their teaching performance, as they were ‘technologically and mentally unprepared to adapt to digital platforms’ [2, p. 217]. Second, stakeholders’ decisions about high-stakes assessments were made without any consultation with them. Last, their workload increased extensively, since they were obliged to help caregivers or parents with the pedagogical and technical aspects of their children’s home-schooling journey.

In addition to qualitative research studies, a quantitative study reported that 5% of teachers had severe burnout, 12% had moderate burnout, and 38% had mild burnout. Symptoms of burnout correlated with excessive workload, acute work problems, lack of administrative support, and use of complex information and communication technologies [16]. Another quantitative study showed that 14% of teachers had severe stress, 15% had moderate stress, and 16% had mild stress. 7% of teachers had severe anxiety, 21% had moderate anxiety, and 12% had mild anxiety. 4% of teachers had severe depression, 11% had moderate depression, and 12% had mild depression [3]. Moreover, this study reported that female teachers demonstrated higher levels of stress and anxiety (9.5% and 12.6% respectively) than male teachers (2.8% and 3.5% respectively).

After several months of closure, schools were reopened in the early fall of 2021, and face-to-face instruction was resumed [17]. Reopening schools during Covid-19 has posed an immense threat to the mental health of teachers worldwide [18]. Only two studies [e.g., 17, 19] were found that examined the mental health aspect among school personnel after reopening schools during the pandemic and focused solely on general education teachers. To begin with, Kim et al.’s study [17] reported that teachers experienced feelings of stress and anxiety because of two factors. First, their workload vastly expanded as a result of safety protocols. They were assigned to monitor students’ implementation of safety measures (e.g., disinfecting their hands and wearing face masks). Second, the uncertainty of whether schools would shut down again excessively affected their work-related responsibilities; they were incapacitated ‘to develop their lessons since they did not know when or how changes might happen’ [p. 9]. To mitigate their feelings of stress and anxiety, teachers created support networks, which empowered them to exchange solutions to work-related problems. Next, Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al.’s study [19] found that 32.2% of teachers experienced depression, 49.5% experienced anxiety, and 50.6% experienced stress. In fact, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress highly correlated with employment instability, heavy workload, and the possibility of being infected with Covid-19.

No studies, to my best knowledge, have investigated the mental health of special education teachers after reopening schools. Prior to Covid-19, the mental health of special education teachers was strained due to work-related responsibilities, such as modifying the individualized educational plan (IEP) of students with disabilities to include new accommodations, acquainting students with instructional and behavioral routines, assessing their socio-emotional needs constantly, monitoring their progress towards learning goals, employing EB interventions with students with disabilities, ensuring their receipt of special education services in their IEPs, and scheduling case conferences with caregivers or parents [20]. With Covid-19, another layer of strain is undoubtedly added to the mental health of special education teachers. So, the aim of the current study was to bridge the gap in the knowledge base by exploring the mental health of special education teachers after reopening schools during the pandemic, and identifying the psychological services needed to safeguard their mental health. The following research questions guided this study: (a) What are the mental health problems that special education teachers experience after reopening schools during Covid-19? (b) What are the psychological services that they need to safeguard their mental health?

Methods

Research participants

A total of 10 special education teachers represented the sample of this study: three of which from middle schools, four of which from elementary schools, and three of which from high schools in Indianapolis. When estimating the sample size, Bekele and Ago [24] underlined that at least six research participants are required for phenomenological research studies. In addition, Hennink and Kaiser [25] postulated that the minimum sample size for achieving saturation in phenomenological research studies is six interviews. To select the sample, the researcher accessed the Monroe County Community School Corporation’s (MCCSC) staff directory page for elementary, middle, and high schools. In the elementary schools’ tab, the researcher realized that only four out of eleven schools had shifted to face-to-face instruction, while the remaining seven schools were still implementing hybrid teaching. Accordingly, the researcher selected a special education teacher from each of the four elementary schools that had fully migrated to face-to-face instruction. For the sake of the aim of the study, the researcher did not choose any special education teacher from the schools that were incorporating hybrid teaching. In the middle schools’ tab, the researcher discovered that a total of three schools had transitioned to face-to-face instruction. As a consequence, the researcher selected a special education teacher from each of the three middle schools. Finally, in the high schools’ tab, the researcher noted that only three out of six schools had adopted face-to-face instruction, whereas the remaining three schools were still utilizing hybrid teaching. Therefore, the researcher selected a special education teacher from each of the three high schools that had transferred to face-to-face instruction. Table 1 summarizes the demographic characteristics of the special education teachers.

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Table 1. Participants’ demographics (N = 10).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284870.t001

The aforementioned sample was selected using the maximal variation sampling technique; maximal variation sampling is ‘a purposeful sampling technique, in which the researcher samples cases, or individuals that differ on some characteristic or trait’ [22, p. 208]. The researcher utilized the maximal variation sampling technique to capture the different perspectives of special education teachers, who are currently working in elementary, middle, and high schools in Indianapolis, USA, about their mental health after reopening schools amidst Covid-19, and the psychological services needed to safeguard their mental health.

Findings

Thematic analyses of the data generated two emergent themes: stressors and psychological support. Table 2 associates the research questions that guided this study with the major themes and subthemes, emerging from the participants’ responses.

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Table 2. Research questions, major themes, and subthemes.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284870.t002

Discussion

The current study was conducted to explore special education teachers’ mental health after reopening schools. The sample comprised a total of 10 special education teachers who are currently tutoring different grade levels in public schools in Indianapolis, U.S.A. In effect, thematic analyses of the data generated two major themes: stressors and psychological support. To begin, all special education teachers experienced feelings of stress after reopening schools because of many factors, such as students’ behaviors, safety measures, IEP responsibilities, uncertainty, and contact tracing. These feelings of stress were echoed in a research study which probed general education teachers’ mental health after reopening schools and reported that 50.6% of the teachers suffered from stress [19].

One major source of stress to special education teachers was students’ behaviors. In effect, special education teachers observed a severe decline in students’ social and school readiness skills. This observation was consistent with a recent study which investigated general education teachers’ mental health during lockdowns and indicated that teachers experienced feelings of stress because of students’ behaviors. Students were reported to lack autonomy and ownership, to be demotivated to learn, and to have a minimal attention span [15]. Even though this study was carried out during lockdowns and included a different population of teachers, it was evident that students’ behaviors were not a characteristic of periods of lockdown.

A second major source of stress to special education teachers was safety measures. Indeed, special education teachers were required to implement safety measures on school campus, such as wearing face masks, maintaining social distance, and sanitizing their hands. In addition, they were responsible for monitoring students’ exercise of safety measures. This source of stress was echoed in a recent study which scrutinized the prevalence of depression, stress, and anxiety among general education teachers after reopening schools and reported that they suffered from symptoms of stress because of safety measures [17]. Teachers were required to implement safety measures inside their classrooms (e.g., sanitizing students’ desks between classes) to diminish the spread of Covid-19.

One of the infrequent, yet conducive sources of stress was uncertainty. With the increasing infectivity rates and the appearance of the Omicron variant, a special education teacher was unsure of whether schools would shut down again or remain open. These feelings of uncertainty resonated with a recent study which assessed the symptoms of depression, stress, and anxiety among general education teachers after reopening schools and underlined that they experienced stress because of uncertainty. They were unable to execute their job-related duties (e.g., developing lesson plans and assignments), as they ‘did not know when or how changes may happen’ [17, p. 9]. They were also frustrated by ‘the government’s last-minute decisions and the schools’ ever-changing expectations about what [they] should be doing” [p. 8].

Another infrequent, yet causative source of stress was IEP responsibilities. After reopening schools, a special education teacher suffered from stress while revisiting the IEPs of students with disabilities and guaranteeing their receipt of special education services. A possible cause for these feelings of stress could be the lack of administrative support. A recent study which scrutinized the prevalence of depression, stress, and anxiety among general education teachers during lockdowns reported that they suffered from stress due to the absence of administrative support in work-related aspects, such as compiling records, and preparing documents and reports [3].

The last infrequent, yet contributing source of stress was contact tracing procedures. When schools were reopened, a special education teacher was in charge of developing a seating chart for his class; this seating chart informed his quarantine-related decisions and enabled him to keep track of students’ return dates. A plausible reason for the infrequency of this subtheme could be that the Indiana Department of Health [26], as of February 23^rd, ‘no longer recommends contact tracing in schools’ [p. 12]. Yet, schools, in partnership with Local Health Departments (LHDs), may resume contact tracing and quarantine protocols. Since the interviews were launched on April 1^st, most of the schools in Indianapolis may have ceased contact tracing and quarantine measures.

The second major theme was psychological support. It consists of the following subthemes: social support, schools’ support, and preferred support. To start with, all special education teachers emphasized that they did not receive any mental health check-ins from their school principals. Yet, they received mental health check-ins from their colleagues. This form of mental health check-ins was referenced in a recent study in which general education teachers postulated that social support ‘was a protective factor of their mental health and well-being’ [17, p. 14]. In fact, developing social networks enabled them to discuss work-related issues, share coping techniques, seek support, and exchange solutions to classroom problems.

The next subtheme was schools’ support. In fact, all elementary and middle school special education teachers had access to six free counseling sessions as a vital part of their schools’ health insurance plan. According to the UNESCO [27], these sessions aim at enabling teachers to actively support their mental health and their students’. Compared to elementary and middle school special education teachers, all high school special education teachers were not allocated any psychological services from their schools. Failure to provide teachers with psychological services can negatively affect the quality of their teaching performance, thus jeopardizing students’ academic achievement [28] and increasing teacher absenteeism [15].

The last subtheme was preferred support. Special education teachers proposed a number of psychological services, including yoga classes, group therapy, and on-campus counseling sessions, that they yearned to receive from their schools. These services would help them diminish the stress associated with reopening schools. Demonstrating genuine concern for teachers’ mental health by listening and responding to their psychological needs augments their effectiveness, increases their productivity, promotes their psychological wellness, and creates a positive work environment and atmosphere [29].