Teachers Should Not Be Doing Social Work in Schools

How to protect students from harm and teachers from liability

In the evolving landscape of education, teachers are increasingly expected to take on roles beyond their traditional boundaries as educators.

Among the expanding roles expected of educators today, perhaps the most inappropriate and unsustainable is when teachers become social workers. While it is undeniably true that social and emotional factors influence student learning, placing the responsibility for addressing these complex issues on teachers is both unrealistic and counterproductive. It places undue pressure on educators, undermines their primary role, and risks delivering inadequate support to students in real need.

As I may be inviting criticism herein, I can cut to my conclusion. I believe education as a system needs to include resources to support students in short-term crisis, usually in the manner of a school counsellor. Beyond that, those working in education need to be aware of community-based resources to refer youth to when thei rneeds are beyond the purview of an educator.

As a parent of an adolescent, I have received numerous communications from my children’s school over the past five years concerning initiatives that more appropriately fall within the remit of social service providers. This trend raises serious concerns about the shifting priorities within the education system. To be clear, this is not a rejection of social justice in schools—there is value in nurturing empathy and awareness—but the increasing emphasis on these roles, in my perspective, must be coming with a cost to the mission of schooling: to provide academic education.

I see this as a problem for both students and teachers.

Consider the following thought experiment

Imagine a teacher greeting a class of third-grade students on a Monday morning following a long weekend. The preceding Friday had been allocated to professional development, during which the teacher attended an introductory session on strategies to promote emotional well-being in the classroom. Inspired by the training, the teacher rearranges the chairs into a circle and initiates a "check-in" activity intended to gauge the students’ mental states. Each child is asked to share a highlight from their weekend and to describe how they are feeling.

When it comes time for one student to speak—a ten-year-old whose complex and traumatic home life remains unknown to the teacher—he discloses that his parents were involved in a violent, alcohol-related altercation over the weekend which resulted in police intervention. Since then, he has been forced to stay with an aunt, although he doesn’t understand why. The atmosphere in the room shifts; the other students are visibly unsettled, and the teacher is left unprepared and uncertain about how to respond appropriately.

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Is this a realistic example? Am I being intentionally provocative? This type of scenario is not uncommon in schools today with a broad range of social justice initiatives, the growth of social-emotional learning curriculum, and the moral panic about youth mental health. If you create the environment, and put the prompts in place for personal sharing on an emotional level, this is what you will get. Are you really prepared to manage what will come?

My perspective as an educator and therapist

As a registered clinical counsellor, I have an ethical responsibility to my clients and am guided by a professional association that oversees and regulates my practice. Teachers are qualified in schools of education and guided by their governmental teacher’s college, a similar system, but for very different practices. I also teach at a university, and know well the two hats I wear, and when one is off or on.

With the rise of social justice initiatives and related activism in recent years, schoolteachers have become more engaged in practices that would appear closer to the practice of social work. Yes, it would be nice if the education system were closely aligned with mental health services, but blurring boundaries is problematic.

My argument here is that teachers are not trained social workers or therapists and may be causing harm, even when intentions are good. This is not to say teachers are not caring adult role models for kids; they are. However, social workers and therapists undergo extensive education in psychology, counselling, crisis management, and systems of care—knowledge that takes years of specialized study and supervised experience to master. Expecting teachers to navigate these complex social issues without appropriate training not only sets them up for failure but also risks causing unintended harm to the very students they aim to support.

The expanding role of teachers

Teachers are already overburdened with a wide array of responsibilities. In addition to planning lessons, delivering instruction, and assessing student performance, teachers are often required to manage classroom behavior, incorporate technology, adapt to diverse learning needs, and engage in ongoing professional development. Adding social work duties—such as providing emotional counseling, mediating family conflicts, or ensuring access to food and housing—places an unreasonable expectation on individuals whose primary training and focus lie in education, not social services. Not all teachers are engaging in these activities, but I know from teaching in a School of Education that many young educators are heading into teaching careers with some beliefs that they may be a primary support for kids. While this may be true in some cases, this is not the case for most kids.

ChatGPT Image based on simple prompt

A few examples to illustrate my argument

Mental health: Teachers have seen and experienced increased anxiety, depression, and behaviours in the classroom over the years. While I am open to the idea that this “mental health crisis” may be partially because the adults in the room contribute to it, that is not my focus here. Classrooms are not easy to manage. Teaching is not an easy job. Nor is addressing an individual’s mental health struggles.

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) as a curricular item may be helpful for older youth to develop skills but should not be used as a classroom intervention to address issues. Putting kids in a circle and asking them how they feel is crossing lanes from teaching to counselling. The bigger critique of SEL I have written about elsewhere [link]. Include in this realm teachers trying to counsel kids through grief and loss, or family instability. Family issues are family issues, and parents and other adults close to kids, who care, and are invested in their lives are best to address these issues through community resources and healthcare support systems. By extension, school counsellors provide services in schools, and teachers should ensure students know they are available when they are in need.

Sex, gender, and sexual orientation: Most teachers lack the specialized education necessary to support youth struggling with sex, gender, and sexual orientation issues. The research suggests increased dialogue about gender being “fluid” in the early years can increase the likelihood of gender dysphoria when teen hormones start kicking in during adolescence. Further, when supported and cared for without adult intervention, most youth struggling with questions of gender find themselves as same-sex attracted and do not proceed with any transition. There is a very different outcome for children and youth supported toward social transition in schools (often guided by mandatory curriculum—example linked here). More recent research also suggests that youth put on puberty blockers are more likely to begin cross-sex hormone treatments....

Basically, activism has placed teachers in the role of supporting and affirming gender transitions–a complicated and contentious socio-political situation. I have spoken with teachers new and old and can report that there are mixed feelings about the curriculum and the role teachers are stepping into in kids’ lives. Many readily acknowledge not understanding the issue well enough but also not willing to ask questions for fear of being seen as lacking compassion or not accepting. Another issue to be addressed on this front is that these student-teacher relationships regarding sex, gender, and sexual orientation are often occurring without the knowledge of the child’s parents or guardians.

While many teachers strive to create inclusive and respectful classrooms, understanding the complexities of mental health—let alone gender dysphoria, transitioning, or navigating social stigma requires in-depth knowledge of psychology, gender studies, and trauma-informed care—areas typically outside of a teacher’s expertise. Without proper knowledge, well-meaning efforts can unintentionally cause harm or reinforce misunderstandings.

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Will and I discuss these sensitive and deeply personal issues in our forthcoming book, Kids These Days. Short story is that these issues are best handled by trained counselors, social workers, or psychologists who are equipped to provide the informed, affirming support that these students need. That said, we are also firm believers in the common factors of therapy which many other caring and supportive family and friends can provide. It’s not just the ‘experts’ who can help, but we do need to recognize we do have lanes. Will says, “the line between careful and careless is quick to blur.”

The risk to students and teachers

Students are not students outside of school. They are children in families, neighbours, athletes on teams, employees, and kids in the community.

While teachers care deeply about their students and want to support them in every way possible, acting as social workers or therapists can blur professional boundaries and create ethical dilemmas. For example, teachers may feel compelled to intervene in a student’s family situation without understanding legal and social service frameworks involved. This can worsen the situation and expose teachers and schools to legal liabilities. For example, Dr. Gordon Neufeld shared with us that we do not need to teach children how to feel. Children need a safe-enough emotional playground to feel. Teachers, of course, believe they are doing good, but may have been misguided. Asking questions and directing kids to the appropriate supports and resources is key. In fact, that is the job and ethical responsibility.

Furthermore, students deserve professional, comprehensive support when dealing with issues such as abuse, mental health crises, or issues of sexual orientation and gender identity. Relying on teachers to fill this gap shortchanges students by giving them access to insufficiently trained support. It sends the message that addressing complex social problems is secondary or peripheral, when these issues require specialized, focused attention from trained professionals.

The role of schools and the need for collaboration to support struggling kids

This is not to say that schools should ignore the social issues affecting students. On the contrary, schools must acknowledge and address these realities to create an environment conducive to learning. However, the solution lies not in burdening teachers, but in integrating qualified social workers and counselors into school systems.

Schools should invest in comprehensive support teams that include social workers, psychologists, counselors, and family liaisons. These professionals can work alongside teachers—not in place of them—to ensure that students’ social and emotional needs are met. Such a model allows teachers to focus on teaching, while students still receive the support they need to thrive academically and personally.

Collaboration is the key. Teachers can play a valuable role by identifying at-risk students and referring them to the appropriate resources. With a well-established support system, teachers can remain within the bounds of their expertise while contributing to the broader goal of student well-being.

If we are serious about supporting students, we must be serious about providing schools with the resources they need, including funding for adequate counsellors and access to support systems beyond the school. Only then can teachers be freed to do what they do best: teach.

Phone free schools might be a start, but it still is missing the broader picture.

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