Nulbia Villamán Santos discusses the hidden cost of cognitive overload in education
While educational research has spent decades analysing how the student brain learns, a critical question is often left out of the conversation: What happens to the brain of the person who teaches?
In a compelling new piece for RISE Education Magazine, veteran educator and pedagogical coordinator Nulbia Villamán Santos explores the profound cognitive and emotional toll placed on teachers, arguing that true school wellbeing requires looking far beyond surface-level self-care and examining systemic working conditions.
The impact of cognitive overload
Teaching isn’t just delivering lessons – it’s high-stakes, continuous decision-making. During any given minute, a teacher tracks student engagement, manages behaviour, monitors time and adapts on the fly. When an educator appears exhausted or struggles with administrative demands, it’s rarely a lack of commitment; it’s the biological reality of a brain overwhelmed by hours of continuous micro-decisions.
Teachers face a constant stream of new policies, strategies, and directives. When every request is labeled “urgent,” the brain is forced into exhausting, constant task-switching. Santos challenges leaders to ask: Are we structuring demands to help teachers succeed, or piling them up until cognitive capacity collapses?
Caring for teachers transforms lives
Personal organisation and self-care cannot fix systemic workload issues. For example, mid-day breaks in double-shift systems are frequently consumed by family needs, lesson planning and administrative tasks – leaving little to no time for true rest. Sustainable support requires institutional action.
As Santos powerfully notes, caring for educators is not about lowering academic expectations; it is about providing the healthy, well-resourced conditions teachers need to meet them. When educators feel valued, supported and mentally equipped, they do far more than teach.
Learn more by reading the full article below. Plus, check out NetSupport’s education solutions to discover how our software can help reduce workload and maximise teaching time!