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From Burnout to Balance: Understanding and Preventing Teacher Burnout

By Alison Jones

American teachers are burned out. The 2022 Gallup Panel Workforce Study sought to identify the burnout experienced by working professionals across various industries. K-12 education had the highest rate of job burnout, with 44% of employees reporting burnout. Additionally, 52% of surveyed teachers reported experiencing job burnout (Marken & Argawai, 2022). Furthermore, a 2022 study conducted by the National Education Association found that 55% of teachers planned to leave the field before retirement age. This article seeks to empower pre- and in-service teachers with knowledge about burnout, its causes, effects, and ways to combat it, so they will be better equipped to handle job burnout if it occurs.

Understanding Teacher Burnout

Christine Maslach’s research identified three main causes of job burnout: emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and feelings of inefficacy (2017).

• The ever-increasing work demands and job stress can cause emotional exhaustion in teachers. This exhaustion often leads to fatigue and a lack of enthusiasm for teaching.
• Cynicism, often tied to emotional exhaustion, manifests as a loss of connection with students and colleagues. Teachers experiencing cynicism may feel general indifference towards their profession and students.
• Feelings of inefficacy are not directly related to the other two causes of burnout. However, feelings of inefficacy occur when a teacher believes their actions make no difference and that they are ineffective. Feelings of inefficacy can lead teachers to question whether their efforts are worthwhile.

Identifying the Causes of Burnout

There are a variety of internal and external causes of teacher burnout. Teachers may blame themselves when students are not excelling, when classroom management troubles arise, and when negative parent interactions occur. Teacher evaluations focusing on weaknesses rather than strengths also contribute to burnout. External factors like poor leadership, insufficient funding, limited classroom autonomy, and low morale also contribute to burnout. As researchers delve more into the problem of teacher burnout, multiple studies indicate that burnout can also spread in a school, otherwise known as burnout contagion. Burnout can spread among colleagues, with teachers more likely to experience it if their peers are affected (Meredith et al., 2019).

The Impact of Burnout on Teachers and Students

The adverse effects of teacher burnout are experienced by students and teachers at both the building and classroom level. For example, teachers may become less effective in their craft and classroom management may suffer, which could result in poor student performance. This can be a vicious cycle as teachers blame themselves for underperforming students, exacerbating feelings of inefficacy. Long-term job burnout leads to less job satisfaction, increased levels of anxiety, depression, and sleep issues, and when not addressed, teachers leave their jobs.

Strategies to Prevent and Manage Burnout

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to preventing teacher burnout; however, there are external and internal steps teachers can take to mitigate and endure pressures of burnout. First and foremost, externally, teachers should know that they have the agency and decision-making power to change schools if the school leadership and/or climate are not the right match. Sometimes teachers are not given the working conditions to truly thrive, leading to emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and feelings of inefficacy.

Second, on a personal level, teachers can take actions that might provide a buoy of support when they feel job burnout creeping in.

• Know the signs and symptoms of job burnout: Once teachers understand what burnout may look and feel like, they are more likely to address the feelings of exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy upon onset.
• Create a support group within the school: Fellow teachers intimately understand the day-to-day experiences of school life and can provide the support teachers need to endure.
• Create professional goals: It is easy to create goals for the students; however, professional goals provide something for teachers to strive for to help them grow as educators and people.
• Prioritize: The adage states that a teacher’s job is never done. It is important to create work boundaries. For example, not grading outside the school building, setting a time limit for working at home, or saving one day a week for teachers to focus on what fills their proverbial cup. Setting these boundaries helps teachers refocus on their lives outside the school building.
• Refocus on health and wellness: Although self-care has become a buzzword, it offers tangible benefits that can support teachers facing burnout. Self-care looks different for each teacher, but often includes getting proper rest, a healthy diet, and exercise.
• Be present: It is easy to become overwhelmed with all the tasks that need to be done. Avoid the never-ending to-do list and focus on one part of the school day at a time.
• Find an anchor: A teacher’s anchor serves as a grounding point in times of overwhelm and burnout. The anchor can be a person, a book, a task, or a quote that brings an individual out of a challenging situation and helps teachers move through the stages of burnout.

Teacher burnout is real and rampant in schools. Understanding the causes and effects of burnout and the steps to overcome it is essential to the well-being of teachers and their students. Developing a proactive plan to address burnout can help teachers thrive long-term in their classrooms.

References

Bălănescu, Ramona Cristina. 2019. "Teaching Emotions, Stress, and Burnout among Teachers in Secondary Education." BRAIN. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience 10 (2): 119. https://doi.org/10.18662/brain/10.2/12.

Jotkoff, Eric. 2022. "NEA Survey: Massive Staff Shortages in Schools Leading to Educator Burnout; Alarming Number of Educators Indicating They Plan to Leave Profession." National Education Association, February 1, 2022. https://www.nea.org/about-nea/media-center/press-releases/nea-survey-massive-staff-shortages-schools-leading-educator-burnout-alarming-number-educators.

Marken, Stephanie, and Sangeeta Agrawal. 2022. "K-12 Workers Have Highest Burnout Rate in U.S." Gallup, June 13, 2022. https://news.gallup.com/poll/393500/workers-highest-burnout-rate.aspx.

Maslach, Christina. 2017. "Finding Solutions to the Problem of Burnout." Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research 69 (2): 143–52. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000090.

Meredith, Chloé, Wilmar Schaufeli, Charlotte Struyve, Machteld Vandecandelaere, Sarah Gielen, and Eva Kyndt. 2019. "'Burnout Contagion' among Teachers: A Social Network Approach." Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 93 (2): 328–352. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12296.

Dr. Alison Jones is an Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Evansville. A former middle and high school teacher, Dr. Jones is dedicated to preparing future teachers for the joys and challenges they may face in their classrooms. Her research interests include teacher burnout, educational technology, and the role of clinical experiences in educator preparation.