Teacher Burnout: 3 Ways to Support Educator Mental and Emotional Health Needs Moving into the Post-Pandemic Era by Rebecca Rock
As any teacher will tell you, there’s no tired quite like “teacher tired.” As someone who taught middle school during the pandemic, I can assure you there’s no “teacher tired” quite like “teaching-during-a-global-pandemic-tired.” As I have reflected on my personal and professional experiences in schools over the past few years, one sentiment has become abundantly clear: While teachers recognize the positive impact they can have on students’ lives, the mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion of their job is completely overwhelming.
It’s no secret that teaching is a difficult profession. Before the pandemic, in fact, one in six teachers were found to move schools or leave teaching entirely from one school year to the next (Taylor and West 2020). Since the onset of the pandemic, however, teachers are under far more stress than ever before, leading many to seriously speculate about the future of the profession (Walker 2021, Will 2021). While talks of teacher burnout have cycled through media outlets for years, recent events have sparked an unprecedented urgency for increased support for teacher’s mental and emotional wellbeing.
Teacher Stress
Teacher burnout is a consequence of chronic job stress resulting in intense emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion (Ghanizadeh, Afsaneh, and Jahedizadeh 2015). Teaching has often been identified as one of the highest stress jobs (Cardoza 2021, Hansen and Sullivan 2003, Herman et al. 2018, Kovess-Masféty, Rios-Seidel, and Sevilla-Dedieu 2007), especially for teachers working in areas that require extra occupational resources, such as low-income school districts and special education departments (Bottiani et al. 2019, Brunsting et al. 2014). While stress can come from many factors, past literature has identified some of the most common stressors being classroom discipline, overwhelming workload, lack of control, feelings of inadequacy/low self-efficacy, and student apathy (Haydon, Leko, and Stevens 2018, Kyriacou 2001, Skaalvik and Skaalvik, 2017). Regardless of the source, job stress often leads to poor job satisfaction, negative health outcomes, and increased rates of depression and anxiety in teachers (Ferguson, Frost, and Hall 2012, Prilleltensky, Neff, and Bessell 2016, Reilly, Dhingra, and Boduszek 2014).
Teacher stress and burnout also significantly impacts students. For example, one study found that teachers’ depressive symptoms were negatively associated with student outcomes on reading and math tests (McLean and Connor, 2015). Another study found that teacher stress negatively impacted students’ school satisfaction and perceived teacher caring (Ramberg et al. 2020). Taken together, these outcomes for both teachers and students lead to higher rates of teacher turnover, which has been shown to negatively impact student achievement and school engagement for years afterward (Ronfeldt, Loeb, and Wyckoff 2013). Conversely, teacher well-being, defined as positive, healthy, and engaged functioning in school, has been linked to numerous positive outcomes, such as improved emotional regulation, teacher effectiveness, and student motivation to learn (Collie 2019).
The Impact of COVID-19
While virtually everyone was negatively impacted by the pandemic, its effects seem particularly acute in the education field. Recent studies have reported that teachers are feeling even higher levels of depression and anxiety due to the pandemic in comparison to other professions (Kush et al. 2021, Pressley, 2021), with female teachers and teachers with children at home being particularly adversely affected (Santamaría et al. 2021). Not surprising then, a recent RAND Corporation survey reported that one in four teachers said they were likely to leave their jobs after the 2020-2021 school year (Steiner and Woo 2021), with another survey from The Brookings Institute finding that teachers’ probability of leaving the profession in the next five years grew from 24 percent pre-pandemic to 30 percent (Zamarro 2021). If current trends hold steady, then the ever-looming teacher shortage is sure to come to fruition, placing our students and communities at even greater risk for learning loss and decreased educational attainment, underscoring the need for swift intervention.
Recommendations
With all of this in mind, the question becomes “How can we best support teachers’ well-being?” The prevailing rhetoric suggests that teachers need to make a more concerted effort to indulge in “self-care” by exercising, having hobbies, or setting better work boundaries (Riaz 2021). While self-care is undoubtedly crucial to the mental wellbeing of teachers, such suggestions grossly oversimplify the larger problem, which is the pattern of systemic teacher burnout engrained into our education system. Thus, in order to truly support teachers, school leaders and other district personnel need to start now and build toward lasting, impactful change (Clement 2017). Building a positive school climate, improving professional development, and reliving accountability pressures are three places to start.
- Build a positive school climate
School climate plays an important role in teacher stress. School climate is defined as the physical, social, and academic environment of a school, including feelings of belonging, trust, and order (Grayson and Alvarez 2008, Loukas 2007). Recent studies have linked positive school climate with outcomes such as increased teacher efficacy, commitment, and satisfaction, suggesting it is a critical factor for helping teachers build their resilience in stressful environments while also decreasing the chances of burnout (Gray, Wilcox, and Nordstokke 2017, Grayson and Alvarez 2008, Suldo et al. 2012). One of the foundational elements of a positive school climate is trusting relationships, which consists of confidence in others, cooperative behavior, and feelings of benevolence (Ashley 2016, Thapa et al. 2013, Tschannen-Moran 2014). As such, leaders should focus on fostering trust inside and outside their schools by providing opportunities for consistent, positive interactions between parents, teachers, students, and administrators (Bryk and Schneider 2003, Van Maele and Van Houtte 2015, Van Maele, Van Houtte, and Forsyth 2014). This could be accomplished through home visits or school open houses, building strong community ties, or incorporating students and teachers into decision-making roles (Noonan, Walker, Kutsyuruba 2008).
2. Focus professional development on topics teachers actually need
Since the onset of the pandemic, teachers have spent more time in professional development than they have at any other time, adding significantly to their stress (Atmojo 2021). From learning how to run Zoom meetings, to becoming experts on new learning management software, as well as having to transfer years of curriculum onto various digital platforms, teacher workloads have significantly increased as they have needed to essentially learn a whole new mode of teaching (Carver-Thomas, Leung, and Dion Burns 2021). These added responsibilities have rendered their already limited prep time very precious but has also increased the potential value of professional development sessions. As we enter into this new digitized learning era, it’s important to recognize that teachers’ needs have shifted dramatically, and so the content and delivery of professional development sessions needs to shift as well to help them keep up with their new demands (Zimmer and Matthews 2022). School leaders should take time to learn what kinds of professional development would best help their teachers navigate this new educational landscape, such as learning to incorporate culturally responsive teaching, strategies for navigating technology equity issues with their students, or learning best practice hybrid teaching techniques.
3. Relieve the pressure from high stakes accountability policies (as much as possible)
Ever since No Child Left Behind, performance-based accountability policies have skyrocketed despite evidence suggesting they have negative effects on teacher stress, burnout, and turnover (Nathaniel et al. 2016, Ryan et al. 2017, Berryhill, Linney, and Fromewick 2009). Leaders can help mitigate these stressors in a number of ways. First, they can incorporate more teacher voice into school-based decisions, such as curriculum requirements, hiring processes, or in developing school goals. One of the biggest consequences of accountability policies is decreased professionalism in teachers, which commonly leads to stress and demoralization (Wills and Sandholtz 2009, Wronowski and Urick 2021). Conversely, incorporating teacher voice has been shown to promote professionalism, increase efficacy, and reduce stress (Lauermann and König 2016, Leithwood 2001, Ryan et al. 2017). Another strategy could be to adjust district teacher evaluation systems to be less punitive and more reflexive to teacher’s new demands, relieving added job stressors and allowing them to focus more on their teaching practices (Frost 2020). For example, districts can update their evaluation frameworks to better align with both in person and virtual teaching strategies, providing them with more relevant and effective feedback (Giffin 2020). Finally, administrators can advocate for crucial policy changes, such as increased teacher compensation or more informed data-driven decision making to improve teacher working conditions under such high demand accountability requirements.
Conclusion
Teaching is a tough job, but one that is crucial for our nation. As Bousquet (2012) stated, “If more energy were put into providing emotional support for effective educators, they would be far more likely to continue to teach and to share their passion and knowledge in the years to come” (2). If we truly want what is best for our students and teachers, then it’s time to give teachers the support they need. This begins with school and district leaders actively engaging in the fight for teachers’ well-being.
About the author
Becky Rock is a 2nd year Ph.D student in Educational Theory and Policy at Penn State University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English education from BYU-Idaho and a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership with a specialization in Policy Studies from BYU. She is a former middle school language arts and creative writing teacher. Her broad research interests center around the intersection of political science and public education, including teacher policy, school choice, accountability, and educational policy processes. Her current work centers around the political engagement and influence of K-12 teachers.
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