teachers and burnout: what to do when you can’t change the world

it’s december. we made it to the end of 2020 – a spectacularly stressful year, no matter who you are, what you do, or where you live. as the months ticked by, though, it became clear that the chaos of the year placed almost unbearable levels of stress on some professions, educators among them. as schools wind down for winter break in the midst of a national spike in covid-19 numbers, it may be a good time to deconstruct and consider burnout, what it looks like, what causes it, and what we can do about it.

an online search of teacher burnout will yield you lots of hits – from blogs to scholarly articles, the relationship between teacher burnout and teacher attrition is well documented. in their book, burnout: the secret to unlocking the stress cycle, emily nagoski and amelia nagoski cite a statistic that 20-30% of teachers had moderately high to high levels of burnout, and that was before covid-19 upended all that was familiar in the life of a teacher. since march, teachers have taught in-person from behind masks and face-shields to masked, shielded, distanced students in classrooms arranged for minimal interaction and contact. or they’ve spoken to brady bunch faces or blank boxes on their computer screens, trying to create a sense of community and connection with their students through the imperfect medium of zoom or google meet. some teachers have had to learn how to do both – teach to those students in the room with them, while engaging and supporting students following along with a live-streamed lesson from home. and they’ve done this while facing all the challenges the rest of us have been navigating – managing their own families’ disrupted schedules, their own children’s online learning, their own concerns about their health and the health of their loved ones.

preliminary numbers on the impact of covid-19 on teacher retention are inconclusive. though there have been upticks in teacher retirement in some areas, that is potentially attributable to the age of the teacher population, and the recession has led some teachers who considered retiring or leaving the profession in the spring to stay on because they are concerned about finding another position with benefits. the impact on teacher morale, however, is easier to glean. if you have a professional learning network on twitter, you have seen the despairing tweets from teachers unable to find their footing. in a survey of teachers in november, ed week found that teacher morale and applications to teach are down. 

what does burnout look like?

so, we know burnout is happening with our teachers in our schools, but how does it present in an individual? according to the nagoski sisters, when someone is experiencing burnout, they will experience the following three components comprised in the technical term:

• emotional exhaustion – this is common among caregivers and those in caring professions, especially when things are difficult and chronic. caring too much for too long leads to exhaustion.

• depersonalization – when people become detached from others, and can not access empathy, compassion, or caring.

• decreased sense of accomplishment – that feeling that no matter what you do, you are not doing it well, and if you are, it won’t make a difference anyway.

teacher burnout is detectable to students. they will notice that their teachers are absent more frequently, and when they are there they are less prepared, less tolerant of class disruptions, and less empathetic to the challenges faced by students. 

what causes burnout?

many articles on burnout discuss the stressful conditions of teaching or the myriad challenges of managing life through a pandemic as the cause of burnout. the revelation from the work of the nagoskis is that burnout is caused by the mismanagement of stress, not by the stressors. this means that each of us can address burnout in our lives without leaving or changing our jobs, our relationships, or our communities (depending on your stressor). ultimately, it may be a good idea to leave or change one or more of those, but managing burnout does not require it. 

this is good news for teachers who love the transcendent moments in teaching, and believe in the value of what they are offering their students, but feel they cannot endure another year the way they have lived this one. this also presents a challenge to administrators to create space and provide support for teachers to manage their stress. the answer for anyone experiencing burnout is to take some time in the coming weeks, and to find their way to manage themselves through the stress cycle. burnout is caused when one’s brain reacts to stress, triggering all of the physical responses that are triggered when the brain registers that it is in danger, and there is no completion of the cycle, restoring the state of mind back to a less reactive state. 

what can we do about burnout?

this is the tricky part – as an individual, there are things a person can do to get their brain through the stress cycle, and feeling proactive and peaceful. that said, one of the trends in discussions about teacher burnout is the extent to which addressing wellness is often turned back on the teachers, who, as they are burned out, often react with cries that self-care won’t solve these larger problems. and they are right, sort of. self-care won’t solve the larger problems, but it will get everyone who loves teaching in a much better spot to solve those larger problems. as a school or district leader, you can support your teams in recognizing what burnout is, what causes it, and finding ways to complete the stress cycle while you work on the larger systemic stressors that could improve the learning experience for all.

so, how does one complete the stress cycle? again, emily and amelia nagoski have several tips and ideas on how to start, with the caveat that each person will have to arrive at the method that suits them best. the critical part of completing the stress cycle is the communication to the brain and the body that the acute danger is over, and it is okay to return to a more relaxed, less vigilant state. once the body knows that, the stress cycle is complete. burnout happens when people get stuck in the stress cycle. completing the stress cycle is a physical activity – here are some of the ways the stress cycle can be intentionally completed, and how school leaders can facilitate those practices. 

however you plan to spend your time away from school these last few weeks of 2020, incorporating some consideration of stress management practices, regardless of the stressors, might bring some well-deserved peace as we all transition into 2021.