Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash
I was talking with an old friend last week. She’s been a teacher as long as I have, over 20 years. We were discussing the challenges of this current school year, and she told me how stressed and depressed she is. She says she arrives in her classroom at 6:30 every morning, even though her school day begins at 8:30, just so she can feel like she is on top of all of the demands. From new schedules to students with learning gaps to angry parents to continued quarantines, teachers are juggling too many balls this year. The situation is leading many to burnout.
During a typical school year, many teachers feel exhausted and stressed in late January or early February. Between the winter doldrums and the high energy our profession requires, we become cranky and tired. This year, however, teachers started becoming cranky and tired before Halloween, and many are now reporting symptoms of serious burnout.
What is burnout? According to the World Health Organization, “Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” More detailed information on burnout can be found here on the WHO site: Burnout Articles detailing workplace burnout are all over the internet these days. Recent research suggests that burnout comes from organizational culture and failures, not from the individual.
So how do we as teachers manage burnout if we do not have complete control? At some point, we have to take control of our situation. We must recognize that no one is going to swoop in and save us from the stress.
Here are a few actions we can take aside from basic self-care suggestions.
Communicate
First, we need to share our concerns with leadership. Detail your own experiences as well as those of colleagues. Perhaps several lead teachers can meet with administrators together.
Offer solutions to some of the problems and ensure your meeting is productive. Can the administration cut down on the number of meetings? Can they find outside support, such as parents, to manage additional duties like lunch or recess? Can they add vacation or professional days to the school calendar?
If you do not receive support or a response, you may have to accept that no steps will be taken to support you. As frustrating as this is, it’s a reality that you cannot control. A lack of response may be a sign that you need to take other actions to care for yourself.
2. Let some things go
I was recently bemoaning my struggles of being out sick this year with a friend who is also a teacher. I felt like students were behind, and I had not left detailed enough plans for substitutes. My friend explained that she was also recently out because her daughter had been quarantined.
She said, “You know Jenn, while I was out I got an email from the teacher covering my class that the students had finished my assignments for that class period. This was about halfway into the class. So you know what I did? I went upstairs and took a shower.”
I burst out laughing in disbelief.
She continued, “Sometimes we just have to take care of ourselves. And, I’m turning over a new leaf. People who are covering can suggest the kids read a book or explore a topic on the computer. This is the NEW ME.”
I shook my head.
“Jenn, the old me would have been frantically researching additional assignments I could provide related to the content. I would have been panicked and stressed. But you know, it’s not the end of the world if students complete the assignments early. I’m not there to solve all of the world’s problems.”
I marveled at her mind shift. Perhaps, we all need to shift our mindset and let go of some control. As educators, we feel a tremendous amount of pressure to constantly be “on” and solve every little challenge that arises. We have to realize our expectations of ourselves are unrealistic. We need to stop carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders.
You may say, well everyone expects that we do. However, maybe they expect it because we’ve been doing too much for decades.
3. Arrange your teaching around your life, not your life around teaching
What if you arrange your lesson plans around your life? What, you say? Yes, what if you plan ahead so that you are giving tests or collecting papers and projects when you actually have extra time in your life to grade?
For example, my daughter is a competitive swimmer, and spectators are being permitted once again. I love watching my daughter swim, but a swim meet takes the entire day. I usually sit in the stands for hours waiting with little to do except scroll through social media or read a book. However, if I plan to collect assignments prior to the weekend, then I can sit in the stands and grade while I wait for her to swim. I am not distracted by anything else, and I am making productive use of my day.
I was also recently out sick for several days. My physician was cautious about allowing me to return to work, and I did not have my normal energy level. To plan for my return, I rearranged my lessons so that students would watch a movie on my first day back. Of course, the movie was related to my content, and I would have normally shown the film anyway. I just shuffled my plans around to suit my health needs.
4. Stop and unplug
Society gave a lot of attention to “unplugging” as a result of the pandemic. By this I
mean leaving work email at the end of the school day. Teachers need to to unplug. We need time to recharge and live our own lives.
I stopped reading emails after the school day in 2020 when one of my administrators suggested we do so. I remember feeling like I was missing something at first. I suddenly felt as though I had so much more time after work. What I really had was free space in my brain. I was not thinking about work, planning ahead for work, or stressed about any problems at work. Instead I was able to focus more on my own life. I have realized that technology was allowing work to consume my mental energy all day even though my work day had ended.
5. Recognize you may need to leave teaching
Educators are leaving teaching at record rates this year. You may need to consider a career shift as well. If your situation does not change, you have two choices. One is to accept the environment as it is, or two, leave the environment.
If you chose to leave, you would not be alone. Spending some time on LinkedIn will give you an idea as to how many educators are considering career shifts. From instructional design to project manager to freelancer, teachers are taking their skills to careers in different industries. While it may break your heart to leave the classroom, you may find a new career less stressful and rewarding in different ways.
Living with chronic stress and burnout is not healthy. According to one study published with America’s National Institute of Health, burnout can cause cardiovascular problems, high cholesterol, pain, depression, headache, and even type-2 diabetes. You can read more on this particular summary here: U.S. National Library of Medicine: National Institute of Health . If you are suffering from burnout, you need to take some sort of action.
It’s time for teachers to care for ourselves.