The problem with stories about teacher “burnout”

Abstract

When teachers talk about leaving the profession, they are commonly described as “burnt out.” But for many, argues Doris Santoro, that’s not the real story. In truth, most teachers enter teaching because they want to pursue moral commitments to the well-being of their students, colleagues, and communities. In-depth interviews with experienced teachers as well as studies of teachers’ resignation letters suggest that moral concerns are what led many of them to quit, as well: They leave not because they’ve become exhausted by the demands of the work but, rather, because school policies are preventing them from doing the good and just work they aspire to do.

Application of a Model of Workforce Resilience to the Education Workforce: Expanding Opportunities for Support

“…The association between resilience capacity group and scores on the professional quality of life scales—Compassion Satisfaction, Burnout, and Secondary Traumatic Stress—support the idea that efforts to help the education workforce should follow best practices used for people whose work involves high levels of empathy and exposure to trauma, such as frontline workers and mental health clinicians. The association of higher levels of compassion satisfaction with higher capacity for resilience is consistent with the idea that access to the emotional rewards of working in a helping profession is vital to maintain energy and motivation (Ludick & Figley, 2017 ; Santoro, 2011 , 2018 , 2019 ). Insights from the field have emphasized that being able to see the rewards of helping is key to maintaining energy and motivation.…”

A vision for teachers’ emotional well-being

“…Unfortunately, when teachers don’t experience alignment between the teacher they want to be and the roles and responsibilities placed on them, they are at high risk of the emotional exhaustion (or burnout) that too often leads to attrition (Santoro, 2019). Given the shortages of teachers in high-needs roles and schools before the pandemic (Cross, 2017) and the increased urgency of students’ academic and social-emotional progress since the pandemic, we cannot risk increased attrition by ignoring teachers’ emotional well-being.…”

Lived Experiences of College Instructors With Meager Salary: A Phenomenological Study

“…Of the stressors, only a low teacher salary was significantly associated with qualitative outcomes, and only 2 of 8 outcomes evaluated (poor class management and poorer quality of teaching. Moreover, the study of [17] Santoro, led to the fact that they don't stop because they are exhausted from the demands of their job.…”