Teacher burnout is a common problem faced by many teachers the world over but is anyone listening? Educators strive day after day to provide quality education to students. However, with the demands of education increasing day by day, teachers face unbelievable amounts of stress that results in mental and physical fatigue and an overall complacency towards their jobs. They often complain of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion. They also experience the feeling of being overwhelmed and feel a sense of detachment or disinterest towards their profession.
Various reasons can be cited as reasons for teacher burnout. The lack of an appropriate number of staff members in school, absenteeism among teachers which creates additional substitution sessions, designing and redesigning of lesson plans regularly, tonnes of administrative work, mandatory training sessions to attend, and grading duties are some of the factors. The workload of teachers is huge and leaves very little or no time for self-care. Although schools expect teachers to adopt active learning strategies and bring novelty into their classrooms, the fact that they are bound by a strict curriculum with strict deadlines dampens the autonomy of teachers causing frustration and undue stress.
The profession of teachers is different from others and quite unique as a teacher continuously interacts with young children, with impressionable minds. This can be emotionally taxing. Children of any age group have their own set of problems, such as anger issues, disruptive behavior in class, inability to work as a team, learning disabilities, etc. High school teachers who deal with adolescent children have a huge responsibility in their role as counsellors, motivators, confidantes, and collaborators. This requires an investment of enormous amounts of emotional energy and can lead to exhaustion on the part of the teachers if done for a long time.
Many teachers can also feel isolated and stressed due to limited opportunities in school and a lack of support from the school management. High expectations from all stakeholders like students, parents, the management, and even society in general add to the stress levels.
A comprehensive strategy involving educators, school administrations, lawmakers, and the public is needed to address teacher burnout. Here are some strategies that could promote teacher well-being.
Self-care and stress management: Schools should have a robust counselling service in place and should conduct workshops on stress management techniques. Sessions like these should be conducted within school hours after the students leave the premises and not on holidays or after school.
Workload distribution: Schools should assign responsibilities and workload uniformly among teachers. Very often it is seen that good workers are dumped with more and more work with the natural expectation of perfect quality and timely delivery. The not-so-good workers are not given enough responsibilities as both quality and timely delivery is questionable. Such workers should be given additional training to improve or there could be some kind of performance-based incentive in place to motivate the teachers.
Promoting work-life balance: Teachers should be allowed to switch off from school completely after school hours. There should be a strict no-communication policy in place after school hours. The school’s management should be well-planned and organised with regard to daily tasks, without which the execution of such a policy is not possible. Sometimes, teachers are expected to stay back after school for administrative tasks or other duties. Teachers should be compensated appropriately in case this happens regularly. Compensation can be as simple as giving a compensatory off or any other kind of incentive.
Providing ample professional development opportunities: Providing opportunities to teachers to enhance their professional skills keeps them motivated. The workshops or training courses should be relevant and not a repetition of content being delivered year after year. Repetition causes boredom and frustration and demotivates the teachers completely.
Building a support group: Teachers should make efforts to foster a culture of support among their team members. Collaboration will help in easing the burden of teachers to a great extent. Maintaining an open communication channel can help teachers avoid misunderstandings and stress in day-to-day dealings.
Showing staff appreciation for their work: School management should be appreciative of the good work that the staff does. Simple tokens like a small thank you card for some well-conducted school function, a congratulatory letter on completion of a course or just speaking a few words of praise to a teacher makes a lot of difference in boosting the morale of the teachers. Teachers feel valued and respected and in turn their motivation levels go up, leading to better performance. A small token of appreciation can go a long way in creating a culture of a motivated and loyal workforce.
Providing basic infrastructure: Teachers spend nearly eight hours a day in school. Basic requirements like toilet facilities and drinking water should be ensured. In multi-floor buildings, which house most city schools, there should be a toilet on each floor. Climbing several flights of stairs up and down to access the toilet becomes difficult for teachers. As a result, they either compromise on the water intake or control their bladder for long hours causing discomfort and other urinary issues in the long run.
Addressing these issues will help in increasing teacher effectiveness. A happy teacher will be able to perform better and will be able to bring joy to teaching and learning in the classroom. Teacher attrition will come down which in turn brings about a stable school and classroom environment. A positive school culture will be nurtured which is essential for student well-being.
Teachers should look out for warning signs of burnout and make a conscious effort to create a culture of well-being for themselves. Some tips for teachers:
Switch off from school: Allot a scheduled number of hours in the day when you will not think of school, your students, and work.
Invest in quality family time: As teachers, and professionals in general, many times we ignore the needs of our families to complete pending work from school. We should never forget that we are ultimately working for our families, so any day, family comes first.
Dress well for work: Going to school well-dressed can make you feel good. A look or word of appreciation from your peers or students can truly brighten up your day.
Create a warm and friendly classroom: A happy environment creates happy learners and brings about fruitful learning. Smile more often and use humour to add sparkle to your class. A positive self is the start of a positive relationship between the teacher and the learner.
Celebrate special occasions: Festivals, birthdays, and anniversaries of friends and colleagues should be celebrated. Celebrations of any kind bring happiness and cheer to our otherwise mundane lives. Exchanging gifts, planning potlucks, or treating your friends to lunch or tea after school spreads joy and increases the happiness quotient in our lives.
Burnout does happen but it can be prevented, or it can be reversed with the right attitude and the right company. We cannot change the things that are not in our control. We can only work around them and prevent them from causing much damage. Supporting one another in times of crisis is the only way to come out of the never-ending negative loop.
Finally, practise gratitude. Be thankful for the little things you have. Be thankful for your job and the fact that you can make a difference in countless lives. Be thankful for the resources you have, the salary you can take home each month, and the beautiful bond you share with your colleagues at school. When we retire from our jobs as teachers, I wonder, what is it that we will remember the most: the challenges we faced in doing our daily duties or the satisfaction we felt in the delivery of lessons, the fact that some students keep in touch long after leaving school or the petty politics we faced at times? The answer says it all. Let us always try to focus on what does matter and make the most of our time as a teacher.
b_bishakha@yahoo.co.in
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