Stressed out Schools - Is Teacher Burn-out the New Norm?

    Today, I listened to the Podcast "5 Things" on USA Today. It was focusing on Education and how teachers, and other school-based staff, have been put under more and more pressure in the past few years causing more professionals to leave the profession completely. In the podcast, it was mentioned that "according to a 2020 survey conducted by teachers' union, the National Education Association, 55% of educators are thinking about leaving the profession earlier than they planned" (Brown, 2022). This particular statistic stood out to me at first as seeming extremely high. But then I began to think about myself and my own experience, as well as the experiences of many of my colleagues and I realized that I couldn't think of a teacher friend of mine in the past few years who HASN'T made a comment about leaving the profession or scaling back their current duties.  Even thinking of myself, I have thought to myself many times over the past few years, "Is this what I see myself doing the rest of my life?", "Maybe I can find something that has less pressure and more appreciation?", "Am I truly happy when I leave work each day?". 

    I thought a bit more about why I have had those thoughts, and why I have heard so many of my colleagues make similar comments like my own. It dawned on me, many of the stressors that exist in todays educational system have only worsened since the Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to 2020 when Covid hit the U.S., I feel that I had a much better work-life relationship that the one I currently have. I had a hard drawn line that I would do what I could at school and try my best not to take unfinished work home. I drew a line for parent communication where parents knew that they should not expect a response from me after I had "left the building" for the day. But then the pandemic hit and everything moved from happening at school, to happening at home from my very own kitchen table. I was constantly working non-stop as I adjusted to doing the things that I had perfected over the years of teaching in-person, and had to convert all materials to be delivered virtually. I began over-communicating with my parents and families of my students. I wanted to ensure that while parents were shifting to working from home and helping to support their children's education virtually, that there was limited to no questions about what I was doing for schooling. Because of this, I feel that parents have gotten used to constant communication and teachers being available at all hours of the day to answer their questions. Even though we are back in person full-time, I still feel that the work/home life is blurred to this day. 

    As a teacher, I constantly think about my students and how to best serve them to foster their education and learning. In doing so, there has been a huge amount of pressure to ensure that students are preforming well on classroom assignments and assessment and showing growth along the way. This has caused for extended teaching planning that sometimes can not happen during the allotted planning time during school hours.  For many teachers, this means bringing work home or continuing the work day further past contracted duty hours. 

    In listening to the "Stressed Out Schools" podcast, it made me think about how there are so many reasons that teachers and other school-based staff are considering leaving the profession due to the workload, added-pressure, tough work/life balance, long work hours and the feeling of constantly being "on-call". When did our educational system become such that pushed so many people out the door when their main focus and want is to support children and foster their love for education and learning? What can be done in order for us to help prioritize those who are, for lack of better term, in the trenches, teaching these students each day? 

    I know that my favorite thing about teaching and my most driving factor for staying in education after a tough day is my love for my students. It is the smiles I get in the morning when they walk down the hall. It is the hugs I get at the end of the day before they head home. It is the written notes and drawings that are plastered with the "I love you Mrs. Ger" and "You are the best teacher ever". It is the laughs we have throughout the day. It is the difficult student that you finally made a break-though with and built that relationship based on mutual respect. There are so many things that make you stay in education as a teacher, and for me, they are ALL focused around the 24 children I spend my days with. 

    We must change our system to make those who truly care, know that they are appreciated and needed for our kids. 

  

Brown, J. (2022, September 25). Stressed out Schools: How Parents and Teachers Choices are Changing Education . Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2022/09/25/stressed-out-schools-how-parent-and-teacher-choices-changing-education/8105198001/

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