Growing Our Future: Texas Agricultural Science Education Magazine

TEACHER BURNOUT

IDENTIFYING THE STAGES OF TEACHER BURNOUT COULD HELP YOU AVOID GETTING BURNED OUT

BY: DR. CANDIS CARRAWAY ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

Teacher burnout is real, and it is common in the ag education profession. Knowing what causes it and the different stages can help prevent you from falling victim. It is time we discuss this issue instead of ignoring it. None of us are immune to this problem, and most of us have probably already faced it whether we knew it at the time or not.

After seeing the impact teacher burnout had on some of my close friends and mentors, I decided this was a topic I needed to research. The first book I read really spoke to me and reaffirmed what a big problem it is. Since that time, I have read tons of books and research articles about teacher burnout, burnout in general (teachers are not the only ones who face burnout), and stress. However, I still refer back to that first book I read when discussing the topic.

The book was called “Joy in Teaching; Build Resilience, Fight Burnout, Reclaim the Joy” and was written by Dr. Tiffany A. Carr. To me, the most valuable part of the book is how it describes the stages of burnout and explains how people can move up and down the scale. The author stated the scale isn’t a cycle so you don’t have to go through every stage. If a person can identify they are approaching the burnout stage (stage 4) they can take actions to fully prevent escalation. This makes a lot of sense and I think ag teachers can relate to it, so I would like to share it with you. Dr. Carr describes the following stages of burnout:

STAGE 1 PASSIONATE – In this stage you have a lot of energy. You are excited to implement new strategies in your classroom, volunteer for leadership roles or committees, and get started with practices for FFA competitions. You seem to have energy to spare and pour it into your job. Other people see your passion and begin delegating more tasks to you. Slowly you begin taking less care of yourself and pouring more and more time into your job. You know you are making a difference and that makes you feel good, so good that you don’t notice the physical toll it is taking on you.

STAGE 2 ACTIVE – All the energy you once had is fading and you are becoming stressed. You aren’t paying attention to details as much. You have so much going on you start forgetting about meetings, deadlines, or responsibilities. You get distracted easier. You give less feedback to your students and connect with them less than before. You begin to distance yourself from your friends and co- -workers. You may even find yourself joining in on the negative conversations that occur in the teachers’ lounge. You begin to change the way you see yourself as an educator and now you’re making jokes about your students, the same ones you were once inspired to help.

STAGE 3 DEPLETED – Teaching is taking a toll on you in this stage. You are tired. You are weighed down by the behavioral and emotional issues of your students. The workload seems overwhelming. You feel unappreciated. You are so busy that everything seems to blur together. You remember being excited to be a teacher, but you don’t feel that way at the moment. You wonder what happened to your love for teaching.

STAGE 4 BURNOUT – You are functioning in pure survival mode. You are just going through the motions of each day. You are disconnected from students, peers, and family. Your health begins to suffer. You feel discouraged and feel like there is nothing you can do to control these feelings.

STAGE 5 RISE UP – Something happens to allow you to regain some energy, remember why you wanted to teach, and refocus. This could be any number of things, like receiving a thank you letter from a student, seeing a former student at Walmart and meeting their family as they tell their children all the things they learned in your class, or maybe even receiving recognition from your administration for a job well done. Typically, the FFA banquet allows for a “rise up” opportunity as the chapter reflects upon its achievements and you get to interact with students and parents in a celebratory fashion. Attending pro-

I like this scale as I can understand it. I can visualize the different stages and identify them in my own life, but I think there is a stage missing from this scale. The missing stage is the one we should all strive to be in, I am going to call this stage the Harmonious Stage. In this stage, you take care of yourself and your peers as much as you take care of your students. You schedule time for yourself and prioritize your own health. You learn ways to complete the stress cycle and set boundaries. In this stage, you care deeply about teaching and your students but you also realize you have to take care of yourself too. You learn to manage your time better and you learn that it is ok to say “no” sometimes.

If you would like to learn more about this stage you need to attend the teacher burnout workshop at this summer’s ATAT conference. The workshop is entitled “Taking Care of Yourself and Taking Care of Each Other to Prevent Teacher Burnout” and will be conducted by myself, Jennifer Jackson, and Lindsey Marek.