Teacher Burnout

[Niko]

Causes of Teacher Burnout

Teachers that have been in the field for sometime, are surely aware of teacher burnout. What is teacher burnout, and how much is it a problem today?

The pressures of teaching can be enormous. Teacher burnout is a common problem amongst English teachers abroad and needs to be addressed. Teachers that really don't want to be in the classroom rob students of quality education. Simply put, teacher burnout is a loss of enthusiasm for teaching.

Some of the more common causes of teacher burnout are:

1. Communication Barriers: English teachers are continuously struggling to communicate with students. Teachers often miss out on deep and rewarding conversations. Instead, an English teacher would engage in shallow talk about the weather, weekend activities and so forth.
2. Mental Stimulation: Teachers can only repeat the same questions so many times before boredom sets in. Asking students the same questions week after week can lead to frustration amongst teachers. Furthermore, asking open ended questions such as "How was your weekend?" to get a 1 word reply of "Good", just doesn't impress a teacher.
3. Student Personalities: Being forced around students that the teacher otherwise would not associate with.
4. Lack of Improvement: A good teacher is rewarded by student improvement. Lack of improvement is another cause of teacher burnout. Students coming to class unprepared with little inclination to study wastes not only the teacher's time but the student's time too.

Burnout is not only a problem within the teaching industry, but also other industries. It's a fact of life that many wake up in the mornings wishing they no longer need to go to work.

With every job comes good and bad points. It's up to the individual to address the problems and progress towards a happier working day.

There are things the teacher can do to improve the situation. However, preventing teacher burnout is a whole new topic and will be discussed in a future blog.

[exported_kiwi]

Yep, burnout happens. Had it myself on my last job, starting at 08:30 and finishing at 22:00. Damned difficult to do anything but work, eat and sleep with those hours. Sure, the money was good (RMB12,000) but sheesh, I never thought the job would be as bad as it was. The students weren't even interested in learning and constantly trying to stimulate and cajole the little basta.............ooops, meant darlings, into learning anything beyond "hello" was nigh on impossible. I soon found that a good brisk morning run did the trick and they started to get the idea that I would discipline them, and make them learn if I had to, but the toll it took on me wasn't worth it, so I changed jobs! Simple for me, not so easily done for others.

Good luck to all who are experiencing burnout right now.... only a few more months til Spring Festival!

Hang in there!
Nuff said,

[heavery]

Burnout happens to everyone. Students wake up and wish they don't need to go to school. Teachers wish the same thing and so does everybody. Doing things over and over again can make you grumpy and frustrated. Wouldn't it be great if we could find something that we do over and over again, earns us a great income and at the same time we love what we're doing that we aren't going to end up feeling burnt out?

[Tutor]

In any career people tend to stick to the manager and not the job. If a person is happy with the manager he/she will continue the work else the chances to switch are more.

However as a teacher the main reason is the students and thier attitude to learn.

As a teacher the most important factor to continue or not depends upon the response from the students. Money may not be so important as the response the teacher gets after putting efforts to help the students learn. Burnout depends upon emotional and mental feelings rather than material benefits.