Getting Rid of Burnout: What Leaders Can Do

Getting Rid of Burnout: What Leaders Can Do

Mobile Ed Productions, Inc. is an organization dedicated to supporting educators in big and small ways. As of late, many of us have felt the consequences of maintaining continuous high expectations and demands with little help: it’s called burnout and it is no stranger to most in the education field. Though there are several ways that educators can combat the symptoms of burnout, such as community support and self-care, our team has come together to create an article about ways we can attack burnout at the root.

Psychology Today defines burnout as "a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress." Burnout occurs when someone has exhausted all of the personal and professional resources necessary to complete their job due to heavy workloads, crowded classrooms, and emotional drainage. Many educators have also added to the concept of burnout by introducing the term demoralization, which occurs when an educator feels that they cannot perform their duties to the quality that they wish to.

Symptoms of teacher burnout can include: 

• Physical and emotional exhaustion 
• Cynicism
• Self-doubt
• Withdrawal
• Lack of motivation

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that more than 270,000 teachers have left the profession every year since 2016, and they project the same rate to continue for several more years. More than half of these departures are from “occupational transfers.” This departure puts more work on current teachers’ plates and increases the demand for educators. These statistics have caused many organizations and leaders to start taking a closer look at burnout. 

Mobile Ed has previously addressed how to combat the symptoms of burnout, and we have personally seen the resiliency of educators in our communities. We are now providing a resource for teachers to get rid of burnout symptoms for good. 

Here are a few effective steps that our educational facilities can take toward ending burnout in our industry: 

• Listen Carefully. The easiest way to learn how to best support teachers is by listening to them. This can be through after-school conversations, surveys, or union meetings. Some schools have instituted regular surveys for staff to keep a constant stream of communication flowing. Though surveys may take time and effort to complete, filling them out honestly can make a large impact in your school’s community.

• Create New Roles. Many educators, especially ones newer to the profession, may be taking on more roles than are written in their contracts, such as coaching, tutoring, and chaperoning. And though these are crucial to our school communities, we encourage leaders to find educators to fit this role that are mentally and physically equipped for these roles or to create new roles for these tasks. Speak with your educators and ask them if they could use assistance in the form of additional staff.

• Collaborate on Staff Agreements. When creating policies and procedures, obtain thoughts and feedback from everyone on your team to create policies that will best meet the needs of your teachers (and therefore, your students). Including your staff will ensure cohesion and effective implementations. 

• Provide Mentorship Opportunities. Mentorship programs have been proven to reduce the amount of burnout in schools. Mentors can offer guidance, collaboration, networking opportunities, and constructive feedback. Are there programs in place for newer educators to connect with more experienced staff members? Many of us are discouraged by these opportunities due to overwhelming paperwork and tracking. We recommend opportunities that are beneficial and simple for teachers so that they can reap the benefits of these programs without the additional cost. 

• Plan More Check-ins. Remember those surveys we talked about? We encourage feedback from staff as often as possible. Feedback doesn’t have to be formal, but consistent, regular check-ins on your staff can help them know they’re valued and you care. 

• Create a Realistic Schedule. Many educators perform many of their duties outside of the classroom. To help create a better work-life balance, weave in time for your staff to plan their lessons, activities, and projects, perhaps with other staff members. This can provide a break for teachers while also providing them opportunities to collaborate with staff during the school day. You may find other teachers have done much of the work you need already. 

Though we recognize that reducing burnout in our industry will require patience, we hope that our team can offer beneficial guidance on how we can reverse the normalization of burnout in our industry, slowly change the conditions in our educational communities, and effectively treat the symptoms of burnout when we need to. Though our team has created this article, taking action at the individual level in our communities is the only way we can truly change the conditions that create burnout.

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This article was inspired by Edutopia.