Penny鈥檚 situation was a familiar one for educators.
The middle school math teacher worried she was burned out. Her district had instituted an intense new set of math curriculum standards without providing resources to cover those lessons. She was constantly sick from the mold in her classroom, but when she reported it to administrators, they only painted over the mold. Rather than run serious student-disciplinary issues up the chain, her principal sent students back to class as if nothing had happened.
And Penny was beleaguered by parents who made ridiculous requests, such as 鈥淢y children like it when their teachers attend their sports events. Your attendance at all of the attached games would be appreciated鈥� and 鈥淒id you get the homework out of Brentley鈥檚 locker?鈥�
Historically, teachers鈥� rates of 鈥渏ob strain,鈥� stress from high demand/low control work, are higher than the average rate of all workers. A joint American Federation of Teachers and Badass Teachers Association survey revealed that almost two-thirds of educators find work 鈥渁lways鈥� or 鈥渙ften鈥� stressful.
The media often use the phrase 鈥渢eacher burnout鈥� to describe educators鈥� stress, exhaustion, and overwork. But after interviewing hundreds of teachers nationwide for my book , I believe 鈥渢eacher burnout鈥� is a myth鈥攁nd the term should be ditched.
Experts have identified several causes of teacher burnout, including inadequate workplace support and resources; unmanageable workload; high-stakes testing; time pressure; unsupported, disruptive students; and a wide variety of student needs without the resources to meet them. Penny, whom I followed for a year for the book, experienced all of these issues, as do many teachers.
Coverage of teacher stress and burnout often emphasizes the negative effects of teachers鈥� stress on students. Pennsylvania State University researchers described a 鈥渂urnout cascade鈥� with 鈥渄evastating effects on classroom relationships, management, and climate,鈥� in which burned-out teachers become emotionally exhausted, can鈥檛 manage 鈥渢roublesome student behaviors,鈥� and quit. Or, the researchers claimed, surprisingly specifically, that teachers cope 鈥渂y maintaining a rigid classroom climate enforced by hostile and sometimes harsh measures [while] bitterly working at a suboptimal level of performance until retirement.鈥� Authors of a concluded that, 鈥渁s hypothesized,鈥� students viewed teachers reporting higher levels of burnout as 鈥渟ignificantly less socially and emotionally competent.鈥�
As I read those examples of teacher burnout literature, I was dogged by an unsettled feeling: While researchers mostly seemed sympathetic to teachers, their conclusions sometimes portrayed educators in a way I found disconcerting. Then I read two relatively splashy studies that crystallized what bothered me. A Belgian study warned of 鈥�,鈥� in which teachers can 鈥渃atch鈥� burnout from colleagues. The researchers concluded that because teachers in close coworker relationships exhibited similar levels of burnout, their study 鈥渋ndeed demonstrated that burnout is鈥攖o some extent鈥攃ontagious.鈥�
In another , University of British Columbia researchers said that teachers experiencing higher burnout levels had students with higher morning cortisol levels. They called this transference 鈥渟tress contagion,鈥� claiming, 鈥渋t is possible that spending most of the school day in interaction with a stressed and burned-out teacher is taxing for students and can affect their physiological stress profile.鈥� The resulting media headlines further sensationalized the issue. A Quartz website article, titled 鈥淐lassroom Contagion: Stress in the classroom can be as contagious as the flu,鈥� discussed 鈥渟tressed teachers propagating at-risk students by 鈥榠nfecting鈥� them with elevated cortisol.鈥�
But the authors of the stress contagion study didn鈥檛 test the same students鈥� cortisol levels with a control teacher who was not, as they put it, 鈥渟tressed and burned out.鈥� The students may have stressed out the teachers, rather than the other way around. Or, more likely, school conditions were stressing out both teachers and students alike, and the teachers were being blamed.
The takeaways instead depicted teacher burnout as a contagion that brought down coworkers and students, with teachers as the disease vectors. Rather than address the root causes stressing out teachers in the first place鈥攊nsufficient classroom resources, support staff and administrative support; lack of input into decisions; unpaid overtime; high-stakes testing; and lack of disciplinary and other policy enforcement, all of which make a teacher鈥檚 job harder and a student鈥檚 experience worse鈥攖he messages scapegoated educators who are put in the impossible position of being ordered to meet shifting and expanding expectations by districts that don鈥檛 give them the tools necessary to do so. Burned-out teachers aren鈥檛 鈥渟ignificantly less socially and emotionally competent.鈥� They鈥檙e handicapped by lousy school systems, ignorant officials, or out-of-touch administrators.
The premise of teacher burnout is a convenient fiction that blames teachers for not being able to cope rather than faulting school systems that set both teachers and students up to fail. This line of thinking isn鈥檛 meant to diminish educators鈥� thoroughly justified feelings of helplessness, stress, sadness, anxiety, frustration, and exhaustion. But let鈥檚 shift blame to where blame is due. Instead of presenting the problem as teachers having high or even the highest burnout levels of all U.S. industries, as a 2022 Gallup poll found, we should reframe the issue: School systems are the employers worst at providing necessary supports and resources for employees.
Bowdoin College education professor Doris Santoro also determined that 鈥渢eacher burnout鈥� is an inaccurate diagnosis that causes school leaders to tell teachers to learn how to relax. 鈥淚t is the term most commonly used to refer to teachers who appear unhappy in their jobs, say they鈥檝e considered quitting, or seem resistant to adopt the latest reform initiative,鈥� Santoro wrote in the Phi Delta Kappan. She prefers the term 鈥渢eacher demoralization.鈥�
Telling teachers to relax doesn鈥檛 cut it. of 20 years of studies of the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing teacher burnout, including strategies such as therapy, mindfulness and relaxation, concluded that 鈥渋ntervention effectiveness is generally small.鈥�
Instead of asking teachers to do the impossible and calling them 鈥渂urned out鈥� when they can鈥檛, school leaders should fix the underlying causes鈥攕chool climate, staffing numbers, and resources鈥攏ot just to prevent employee demoralization, but because that鈥檚 how a proper workplace should operate.
鈥淟ooking back, I wasn鈥檛 burned out,鈥� Penny told me last month. 鈥淥ur school was just a mess.鈥�
