Are you suffering from burnout?

Lindsay Clandfield looks at the reasons why some teachers experience burnout and makes suggestions for how this can be avoided. What is burnout? | Why do teachers burn out? | What can teachers do to avoid, or fight, burnout? |Further reading Hi, my name is Lindsay Clandfield and I used to be an enthusiastic teacher. It sounds like the beginning of an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, doesnt it? But its true. When I started teaching I had very noble ideas about what I would do with students. I think back to those very first days of teaching, and the things I did. For example, I used to prepare grammar lessons (then we called them structure lessons) with care and great diligence. It took me ages, partly because I wrote all my instructions out by hand (after one trainer told me I had 'a problem' with instructions she was right). At the time I was working two jobs, at a university and a high school. I used to do big projects with the high school students, putting posters and other projects they had made up on the wall (I even purchased the extra material for this with my own money). I organized singing in class with my university students (I cant sing to save my life). We sang North American folk songs and the occasional pop song. We even produced a class poetry magazine one year. Yes, I was an enthusiastic teacher. But a few years later I found my feelings about teaching, about students, even about English begin to change. Heres what happened:

I started cutting corners on the lesson plans, until I stopped making them altogether. I found myself getting a bit annoyed with my students, some of whom didnt seem to be progressing at all. I had some cynical co-workers, with whom I finally participated in a staff room 'moan' about work one day after a difficult class. Mostly we moaned about difficult students. The collective moans became contagious and addictive. I was working lots of hours (some 28 contact hours a week) and many of my classes were in businesses. So I had to travel around on buses most of the day. I also went through a stage of seriously beginning to wonder what on Earth I was doing teaching English. Did my students really need English? Some did, but for many I wasnt sure. I started wondering if I wasnt contributing to some imperialist plan to colonize the world with English.

But most of the time I just felt exhausted. Trying to fight this with strong coffees before each class just made me wired. I collapsed into bed every night at 11:30 (after a hurried dinner, having arrived home at 9:30 or 10pm). I think now I was burning out. Recently the whole area of teacher burnout has been interesting to me, and in this editorial Id like to share a couple of the things Ive discovered. What is burnout? Scholars define teacher burnout as a condition caused by depersonalization, emotional exhaustion and a diminished sense of accomplishment. One tool that is often used in the United States to measure burnout is called the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Its like a questionnaire. Here are examples of the kinds of questions it asks. You may want to think of your own situation and how you would answer:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

On a scale of 0 (never) to 6 (every day), rate the following sentences. I feel frustrated by my job. I feel fatigued when I get up and have to face another day at work. I feel students blame me for their problems. I dont really care what happens to some students. I feel exhilarated after working closely with my students. I have accomplished many worthwhile things in this job. I feel Im positively influencing other peoples lives through my work. I can easily create a relaxed atmosphere with my students. Basically, if you are scoring high on the first four statements and low on the last four, then there is a good chance you are burning out. Obviously, when teachers are burned out the quality of their teaching suffers. But burnout also affects their quality of life. Burnout can cause stress-related illnesses, such as hypertension, insomnia, back pains and gastrointestinal disorders. For example, a 2000 report from the Head Teachers Association of Great Britain found that 40 percent of respondents had visited doctors with stress-related illnesses. And a staggering 37 percent of head teacher vacancies were due to ill health and burnout. That is only one example, but in studies across Europe and in the States the message is the same: teacher burnout is dangerous to ones health, and its a real problem. Why do teachers burn out? Teaching is one of what researchers into burnout call 'at-risk professions'. The 'at-risk professions' are helping professions. They include social workers, nurses, psychologists and police officers. According to early writers on the professional burnout syndrome, People who go into the helping professions often have high needs of approval and heightened expectations of themselves. When these are frustrated, burnout is likely to occur.

Speaking from my own experience, I think I fit the bill. I once heard a speaker on burnout say that burnout requires a susceptible host: a highly idealistic individual. I was pretty idealistic about my work, myself and my place in the world. Currently I work on teacher training courses for new teachers, and I encounter the same sentiments time and again. Why do people want to become English teachers? The three most common answers I get are:

because they loved languages because they felt it was their calling, their vocation because they want to give something of themselves to students (to make a contribution to a better society that kind of thing) So, what happens? Why do we burn out? I believe that when the reality of the job doesnt match the expectations, youre at risk of burnout. The teacher and writer James Baldwin once said that the price one pays for pursuing any profession is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side. The ugly side of teaching, and of English teaching in particular, is characterized by the following work conditions: long working hours, a lack of job security, few perks and of course the perennial complaint of low wages. Now, I didnt go into English teaching to make a lot of money (not many of us do) but the combination of all the above can certainly grind one down. Additionally, teachers burn out when they feel they are no longer educating and inspiring their students. The causes for this are well known, and they are the usual suspects. They are: student apathy, discipline problems in the classroom, overcrowded classrooms, excessive paperwork and/or excessive testing (and demands for standards to be met at all costs). In sum, I believe that teachers burnout for one or a combination of the following three big reasons:

1. Teachers burn out when they lack recognition and thanks. 2. Teachers burn out when they are overworked and stressed. 3. Teachers burn out when they dont see the possibility of change or improvement either in themselves, or their students. Incidentally, I should mention that my worse feelings of burnout were after only three years of teaching. This is interesting, because I had always thought of burnout only affecting people after twenty odd years of teaching. Research suggests there is a relationship between age and burnout: Burnout is greatest when people-workers are young and is lower for older workers. Younger people usually have less work experience than older ones, but it turns out that the effect of age reflects more than just the length of time on the job. 'Older but wiser' seems to be the case here. (Maslach, 2003) What can teachers do to avoid, or fight, burnout?

There are, in my opinion, two broad approaches to fighting burnout: the individual approach and the organizational approach. An individual approach means by starting with what you, the teacher, can do to stop burning out. Here are some good suggestions:

Reduce the workload when possible (too many hours is a big problem, especially in private sector/freelance cases). Most teachers agree with this, although low wages and high costs of living in some places make it difficult. Try new approaches to working. This could mean changing the book or material you work with, or changing the group/level/type of students you work with. For me, changing from the high school classes to business classes gave me a fresh perspective and challenge in my work. After a couple of years of business English, I went back to teaching younger students. Another suggestion is to develop yourself as a teacher. Observing colleagues, or having colleagues observe you is an excellent way to break the rut teachers feel they are in. I found that I was able to beat some of my burnout by beginning to work as a teacher trainer and observe other peoples classes for instance. Development neednt only be in the form of observation getting more qualified, reading many of the excellent books available now for teachers or engaging in classroom-based research are other ways. Also part of the individual approach would involve adopting healthier living habits. This could be in terms of ones physical health (cutting down on too much coffee, getting more exercise, eating better) or in terms of ones mental health and approach to life in general. Many books on managing stress and burnout talk about learning to meditate, or deep relaxation techniques. The individual approach isnt easy at times, and solutions to burnout cannot stop there. Teaching can be a lonely job and teachers can face isolation at times, even more so if they are isolating themselves because they are burning out. This is why an organizational approach is also important to consider how colleagues, school and the wider world can help. Here are some suggestions: First, there are the basic needs decent wages, smaller class size and not having additional administrative burdens. I know, I know, sometimes this is wishful thinking but none the less important things to struggle for. And its hard for teachers on their own to bring about these kinds of changes. Collaboration is necessary. Time off is also of vital importance. Many teachers I have interviewed about fighting burnout say that a real holiday, or a break and doing something completely different helps immensely. Paid holidays are therefore important, but also the concept of taking leave to recharge ones batteries. Schools that set up mentoring programmers, or peer observation schemes or other developmental programmers stand a better chance of keeping staff happy and reducing turnover. Having senior teachers responsible for monitoring staff development is another possibility.

Finally, sharing with colleagues is another excellent way of combating burnout. In the staffroom, in teacher groups, or with a wider group of teachers. Recent studies conducted both in Canada and in Germany have found that social support had both a direct positive effect on health and a buffering effect in respect of work stress. I started this editorial by saying that I used to be an enthusiastic teacher. I hit a few bumps along the way. I felt burned out at times. But by engaging in many of the solutions proposed above Im still teaching. And I still enjoying teaching. And Im still enthusiastic about it. What about you? Have you ever felt burned out? Was it for the same reasons as me? What has helped you stay in the world of English teaching? Are there any tips youd give to others to help them fight burnout? Come and share your ideas in the forum. To conclude, Id like to share with you an excerpt from a book I read on teacher burnout by Stephen Truch (see further reading below). His advice, which I have personally found extremely motivating, was as follows. Do what you need to do. Its never too late. Join the debate now in the Forum! Further reading If you are interested in this subject, here are some books and links that I found particularly good and helpful in preparing this article. Maslach, C. 2003. The Cost of Caring. Cambridge, MA: Malor Books. Senior, R. 2006. The Experience of Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP Truch, S. 1980. Teacher Burnout and What to do About it. California: Academic Therapy Publications

The debate: Are you suffering from teacher burnout? The full debate in response to Lindsay Clandfield's interesting and relevant article on teacher burnout. The debate: Are you suffering from teacher burnout? The full debate in response to Lindsay Clandfield's interesting and relevant article on teacher burnout. Are you suffering from a teacher burnout? vie, 13 April 2007 I found quite interesting this article, mainly because this is the object of my postgraduate research. I am an English teacher, as well (in Brazil).Please, Id like to read more articles about it and get in touch with people who may help me. Virginia

Hi Virginia 17 April 2007 What a great topic for postgraduate work. For further reading you can start with the references at the bottom of my article. Personally, I've found a lot of stuff on the web connected to Britain and the States along with some information from Canada, Germany and Switzerland. Try the following article from stress news for a good overview: http://www.isma.org.uk/stressnw/teachstress1.htm Finally, I'd recommend any books by Christina Maslach. I read The Cost of Caring but I know she has newer titles out. Lindsay Greetings from a potential burnout! Heliz, 19 April 2007 Hi! I found this article very interesting. It resonated with me a lot. I have between 5 and 6 years' teaching experience, and I have definitely been through phases of burnout. I have been in my current job for more than 2 years, which is the longest time I have ever stayed in the same job. Although on balance I am happy, my workload is heavy, my hours are long, and I go through phases of strongly feeling the sentiments described. I have certainly found some of the suggested solutions helpful. Although they are long, my hours are stable, so I am able to fit regular exercise in to my routine. And I DO get paid holiday :-) I also strongly agree that finding ways to develop as a teacher can help regain positivity. In common with the writer of the article, I was a very enthusiastic first year teacher, and I am just starting a distance Diploma course, which has helped to re-ignite some of that enthusiasm. Thank you for posting the article. It's good to know that my frustrations are normal and that it's possible to overcome them!

greetings from an actual burnout case! pangel, 21 April 2007 Hi Thank you Lindsay for this very substantial article. Since I've been in this profession (and this has only been for 4 years now, in Austria) I've experienced always times of great (di)stress. This year it became eventually so bad, that I considered seriously to quit the job altogether, the sooner the better, I found. But luckily, I had a good friend's counseling and decided to call in sick for a longer time. I am in the lucky position to have a great understanding boss who was very supportive throughout this phase. So I took time off for 7 weeks and now I can say it was the best idea ever. I was so stuck in my stress and old beliefs about school and children (aged 10-18) that I just need that distance. One of my former ! most painful beliefs is closely linked to Lindsays idea when she says that people who go into the helping profession often have high needs of approval. One of my beliefs was that the kids must love and respect me! Now that I really fully emotionally realized that this is my job (to love and respect myself) and absolutely none of their business, a lot of the tension melts away. Now I am back at school again and I am so happy that in the end I didn't quit because it really IS a wonderful job. Thank you for the literature tips, I think it really is very helpful to read about this topic. Finally, I want to share a method with you, that helped me to deprive my most powerful beliefs about school of its power (because I found out that it's mainly the thoughts who are painful) The method is called "the work" and originates from a great American woman, Byron Katie, you can check it out on the net easily. For me I can only say, the work works :-) Burned out too Vie, 23 April 2007

I really enjoyed the article too, especially as like some of the other respondents, I was beginning to feel that I was in the wrong career too. I started a DELTA course and the expectations I had of that combined with work made me aware that I was overloaded and I eventually hit breaking point. Being interested in alternative therapy, I sought help for my stress so that I could cope with both. I now think that we need to take at least a month's sabbatical from teaching, so that we can properly 'rest our heads' and I like the idea of doing something different, but I would go further and say teach something else besides English if possible, then come back to it as you would have had a chance to see yourself and your teaching from a completely different perspective and might realize that you are actually pretty good at what you do. The importance of sharing these stories 25 April 2007 Thanks to those who have posted already. I've found that when I've discussed this with other teachers many do say they've felt the same way. I think it's important to share these experiences - not only the frustrations but the strategies we've used to get over them. I'd personally like to see more of this in ELT (at conferences, in articles etc). I notice a few people mention they felt this way just before, or while doing a higher course like the DELTA or Diploma. I think this is interesting, because it's when one embarks on a course like this that you "make the decision" as it were to keep with the profession and therefore there is (often, in my experience as a trainer) a lot of soul searching before doing it. I know I went through the soul searching just before doing my diploma - but I don't regret it at all now! Thanks Pangel for the tip about the method "the work", I've taken a quick look but would have to look further to really understand it. At the moment it looks to me like a self-help site. Still, I'll reserve judgment and read more. Sabbaticals and leaves 25 April 2007 I agree with Vie absolutely about having a holiday, a sabbatical. I know that the sabbatical is often restricted to university teachers to do research but I think it also helps them recharge for more teaching (having a father who is a university professor helped make this clear to me) When I worked at a university in southern Mexico we had the right to five

"mental health" days off in the year. This was in addition to sick pay, and we didn't have to give a reason at all! What an enlightened policy, eh? Lindsay So this is what I am going through! 25 April 2007 I read your article about teacher burnout and I think it is wonderful. It sounded like me in many places. I have been working as an English teacher for the past 7 years in Sri Lanka. I was feeling very down lately and did not know what to do. Though I started my career with a lot of enthusiasm, it has faded to some extent now. But after reading your article I feel that there is some way to deal with it. First thing is that I am going to find some kind of diversion from my routine. Thanks for all the information. More research 25 April 2007 I'm about to give a talk on teacher burnout in Slovakia, and so I've been looking for research done in this country on the subject. The internet is amazing, you can find almost anything! Anyway, I found a study done of Czech teachers (not Slovak, but next door) that stated the following as the main sources of stress as reported by teachers: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. educational work with low achievers discipline problems retaining of pupils attention diagnoses of pupils motivation of pupils individual consultations with parents running and management of parental meetings

One thing the authors of the study recommend is implementing a mentor programmed in schools. I've been a part of an informal mentor programmed in a private school once. Has anyone else had experience with mentoring?

Hello from a burnout Neapolitan teacher ciuppi, 1 May 2007 I used to be an enthusiast teacher! When reading your words I could feel the same as you, sharing my pains and difficulties. I still organize games, by prizes with my own money, plan new lessons but this is not enough! From the moment I came back to teach in southern Italy I feel frustrated and I am no longer able to share things as I used to. I hope something could change! I have no recipe, I'm still thinking about that. Thank for the advice! Premature Burnout badgerbird, 29 May 2007 Hi, I've only been working at a teacher, in Germany, for 1 year. I really love teaching, but I find the German people so uninspiring. 90% of them have absolutely no imagination and I feel that I can do nothing to ignite their fantasy. I have read the posts in this forum and your article and I just can't see the light at the end of tunnel. I have no time for sports, relaxing and as you mentioned, after I've wolfed down my dinner at 10pm, I'm tired and flop into bed for a bad nights sleep. I can't reduce my hours because I just can't let people down. Any further suggestions on how to help myself. Burnout Blues Mogwai, 4 June 2007 The way I avoid burnout is by varying my lessons as much as possible. There is nothing more depressing than delivering the 'same old' week in week out. I also agree that German students can be very difficult to ignite. There is a cultural conformity that is hard to penetrate as an Auslnder.

a very quick and effective technique to lower stress before a lesson 5 June 2007

I'd like to draw your attention to EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), a simple but powerful de-stressing technique that can shift your energy level / lift your mood in a couple of minutes: I use it routinely before every lesson and find it makes a huge difference. Full info is available at www.emofree.com, where there's a free downloadable 87-page manual. If that sounds overwhelming, you might want to visit my website, (www.jenniferdavidson.com) where I offer (for free), a simple two-page summary of how EFT works. You can teach yourself this remarkable technique in less than ten minutes; I highly recommend suspending disbelief & skepticism and trying it! exploitation dixon, 10 June 2007 Too be honest I think we teachers are highly exploited in this profession. We need a degree to teach, we develop expertise and we are highly committed to our work. The majority of teachers I know are not even on full-time contracts. Our pay is appalling. Why do we put up with this? exploitation reply badgerbird, 13 June 2007 Hi Dixon, You're right we are exploited, but we put up with it because we are life's givers. People like us don't become teachers for money, we do it because we get the 'care' buzz. Personally, if I feel like I've made a difference in someones life, I feel more fulfilled as a person. We're care junkies!! :-) As for burn out - I've cut my hours and already I'm feeling better. I've started exercising again and I can feel my motivation returning... Lack of support Glenda, 18 June 2007 Hi, I'm definitely suffering from burnout. I've been teaching English to French adults for six years now - I was unqualified when I started (I was English, a professional actress in England, so 'of course' I could teach, according to the people who interviewed me!) and took a distance learning TEFL diploma to help me. I use the Macmillan sites constantly for ideas, plans and inspiration. My problem, really, is isolation. Great though all your tips are, many of them presuppose that you have colleagues and/or a school who can support you. I

have neither, so must rely on my own training and instincts to provide classes. I teach for an association - not a school, just a committee - providing evening study for adults, and my students already pay a great deal for the classes (increasing my sense of guilt and responsibility towards them) and I cannot ask them to buy coursework or books, so I provide everything myself. Classes often take me several hours to prepare. I am definitely both idealist and perfectionist, and I am making myself ill. I have to decide now whether I want to teach again from next September (I don't get holiday pay), and I am seriously thinking about quitting. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Glenda, France Lack of support badgerbird, 11 July 2007 Hi Glenda, My advice would be to quit. It they don't appreciate you and you have no support you need to move on to pastures new. You now have the qualification combined with experience and could teach anywhere in the world. If it's making you ill, it's not worth it. Sorry if that's a bit harsh, but it seems like it's your only choice. Good luck :-)