July 2015 – vivianachiorean

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Pursuing a career as an educator is a momentous decision! It is driven by the spark, passion and dedication to a compelling vision that “in a gentle way you can shake the world” – Gandhi.

However, teaching is considered to be one of the most stressful professions with similar levels of stress to those of paramedics, police officers, and social service workers. The prolonged exposure to stress, work load and ineffective coping strategies can lead to educator burnout.

What exactly is then, educator burnout?

“Burnout can be described as a condition based on the protracted depletion of an individual‘s energies, characterized by emotional exhaustion, reduced personal accomplishment, and feelings of insufficiency and depersonalization. Burnout features certain facets and other characteristics that are related to the individual, always context- and/or organization related and influenced by living conditions” (Bährer-Kohler, 2013, p1).

The three main categories developed in the Maslach Burnout Inventory are:

Emotional Exhaustion
Depersonalization
Dissatisfaction with Personal Accomplishment

Let us observe the distinciton between stress and burnout.

Stress vs. Burnout
Stress	Burnout
Characterized by overengagement	Characterized by disengagement
Emotions are overreactive	Emotions are blunted
Produces urgency and hyperactivity	Produces helplessness and hopelessness
Loss of energy	Loss of motivation, ideals, and hope
Leads to anxiety disorders	Leads to detachment and depression
Primary damage is physical	Primary damage is emotional
May kill you prematurely	May make life seem not worth living

Source: Stress and Burnout in Ministry

Prevention and Intervention Measures:

The suggested first order change intervention measures focus on the individual educator:

Engage in a non-work hobby or interest
Maintain a balanced perspective on life
Get appropriate amounts of sleep
Eat a nutritionally balanced diet
Associate with psychologically healthy colleagues
Travel often, get away on weekends
Set realistic goals for students
Structure the work day to include breaks from direct and continuous student contact
Exercise regularly
Developing effective time-management skills and a growth mindset mentality

The suggested second order change intervention measures focus on the environment in which the individual educator functions. This relates to the level of institutional support, where good teaching is rewarded as handsomely as good research and a balanced lifestyle is encouraged.

Involving staff in decision making
Involving staff in program development
Involving staff in goal setting
Providing yearly staff retreats
Providing workout centers for staff
Establishing case load ceilings
Hiring more paraprofessionals
Providing flextime opportunities
Offering a workshop in dealing with difficult people
Offering a workshop discussing educator burnout

Recognizing the warning signs of burnout and devising a strategic intervention plan that is focused on self-care is essential in ensuring that the passion and spark return. The first thing on the “to-do list” is to relax, take care of yourself and enjoy the summer vacation!