"Come On Baby Light My Fire"

I thought it appropriate to pay some homage to Jim Morrison when needing a fire lit. So, let’s chat about being burnt out. No, not the post-flower-child era type of burnout (thought the feelings can be very relatable). I am talking about teacher burnout. This has been something on the radar of school districts, teacher-prep universities, and new teachers for the last decade or so, and I am here to tell you that it is REAL, and I have had some of the symptoms within the first few years of my career and again here recently.

Statistics! Yay.

According to the Pew Research Center (I know, I’m at it again actually being professional and citing sources!), between the school years of 2000-2001 to 2019-2020, there has been roughly a 19% decrease in universities awarding bachelor’s degrees within education. Taking this a step further, (ready for this??...ANOTHER cited stat!) according to the PA State Department of Education, within the state of Pennsylvania, within the same year ranges as mentioned above, there has been a drop to barely over 5,000 teacher certifications issued. This is a drop from over 15,000 teacher certs after the 2019-2020 school year. Many teachers are not even entering the field because of the negative feedback current teachers have been expressing (we’ll get into some of the feedback here shortly). This is no secret, and it's happening all over the country Because of social media, and especially during the times of our most recent pandemic, teacher pay, responsibilities, and overall environment has been placed within the court of public opinion. Many believe that pay does not match our overall professional responsibilities in and out of the classroom, but even with these newer pushes towards living-wages, I have not seen progress. Thus, there still remains a negative stereotype for those within, and wanting to enter, the field of education.

1% of 100%

Pay is just one of the 100% of the causes that lead to teacher burnout. I know I am preaching to the choir here when I say that we as educators lack the compensation for the amount of preparation, implementation, and feedback that is required to push students towards a positive outcome. Our current compensation does not take into consideration (*deep inhale) poor and unsafe working conditions, challenging behaviors with the possibility of legal action if accommodations are not “appropriately” met, lack of support and compensation for projects, initiatives, and supplies brought forth by the teacher by district administration and school boards, and little to no actual community and/or parent support to perpetuate learning and rigor to create a society of concerned and skilled young citizens…but I’m sure everyone already knows that (*insert Ace Ventura voice*)! Ok, exhale… Who is to say that if pay did increase, maybe some of these issues would be a little of an issue. Actually, this is my blog, and I’m one to say YES! If pay was increased to more of a living and professional-wage, teachers across the board would be even more willing to take on these issues to come up with sustainable solutions. I mean, look at what every under-paid teacher does now. Can you imagine what we would do IF the pay matched our efforts? Teachers would change the world! More than they ALREADY do, I meant.

Again, burnout does not just have one cause. Also note, this does not happen overnight. This is an accumulation of issues over time. In my case, this first began once my “piss and vinegar” started to wear off throughout my third-ish year of teaching. I was overly involved within extracurriculars (volun-told by my administration to advise), my department as department head chair, my involvement within school-based committees (again, volun-told by admin), and, of yeah, I was still in the process of teaching a curriculum that was not perfect in my third year. In one of my previous blog posts, I mentioned the power of “no”. This is exactly one of the points where I recognized that I needed time and space for my professional and “un-professional” well-being. Interestingly enough, however, there has been more of a recent time when the burnout felt even more real. This comes after recognizing my need to step back from many of my previous responsibilities. I had been focused on my craft of teaching, and I was involved in some clubs and committees, but this was not to the extent I previously was engaged within. This was more of a manageable point in my education career; courses were developed to the point where I felt comfortable, the classroom environment I created was most suitable for learning, and my ability to take on some extra responsibilities within my district and community was daily stress-free. However, I still began to feel burnt out. Why was that? School was good. Home life was good. So, what’s the issue?

The Matrix

Once you become part of a “machine”, you begin to conform to the norms that you may have once admittedly contested. I can’t remember exactly the instance, but it was almost like a buzzing in my ears went away and I began to hear the sounds and notice the faces within the hallways. Students had been running up and down the hallways while cursing uncontrollably at one another. Security guards were inundated with either their walkie-talkie or their clipboards. Other teachers were trying to correct the behavior by yelling louder than the students, or worse yet, they had a glazed look in their eyes as they remained quiet while only shaking their heads. Administration was too busy to notice all of this as they were speaking to other district administration folk about the great things being done at the school. There were masses of parents, teachers, and it seemed like anyone else who was walking the hall shoved in the faces of the school secretaries. The cafeteria was a mass of noise and food bouncing off walls and tables. Janitorial employees were trying to upkeep the school’s bathrooms as they fought the vape smoke cloud. Community support partners had a line of student-ducklings following them as they tried to hear everyone’s wants and needs so that they had some hope in being successful at home and at school. Announcements are being made, but the only person who can hear the announcement is the person making it. Guidance counselors are chasing down seniors to apply for scholarships that are essentially guaranteed, but the seniors don’t seem to like the idea of free money. Then there’s me. Standing outside of my classroom, observing all of this on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis. Consumed by the very system I vowed to change the second I began employed within a school, but suddenly I was awakened. The blinders were off, the noise in my ears was gone, and I became aware of my surroundings. Again, burnout does not happen overnight. Nor does becoming so burnt that you become numb.

I did my part in correcting what I could within the realm I could have the biggest impact (within my classroom, my clubs, my committees), but I hate to admit it, my small push for positive change was consumed by the machine as a whole. The struggle was too long, and my foe had become too powerful to fight on my own. I saw this same light dim in many of my colleagues' eyes. We wanted positive transformative change, but I don't know…it seemed like an uphill battle that many had rather let continue to happen because it was the easier choice. So, now what?

Well, before I get into my extreme way that I handled my second bout of teacher burnout (look at that poetry), there are other options to consider.

A.) Find like-minded colleagues to combat issues. These issues should be small and “curable” at first. They can range from the teachers themselves to issues you see within your hallways or classrooms. You may also want to find colleagues to work with who do have the time, and somewhat of a light still left to fight.

2.) Purposefully improve/balance your school-social life well-being. Plan time to do things outside of school that you absolutely know will ease your mind and stress. Do your best to make sure all of your solutions are not of the toxic nature. You know exactly what I mean. Also, the more routine you can make these “healthy” activities, the more your attitude and mind will positively change when you do enter back into your classroom. 

iii.) This goes along with #2 above, and I have stated (or will state) this in another blog, but there is power in saying "no". Figure out your purpose within your life (ha! I know, that's asking a lot) and your profession and get rid of anything that does precisely fit. Much like forcing those leftovers into your mouth an hour after Thanksgiving dinner usually doesn't end well for you or anyone around you. This could be teams, committees, or groups that you volunteered (or were volun-told) to be a part of, but they are now more of a hinderance than a help. Reflect on your "why", recognize what's getting in the way, and move from those things. "Just Say No". I'll leave this open-ended for both your professional life and personal life.

With that said, and those approaches above taken on my part, I took my burnout a step further, and it has since made all the difference in the world.

Green Pastures

I ended up making the biggest change of all. After over a decade of professional teaching, and over two decades of being part of some sort of educational programming, within that district, I decided it was time to go. Call me what you want, but I saw this move as brave. It takes gull to leave everything you’ve ever known professionally (your community, your friends, your colleagues, your students, your courses) and throw it away for something that you aren’t entirely sure will be better. A new school, a new community, new courses, new norms, new students, new colleagues is your new prize. Scary, right?? At least it was for me.

I did my best to combat all of this by doing my research prior to throwing a dart at a map. I focused on the school first and foremost. PAUSE I lied. Actually, I would look to first see which districts were hiring because that’s kind of important. Then, I looked at things like rankings (even though these are somewhat bogus to me), salary and benefits (because duhh), courses taught, student profiles, extracurricular clubs, and the like. I would even search local news articles to see the good, the bad, and (if applicable) the ugly of a district. From there, if I liked what I saw, I would then begin to research the community and surrounding area of the school. Are there places to visit, shop, and eat that are appealing to me? This was definitely fun because you have to imagine yourself living within that area and driving to these places. I liked the idea of new scenery and possibility. Much like the school, I would also look into what the local newspaper had to say, I’d research housing costs, and also the cost(s) of living there. This would be up to you as to how you prioritize these things, but once you did, I am sure your list of potential schools would definitely be refined. For the 38043243329 time, this did not happen overnight. I went through at least three years of this process, and also interviews, to find my most perfect fit. From all of it, I can wholeheartedly say that yes, the grass is absolutely greener; greener than I could have imagined. 

Side-note:

I was not sure how this post was going to end (this will be a common occurrence). My original plan, after the Matrix segment, was to give you more tools as to how to say “no” when it comes to becoming involved in your district or how to prioritize your responsibilities with your administration to combat burnout, and while that is all well and good, I would not have been honest with myself as to how I finally decided to stop being “burnt”. Every educator’s experience is different. Every educator’s reality is different. Sometimes ignorance is bliss, and for quite some time I buried myself with school-related responsibilities to stay ignorant, but that is no way to educate nor to live one’s life. Hopefully something resonated with you from my experiences, and I challenge you to look and listen to your hallways and your classroom to see if you have any blinders of your own to take off.

Do you have a story to tell? Tell it!...or at least let me tell it. Reach out to any one of my platforms to expose your experience(s), your truth, as both a human and an educator. I would love to hear from you!