A lot of time and energy has been devoted to the topic of teacher burnout lately. Teacher burnout is not new but with half of the public schools in the United States reporting they are severely understaffed people are being forced to confront the factors driving teachers away from the profession. Burnout is near the top of that list, so the focus is in the right place. However, in true public education fashion, most of the conversation about burnout is centered on what teachers need to do about it individually as opposed to what districts and administrators need to do. The latter may even be a bigger part of the equation.

What is burnout?

Burnout is essentially job-related stress that starts to manifest itself both mentally and physically. Symptoms of burnout include things like stress, fatigue, insomnia, even depression, and heart disease.

We usually fight burnout by telling teachers to do things like create a work-life balance or find hobbies. But the truth is a lot of what teachers want for themselves is in opposition to what administrators demand. So how can a principal help teachers fight burnout or better yet, prevent it altogether?

Have a more balanced calendar.

The number of off days in a year is important but not as important as the spacing. There are pros and cons to any calendar system you use but having days off more often is generally better for preventing burnout. Not just for teachers but students as well.  Balancing the schedule doesn’t have to mean using the super short summer model that people typically think of when they hear “balanced calendar” but distributing days throughout the year thoughtfully as opposed to arbitrarily makes a big difference.

Don’t give them extra work when other teachers quit.

Every veteran inner-city teacher has had the following experience. Morale is low. Teachers are talking about quitting. One of them eventually does. What’s the reward for those who remain? The workload of the teacher who left. Obviously, kids have to go somewhere throughout the day so a certain level of this is unavoidable. However, some principals put little thought into immediately passing all of that work on to other teachers. There are other solutions to this problem that I have seen work well like creative scheduling or computer programs. But all of the solutions require buy-in from administrators and many of them just don’t give a second thought to distributing the extra work among already tired teachers. They could even teach …

Respect their prep periods.

If you are in a school where teacher prep periods are generally seen as an available block of time for meetings, buddy rooms or whatever else, then you are probably in a school with low morale. Teaching is not the kind of job where you should skip breaks. If a school forces a teacher to do that often, burnout may start to occur.

Take away lunch duty.

As mentioned above, teachers need breaks. So many schools have figured out ways to allow teachers a lunch break while the kids are eating. It is doable. Not only does it give teachers a break it can also allow other members of the school staff to get to know and interact with students. If you can’t take it away altogether perhaps work out a rotating schedule.

Stop hassling teachers about taking off.

Stop worrying about whether or not teachers are “really sick” when they call in. The number of personal days you give them should accurately reflect the number of days you can afford them to be out, and your system should be prepared to accommodate them. If I am burned-out and need a day off, I should be able to take one without being questioned about it. I shouldn’t need to do a fake cough on the phone to make my principal feel better about it. If the school gives me eight sick days, I shouldn’t receive pushback for taking them. Going beyond your allotted number of days is a different conversation. Lying about having COVID-19 is a different conversation. But outside of that, principals shouldn’t concern themselves about why teachers are calling in.

At the end of the day teaching is hard. Harder still in certain environments. There will likely always be some degree of burnout, but it can certainly be mitigated better than it is now. Teachers can manage burnout, but administrators can actually prevent it. Teachers didn’t get burned-out from doing something illicit; they got burned-out from doing the job they are contracted to do. If the job causes over half the people in the profession to experience burnout maybe its the system itself that needs to be examined.