Welcome to the EduVerse with ProfessorJBA. As a veteran teacher and educator, I’ve designed this advice column for parents and caregivers to inform them about the various roles and aspects of navigating the educational system. The goal of the EduVerse is to help parents and caregivers make informed decisions regarding their child(ren)’s education.

Working with parents and parent leaders, I hear many parents give the same response when it comes to teacher burnout. “We understand, but what does teacher burnout have to do with me?” 

Teachers are experiencing burnout at more alarming rates because as teaching and learning have improved and changed over the years, how we operate schools has not. Some say that teachers now are leaving the profession in under five (5) years which is crazy to think. When I first began teaching, veteran educators told me that it would take 5 years for me to really master all the moving parts of teaching, including pedagogy, learning styles, teaching methods, and most importantly, classroom management.

Most teachers agree that outside of their contract hours, they get stuck completing administrative tasks such as collecting, analyzing, and breaking down data, tracking student discipline, and logging when parents are called.

Burnout for teachers throughout the year comes from several areas, including understaffed schools, poor school funding, poor school culture, insufficient planning time, and lack of autonomy.

As a teacher, I can tell you that I, too, have had many of these experiences. Many would state that dealing with difficult parents and classroom behavior issues are leading causes of teacher burnout, and yet, school leaders tend to offer little support.

Teacher burnout cannot be simply cured by teachers doing self-care and taking needed days off. Self-care and managing the stress of teaching are things that teachers can do if they are a) paid a competitive and livable wage and b) are supported by school and district leadership.

Imagine if you are having an operation done and the doctor must perform the procedure without a team, proper planning, or resources. You wouldn’t be comfortable placing your life and wellness in that doctor’s hands. I challenge parents to ask: Why are we allowing children to be sent to schools where their children’s teachers aren’t supported properly?

High workloads, poor working conditions, and not having time to prepare or plan quality lessons for each learner, topped with poorly designed professional learning environments, are a recipe for disaster. Don’t forget the springtime standardized testing!

The culture of standardized testing is drenched in stress, anxiety, and inequality. I believe it’s the biggest contributing factor to why teachers experience burnout halfway through the year. Parents often don’t realize the impact of burnout until test results are back.

My advice to parents is to advocate for improved data-collection measures that don’t place teachers at the helm or overwhelm them with data systems. Data is needed, but tracking it should not become a teacher’s part-time job.