Is Teaching this Hard, or is it Just Me?

January is here. Our holidays are almost done.

And just like that, we've hit the clutch after gearing down and put the car back into fifth. Bring on the back-to-work nightmares, right?

There is a bit of a lull after the September to November sprint of -start-up, meet the teacher, diagnostic assessments, long-range planning, new testing initiatives, re-organization, getting to know the parents, meeting the needs of the kids, IEPs, progress reports,...need I go on? It may feel like you've run several back-to-back ultra marathons by mid-November. It's kind of incredible that we get through it, to be honest. And even though there is a lull,  we are hit with the holiday rush. Behaviours are up. Kids are tired and over-the-top excited about Christmas and other holidays coming soon. Parents pressure for Holiday Concerts. Teachers' plates become full again. Many go home to their own kids with the same energy as the students they left at school. 

It's incredibly exhausting. 

And then we get some holidays and, if you're lucky, a couple of sleep-ins.

New Year's Day and the inevitable dread of what is to come starts to seep back in. 

Hit the brakes for a minute, please.

Take a breath. Hold it. 

Breathe out.

Fatigue and even burnout worldwide are at an all-time high. Some industries show higher employee shortages, absenteeism, or leaves due to mental health challenges. Teaching is one of these.

I was curious.  Let's look at education specifically.  What makes our job susceptible to extreme fatigue and even burnout? Is it us?  Or is it the system?

We are often told we need to do things differently. If we build better relationships with our students, we won't have behavioural issues. If we manage our time more efficiently, we won't feel overwhelmed. As such, we often blame ourselves.

What are WE doing wrong?!

However, researchers have found that burnout is more of a sign of dysfunction in the managing organization than ineffective individuals (Maslach & Leiter, 1997). It's not about resiliency.  Furthermore, to improve things, there needs to be change in the foundation of organizations and how they are managed and led (Maslach & Leiter, 1997). Again, not about resiliency. 

The leading causes of burnout are; 

1. an excessive workload, 

2. a feeling of unfairness, 

3. a discrepancy of values, 

4. a disintegration of a sense of community, and finally, 

5. a loss of autonomy (Maslach & Leiter, 1997).

I shared this list with my colleagues, and it resonated. Hard.  

In teaching, many of the challenges on this list are connected and woven so tightly together, wherein focusing on one pressure only brings into focus how others feed into it.  

Teaching is a career in which the workload is infinite. There is always work to be done. Whether marking, improving your units, assessments, communication with parents,...I know I'm preaching to the choir here. The work is never done. When the work is never done, and more initiatives and directives are always getting implemented, there is a feeling of unfairness.  When behaviours are on the rise, and things don't feel like they are getting better, there is a feeling of unfairness. When there is chronic understaffing and you are losing prep time, there is a feeling of unfairness which leads to not feeling valued. When the teacher complains about these things, they read anti-teacher rhetoric online and again feel a discrepancy in values. The teacher who learns of funding cuts, which have led to a decrease in special education support, also feels a discrepancy in values. When these three causes of burnout are thrown into a pot, I see my colleagues in an environment where they are run off their feet, feeling undervalued and unheard. This leads to people working in silos, barely coming up for air. I have been told by newer teachers that they see how the community feeling between teachers that they remember as students has eroded in schools as of late. Teachers no longer have time for their own planning, let alone time to collaborate or be social. Which brings me to autonomy.  So many people go into teaching because they've always wanted to be a teacher. They go through at least five to six years of post-secondary education and countless additional qualification courses and now feel a loss of freedom within their career. They feel shackled by it. Whether it be the love of the kids, hope for better days ahead, the guilt for leaving, or fear of what to leave for, many feel abandoned yet cornered. 

There. Teachers have all the leading causes of burnout. So, where is the silver lining in learning that?  Knowing that it is NOT YOU and being able to externalize the challenge is helpful. There are ways of grounding yourself and learning how to navigate within these types of systems toward finding a better work-life balance and thus pulling away from this feeling of overwhelm ~ one where you can feel that autonomy and authenticity again. The system isn't going to change soon. But you can. 

For example, setting boundaries can be helpful.  It can be challenging to do as you must step away from so much of what we do, let go of some control, and release a level of excellence. But it can be done in little, manageable steps.  

And most importantly, you are so worth it.  

I have group therapy specifically for teachers starting in January.  Are you feeling the dread of the back-to-school January rush? Let's Talk. 

www.livingroomwellness.com

Coming Soon: Teacher Tired: What to Do: Practical Steps Part One.

Resources

Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (1997). The truth about burnout: How organizations cause personal  stress and what to do about it. Jossey-Bass/Wiley.