Teaching can be one of the most rewarding but challenging career paths. A career in teaching can be gratifying because it offers individuals the unique opportunity to make a lasting, positive impact on students’ lives. Teachers help support the next generation by equipping them with knowledge, skills, and confidence to succeed in the future. Many teachers feel a sense of purpose from their work, and a sense of accomplishment when they see their students overcome challenges both in and out of the classroom.
However, the demand for teaching has significantly increased in recent years, especially amongst middle school and high school teachers. Increased behavioral issues, low paid, excessive administrative burdens, and shifting expectations around work duties can negatively impact teachers. This may show up as burnout, anxiety, and emotional exhaustion that show up inside and outside of the classroom. These experiences can feel isolating, but the good news is you’re not alone and there are ways to stay grounded amidst the stress.
Managing Classroom Behavior
Maybe it’s one or two students joking around during instructional time, or a student repeatedly skipping class and not turning in assignments. What seems like a small fraction of the class can have a much larger impact on your time to teach. Teachers are responsible for the education of their students, and often don’t have support to assist them when disruptions arise. You might have to repeatedly pause class to call in disruptive students, or meet with students after class to figure out a plan for them to catch up on class work. What might seem like a few minutes out of the day adds up. When you have to take on the responsibilities of a school counselor or administrator, it takes away from your time to teach and lesson plan.
Feeling Undervalued and Underpaid
While perceptions have improved in recent years, society still views teaching as a public service rather than a specialized profession that requires additional education and training. As a result, those who aren’t familiar with the high demands and complexities of teaching may view it with decreased respect in comparison to other careers. Furthermore, teachers on average make less compared to their peers with similar education levels, despite the long hours, additional responsibilities, and emotional labor that comes with teaching.
In today’s climate, teachers are facing increasing demands from school administrators and policy makers that directly impact their curriculum and instructional methods. It can feel like an uphill battle trying to work with new guidelines and policies, while at the same time supporting your students as best you can.
Navigating Shifting Expectations
Teachers often have to balance a tricky set of expectations to support students, specifically when it comes to praise and motivation. You might have noticed a recent shift from ‘good job’ to providing students with specific, meaningful feedback. While this is helpful to students because it provides them with tangible feedback, it can be hard to find the balance between overpraising and being too critical.
Motivation is no longer thought of as just getting students to complete their assignments. Teachers are now expected to motivate students because they want to learn, also called intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is driven by the need for autonomy, competence, and achievement. Middle and high school students often have few opportunities to display autonomy, and it can be a challenge to try to create these moments for your students while also keeping them on task.
Impacts on Personal and Professional Life
When your job duties are so much more than what’s listed on the job descriptions, you might experience burnout, emotional exhaustion, and stress. Heavy workloads, such as classroom instruction, lesson planning, grading, meetings, and administrative tasks, can make you feel overworked and under appreciated, impacting your ability to show up at work and at home.
This stress might show up in the classroom through frustrations or a lower tolerance for minor disruptions. Teachers who feel undervalued might also experience less enthusiasm and motivation for interactive activities, relying more heavily on worksheets or lectures. Many teachers find themselves taking work home with them, which reduces your time for friends, families, hobbies, and rest. Stress from the school day may spill into your personal life, impacting your relationships and overall mood.
Staying Grounded
If you’re experiencing exhaustion and burnout in relation to teaching, it’s important to remember that these responses are a normal reaction to stress and that you are not alone. Staying grounded as a teacher requires a combinator of internal regulation skills and healthy boundaries. The idea isn’t to eliminate stress, but instead to manage it through ways that keep you present and steady inside and outside of the classroom.
When behavioral issues arise in class, consider pausing for a moment and trying a brief reset technique. This could be taking a few slow, deep breaths, doing a body stance, or trying a sensory grounding meditation (5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, etc.). Taking a second to reregulate your nervous system can help you feel more calm and in control of your surroundings.
Consider creating boundaries with your students and yourself. This can be as simple as reminding yourself that while you can support students, you can’t fix everything. Referring students to a counselor or school social worker is a great way to help support your students without overextending yourself. Outside of the classroom, consider setting limits on how much work you take home, and prioritize only completing urgent tasks.
Other ways to stay grounded are by developing daily regulation habits, such as finding movement, journaling, meditation, or spending time with loved ones. Leaning on your support system can also provide a much needed relief. Maybe this looks like talking to your colleagues who understand the demands of teaching, asking school administration for support, or leaning on friends and family.
Teaching is an incredibly rewarding career, but it’s not without its challenges. Remember that you don’t have to be perfect to make a difference. Just showing up for your students matters more than you know.
References
Agyapong, B., Obuobi-Donkor, G., Burback, L., & Wei, Y. (2022). Stress, Burnout, Anxiety and Depression among Teachers: A Scoping Review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(17), 10706. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710706