Avoiding teacher burnout: How turnover in schools is impacting students and what teachers can do
In a small rural community in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, superintendent Vance Varner is facing a challenge that school districts across the country are all too familiar with, a teacher shortage. As he gears up for the school year, four positions are still completely vacant, and some with zero applications. Varner, with 25 years as a teacher and admin in Mifflin County, shares that he is “preparing to fill some of the vacancies with people who have no teaching experience or training, which he rarely had to do a decade ago.”
Varner isn’t alone as administrators across the board are scrambling for teachers for the upcoming school year. But how can educators practice self-care to prevent burnout from any extra responsibilities due to the shortage? Read on to find out.
More on the educator shortage
In many U.S. school districts since Covid-19, there’s been a wave of “early retirements, along with resignations from burned-out educators.” In Pennsylvania alone, 7.7% of all teachers left their jobs. In Maine, over 2,000 educators quit or retired last year, which is the most turnover they’ve experienced in seven years. This trend has continued for many states and districts around the country.
College graduates don’t seem to be gravitating towards teaching either, with a “decrease in the number of college graduates going into teaching that predates the pandemic.” Pandemic aside, teachers are leaving due to differences in political beliefs (such as book bannings and more) surrounding educators, or even a lack of respect.
The educators shortage impact on students
Educators are now playing even more roles in their schools. Dean of Students at George Washington Elementary Joseph Torres has stepped in to serve lunch, cover the doors as secretary, and so much more.
The local president of the Lancaster Education Association teachers union shared, “I don’t want to say our kids are hurting, but that is the fact: Kids are hurting. They are suffering… That first pandemic group came back into a different educational world that is not the one that you and I went through.”
This shortage is especially impacting low-income school districts that are under-resourced already and struggling even more since the pandemic. Educators in low-income schools have already been stepping up to juggle more and more responsibilities for their students, but in a post-pandemic world, they’re having to do it all (teach multiple classes, buy school supplies, and more).
“This has an impact on kids’ learning precisely at a time where we need to be accelerating learning… We don’t have enough teachers and enough principals to fill all the positions, and we have lots of turnover. So that’s making it very difficult to accelerate the kids back to where they should have been had the pandemic not happened.”
– Ed Fuller, education professor at Penn State on the teacher shortage
TSI’s Take: Preventing burnout
Teachers are essential, working hard as educators and role models who can support and guide students.
Here are three tips for educators to help prioritize self-care and wellness during a stressful time in the education field:
- Create time to connect with your students, whether during homeroom or for the first five minutes of class. You can use this time to proactively discuss trending topics like the ones in the Weekly Huddle by The Social Institute or in our #WinAtSocial Lessons. By continuing to build student-teacher relationships, teachers can build meaningful connections that support healthy classrooms, academic performance, and engaged teachers.
- Join teacher support groups like Reddit groups, Facebook groups, and even Instagram pages to follow. You are not alone in feeling extra pressure in the school system right now.
- Bring mindfulness into your classroom, even if it’s just a minute of silent meditation to let everyone’s nervous systems calm before starting a class. We live in a busy world made busier by students and adults socializing daily through technology. It’s a lot to manage, and so building healthy relationships with social media and tech is essential to supporting ourselves and our students.
Remember, not all hope is lost. The U.S. Department of Education has announced partnerships across states and school districts to address the teacher shortage.
What educators do every day to show up, support, and teach students is simply incredible, and at The Social Institute, we see you and we are grateful for all of your hard work.
Educators often tell us that they simply cannot add one more thing to their already full plates. That’s why #WinAtSocial Lessons are designed to save time while empowering & equipping teachers and student. Teachers tell us that they are better at managing their relationship with technology after running lessons with students.
Schools around the country are supporting student well-being with easy-to-use and turnkey technology and lessons that inspire healthy decision-making, especially important during stressful times. Request a demo today.
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The Social Institute (TSI) is the leader in empowering students by understanding students. Through #WinAtSocial, our gamified, peer-to-peer learning platform, we equip students, educators, and families to navigate their social world – in the classroom and beyond, online and offline – in healthy, high-character ways. Our unique, student-respected approach empowers and equips, rather than scares and restricts. We incorporate timely topics about social media, tech use, and current events that are impacting student well-being and learning. #WinAtSocial Lessons teach life skills for the modern day, capture student voice, and provide school leaders with actionable insights. Through these insights, students play an essential role in school efforts to support their own health, happiness, and future success as we enable high-impact teaching, meaningful family conversations, and a healthy school culture.