Teacher Burnout: A Crisis Much Ignored

Abstract

Teacher burnout is a serious concern that is threatening the wellbeing of our educators and the future of our education system. In the context of an ongoing teacher shortage the presence of teacher burnout is causing many educators to retire early or leave the profession outright as they come face to face with the harmful effects of this condition. Teacher burnout is contributing to the teacher shortage further perpetuating the crisis by continuing to drive skilled educators from the field. Research shows that teacher burnout has serious mental, physical, and emotional effects on teachers due to a vast variety of work-related factors that collectively harm the mental health of our educators. Although this phenomenon can be observed across all grade levels and domains there is particular concern for our TESOL educators as the job demands for their positions put them at particular risk for burnout. With factors such as compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress, intense workloads, and identity dissonance weighing on the shoulders of our TESOL educators, there is concern for how teacher burnout will affect the future of TESOL education and our educators in the field. A mindfulness-based stress reduction program is designed to support our educators, reduce their stress, and mitigate the threat of teacher burnout.