Teacher burnout is a state of chronic physical and emotional exhaustion resulting from prolonged stress in the teaching profession. It manifests as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment.
Factors contributing to teacher burnout include:
A comprehensive review published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health sheds light on the prevalence and correlates of stress, burnout, anxiety, and depression among teachers. Key statistics from this review are included below.
Understanding these statistics and correlates is crucial for developing targeted interventions to support teachers’ well-being and, consequently, improve educational outcomes.
According to the Pew Research Center:
In addition to their teaching duties, a majority of teachers (58%) say they have to address behavioral issues in their classroom every day. About three-in-ten teachers (28%) say they have to help students with mental health challenges daily.
In each of these areas, elementary and middle school teachers are more likely than those at the high school level to say they do these things on a daily basis.
And teachers in high-poverty schools are more likely than those in medium- and low-poverty schools to say they deal with these issues each day.
Positive experiences are more common among newer teachers. Two-thirds of those who’ve been teaching for less than six years say their work is fulfilling extremely often or often, and 62% of this group says their work is frequently enjoyable.
However, nearly half (48%) of teachers who have been teaching for six to 10 years say their work is frequently enjoyable. (Source: Pew Research Center)
Explore the blog posts below to hear from educators directly on the topic of teacher burnout.
I studied history at the University of Michigan, and I played music for fun. I thought, ‘Okay, I'll graduate, and then I'll go start a band.’ That's what I did. We were called ‘Or, The Whale.’ I ended up moving…
I always thought I wanted to go into law. I saw all these courtroom drama TV shows growing up, and that's what I wanted to do. I went to the University of Wisconsin–Madison with the intention of eventually going into…
My mother is a teacher. She is a wholehearted teacher. I grew up seeing her face light up with joy every time her students came up to her on the street: ‘Oh, hi, Miss, do you remember me? I was…
I was working at The Bridge Home at St. Mary's Women and Children's Center. It’s a shelter for infants to 12-year-olds. If the Department of Child and Family Services pulled a kid from their home, we housed and counseled them.