Teacher Burnout!!!

Introduction

The identified organization is the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDOE).  The problem found within this state district is teacher burnout.  The purpose of the executive summary is to report reasoning for teacher burnout.  The significance to learning the reasons teacher burnout  happens is to offer ideas to improve such morale. 

Background and Context

Teacher burnout is defined as, “a state of mental and physical exhaustion characterized by a negative attitude towards oneself or others” (Dung, Trang, & Lan, 2024).  Suh (2021) notes there are three types of burnout.  Societal stress involves a lack of respect from people in the community.  Organizational pressures are based on the policies, procedures, and curriculum a teacher must perform daily.  Insufficient resources and pressure of test scores falls in this category, too.  Finally, role-related distress explains the role a teacher is prepared for and how that may differ from their environment.  An example of this would be, “A teacher who has performed student teaching in a school that is well staffed and supplies are at hand, but then lands a teaching job in a school with a large majority of underserved students and a lack of supplies may experience this type of stress” (Suh, 2021).  Learning these three types of burnout can allow the WVDOE to minimize or balance the stressors, or even to “[remove the] barriers that block employees from using the full range of their skills and experiences” (Roberson and Perry, 2022).

Inclusive Leadership Practices Analysis

Roberson & Perry (2022) explain a strategy that may help with teacher burnout.  Allow teachers to make more decisions that effect them.  This allows a sense of control for a teacher to possibly deal with less workload, and more high quality aspects to the job.  Another strategy is to have resources accessibly to educators (Roberson & Perry, 2022).  Educators who have to supply their own differentiation tools, IEP accommodations (such as flexible seating), school supplies, or social-emotion-learning practices can be stressed due to workload, but also financially.  When a leader provides this for the educator, that is a weight the educator can take off the plate.

Behaviors of inclusive leadership involve inviting everyone to have a voice.  It is best to have a variety of educators who think and feel differently to allow a wide range of availability and accessibility to goal-reaching.  Additionally, when educators speak their voice or vote on a topic, actually implementing the task at hand is crucial.  It displays trust, confidence, and appreciation.  On the contrast, when teachers do not feel heard, they feel abandoned and unappreciated.  

Dann (2022) gives a great example of why these strategies and behaviors are important.  The Girl Scouts and Hell’s Angels both communities with values, beliefs, and behaviors (Dann, 2022).  One groups is viewed more positively, with an ideal culture, while the other is viewed more negatively, with an unideal culture.  To allow the WVDOE to be like the Girl Scouts, we must, “recognize the importance of leveraging our very human desire to belong by creating a positive and prosocial group that is meaningful and one that has multiple opportunities for individuals to belong” (Dann, 2022). 

Recommendations

Most teacher burnout strategies deal with coping with the stress (Dung, Trang, & Lan, 2024).  The WVDOE wants to combat the burnout, stop it before it gets too heavy to handle.  First, make less tasks a requirement.  For example, cancel the required staff meeting, and send the information in an email.  Do not make it a requirement to join a school committee, allow it to happen naturally.  When tasks are forced, the desire and ability to complete them diminish.  Also, within reason, complete the teacher’s requests.  For example, if a teacher feels a student is endangering others and needs removed from the class, then the student should be removed.  This level of understanding and inclusion with decision making puts trust between leaders and teachers, and in-turn, boosts morale.  These simple recommendations can allow the WVDOE to avoid teacher burnout. 

Conclusion

Burnout is fostered from the inability to cope with stress and a higher workload (Dung, Trang, & Lan, 2024).  Also, Suh (2021) notes burnout can occur when “decisions are made from the top down, with little or no teacher input.”  This can be avoided through inclusive leadership.  Inclusive leadership can create a diverse atmosphere.  This allows “different ideas, perspectives, experiences, and values [to be] leveraged to foster the benefits of diversity and enhance individual, team, and organizational outcomes” (Roberson & Perry, 2022).  When different ideas and perspectives are evident in a school system, specifically by teacher’s, burnout may be diminished.  

References 

Dann, P.L.  (2022).  Managing and Leading Nonprofit Organizations: A Framework for Success.  John Wiley & Sons, INC. 

Dung, V., Trang, V.T., Lan, N.T.M.  (2024).  Workload doesn’t mean exhaustion: Antecedents of teacher burnout.  Journal of Education and e-Learning Research, 11(2), 404-412.  DOI:

10.20448/jeelr.v11i2.5641

Roberson, Q., & Perry, J. L. (2022). Inclusive Leadership in Thought and Action: A Thematic

Analysis. Group & Organization Management, 47(4), 755–778. https://doi.org

10.1177/10596011211013161

Suh, R.  (2021).  Teacher Burnout.  Salem Press Encyclopedia, 3.