Article #teacherburnout - Voices from the Front Lines
Laura Ferrell
91% According to a recently published EdWeek Research Center article summarizing the state of affairs in the teaching profession, this figure is the percentage of educators who report experiencing job-related stress. The research also articulates what teachers feel they need to counteract this stress and what administrators plan to do about it. The data further reveals that these two metrics are at odds, while well-meaning administrators may not be implementing the type of practices that alleviate stressors. This data set, along with a host of others, outline a steadily growing pandemic in its own right—teacher burnout. Staff shortage issues across Illinois and the nation are a regular part of the news cycle as districts scramble in a daily dance of classroom coverage. Tack on increased discipline issues, learning loss and Covid variants, and a recipe exists for a mass exodus from the teaching profession. A recent post by NPR cites these “layers of stress” as forcing some educators into crisis. In the article, Peter Faustino, a school psychologist based in New York is quoted, “We’re seeing, I think the effect of the pandemic and all of those issues really now in the forefront of our work, where students and families are really saying, ‘I can’t keep going like this. I need help.’” 42
