What is it?

Burnout is a state of chronic stress that tends to cause physical exhaustion and

emotional. Burnout can cause you to feel disconnected or ineffective, regardless of devoted effort. Burnout affects teachers who are high performers and try to improve at their job.

In general, these characteristics are desirable, but they can cause perfectionism in teachers. By not obtaining the desired perfection, teachers lose faith in the impact of effort and performance. Being dissatisfied with their work identity affecting their relationships outside of work.

In particular, Burnout in teachers has been more frequent since the COVID pandemic. Before the pandemic, teachers had to do a lot of work outside of school hours and use personal funds for classroom resources. In most public schools, a teacher's salary is one of the lowest compared to careers that require a bachelor's degree. Since the pandemic, the expectations and obligations of teachers have increased significantly. The responsibility of adapting the classroom with appropriate protective measures to ensure the learning and health of all students is tremendous.

The phenomenon of job burnout happens in all professions, but teachers in particular have increased recently. Expectations have always been high for teachers, but the pandemic made it magnificent. Burnout occurs when standards are too high, and the teacher attributes his or her own performance and personality as the root cause of the discrepancy.

How can you identify it?

➔ Fatigue and Insomnia: having fatigue after a full day with students is normal. The worrying fatigue is being exhausted before the day begins. This tends to be a consequence of insomnia, since by not resting well the night before, motivation and energy suffer.

➔ Brainhead: teachers who have burnout often have difficulty completing tasks that they could normally do. They cannot concentrate on finishing their obligations due to lack of motivation.

➔ Weight and Appetite: Burnout can stress teachers to the point of ignoring their physical health. Being very worried can reduce their appetite or motivation to take care of themselves and they abandon their dietary habits.

➔ Depression and Anxiety: If symptoms are ignored when they initially arise,

It can cause depression and/or anxiety.

Many teachers lose faith and resilience in the expectation and desire that their job performance will be worthwhile - which can cause existential problems expressed as cynicism or hatred towards their work.

What can I do to avoid Burnout?

Work Boundaries: One of the most important things that can help is to limit the extent that work has on your personal life. The role of teacher is only one facet of their identity. It is essential to remember all the necessary parts of living, including recreational time, personal friendships, other hobbies and passions, and rest. Some examples of measurements:

➢ Do not open emails after 5:00

➢ Do not grade assignments before eating

➢ Avoid work completely on Saturday or Sunday

➢ Take time for yourself, whether it's fairly infrequent like annual vacations, or frequent, like going out with family or friends on Sunday without thinking about work.

Teachers with burnout can feel isolated from their colleagues, since the expectation of them is to be positive and have a great passion for teaching, but the emotions of burnout are just the opposite. It is valuable to establish trust with colleagues who are also likely to feel symptoms of burnout. In particular, teachers with more years of experience can advise new teachers how to deal with the emotional difficulties they face.

On the contrary, it is equally important for mature teachers to know how to remember and identify burnout in newer teachers. Helping new teachers restore their motivation and faith.

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ABOUT

Recent graduate with a bachelor's degree in psychology from Texas A&M. I will begin my master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Texas State University. After living in Guanajuato for several years as a teenager, I aspire to help underrepresented communities by applying existential psychology methods.