Supporting Educators in Dealing with Teacher Fatigue

Inquiry Question:

How can increasing awareness of teacher burnout minimize the effects?

Rationale:

My Professional Inquiry Project is focused on understanding and educating individuals on the

issue of teacher burnout. The teaching profession is overloaded with extra-curricular activities,
collaboration meetings, staff meetings, and professional development before even addressing the
curriculum. Amongst all these activities it is no wonder that 46% of teachers leave the profession within
the first 5 years (Karsenti & Collin, 2013). The education staff at Dr. Ken Sauer School is comprised of a
wide range of backgrounds and years of experience. This has provided me the opportunity to learn and
grown amongst a variety of professionals. However, this left me wondering how my fellow colleagues
combatted the issues of teacher burnout that I myself am feeling.

My initial weeks at Dr. Ken Sauer School have been an amazing learning experience but finding a
work-life balance has been challenging. This encouraged me to support myself, fellow staff, first-year
teachers, and practicum students in finding a way to spread awareness of the issue. The resource I
intend to create is focused on providing access to information regarding ways to minimize burnout and
strategies to promote a work-life balance. The creation of the resource would be intended to provide
teachers access to simple methods that are teacher approved. I hope that this information will help
minimize the impact on professional life inside and outside the classroom.

Results:

Initially, I outlined three activities in my proposal included a Google Form, individual interviews
and academic research that will altogether supplement my inquiry. I will briefly discuss the findings of
each component and were applicable will provide further detail in this document.

The Google Form I created was centred around the concept of teacher fatigue and minimizing
the impact on professional obligations. The form was distributed to teachers through email on a
Tuesday afternoon and they were provided one week to complete the form at their discretion. The form
elicited 5 responses out of 13 total teachers in the school. The final question of the survey asked
participants if they would like to answer additional questions regarding teacher fatigue in which 4 out of
5 participants agreed. The results of my Google Form will be discussed below and will provide a brief
overview of thoughts regarding teacher fatigue.

The individual interviews component of my project did not elicit sufficient evidence due to the
recent circumstances. The additional interview questions were centered around methods to diminish
fatigue, the role of school climate, and ideal measures that would assist with fatigue. Fortunately, I was
able to conduct one interview for these questions before circumstances changed and will briefly outline
the answers.

The interview conducted provided some valuable insight into the concept of teacher fatigue.
The interviewee discussed the importance of creating cross-curricular opportunities to minimize
demands of assessment. Additionally, the interview suggested that being prepared through coming
early and staying late. The interviewee believed that school climate impacts professional well-being
through the amount of support provided to teachers and the resources available to teachers. Lastly,
measures that could be put in place for educators to minimize fatigue in the classroom is the
implementation of pull-out programming and additional support for the complex needs of the
classroom. Altogether, this interview put more into perspective the impact of fatigue and the ability to
minimize impact.

Lastly, I conducted research to supplement my understanding of the teacher fatigue in

classrooms. I focused on three separate articles and provided a brief overview. The information
emphasized the information and discussion from my fellow colleagues. The information gathered from
research is outlined below to supplement understanding of teacher fatigue.

Google Form Results:

The initial step in my Professional Inquiry Project was providing a short survey for teachers at Dr. Ken
Sauer School to complete. The survey was available for a week and came in the form of Google Forms.
The questions included in the survey were centered around understanding were teacher burnout stems
from, the challenges associated with classrooms and finding work-life balance. The information below
provides a brief summary of the questions and the most common answers from participants.

1) Have you experienced some work-related form of mental health fatigue (exhaustion, anxiety, or
stress) since becoming a teacher?
• 100% of participants indicated they have experienced some work-related form of
mental health fatigue.
2) How many hours do you work on average each work?
• 40% of participants indicated they work approximately 50-55 hours per work, 20%
of participants indicated they work 40-45, 55-60 and 60+ hours per week for each
respective group.
3) How many hours a week do you spend on the following tasks (Academic Documentation,
Professional Development, Parent Communication, Lesson Planning or Preparation, and
Classroom Management)?
• Participants indicated that most time is spent doing lesson planning and preparation
on average spending 10 hours per week on this task.
• Participants indicated that the least amount of time in professional development
with an average of 2 hours per week on the task.
4) At what year in your career did you feel less overwhelmed with the workload?
• Most participants indicated that they have yet to feel less overwhelmed with their
workload with experience ranging from 3 to 22 years of teaching.
5) What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of your job?
• Overall, the most challenging aspect outlined by participants was the ability to
support and maintain inclusive classroom settings. The dynamic needs of the
classroom are overwhelming complex and their isn’t enough daily support for
vulnerable students.
6) What is the least challenging aspect of your job?
• Overall, the least challenging aspect of participants workload included building
relationships, field trips, implementing engaging lessons, and the support team
created.
7) How would you rate your work-life balance?
• 40% of participants indicated their work life balance is a 4 on a scale of 1-10.
• Additionally, 40% of participants indicated they have a work-life balance of 5 or
higher.
8) What do you do to practice self-care?
• Participants indicated they participate in yoga, exercise, reading, spending time with
family and connecting with people.
 • TEACHER FATIGUE •

HOW IT BEGINS

EXHAUSTION CYNICISM INADEQUACY

Exhaustion is the feeling of
fatigue.
Exhaustion stems from:
High investment increasing
workload and pressure.
Self-doubt of success
leading to increased
workload.
Cynicism entails a negative or
distant attitude towards work
or other people.
Cynicism stems from:
Insufficient ability to handle
situations caused by
problematic encounters.
Inadequacy in work or
studies
The feeling of failure or
insufficiency.
Inadequacy is a reduced
sense of accomplishment,
feelings of incompetence, or
lowered self-efficacy.
Inadequacy stems from:
The combination of
exhaustion and cynicism
but can act independently.
Less developed abilities to
work with students.

REFERNCES: VAISANEN, S., PIETARINEN, J., PYHALTO, K., TOOM, A., & SOINI, T. (2018). STUDENT TEACHERS’ PROACTIVE STRATEGIES
FOR AVOIDING STUDY-RELATED BURNOUT DURING TEACHER EDUCATION. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION, 41 (3): 301-
217.
 • TEACHER FATIGUE•

MINIMIZING THE EFFECTS

BEFORE BEGINNING

MINDFULNESS SELF-REGULATION CO-REGULATION

Mindfulness-based Self-Regulation is a proactive Co-Regulation is a proactive
interventions afford key skills strategy that involves strategy that involves
including mental flexibility, regulation of oneself without regulation of oneself with
emotion regulation and intervention from external intervention or assistance
resilience, and empathy, bodies. The practice of self- from external bodies. The
forgiveness, and compassion. regulation includes time or practice of co-regulation
The practice of mindfulness workload management includes drawing from or
training allows for: including: building social resources
Coping strategies through Organize and prioritize work including:
structured practices and free time Identifying areas in need of
Emotional regulation Intentional time for social resources
Prosocial tendencies planning Seeking social resources
including compassion and Setting and prioritising Actively discussing and
forgiveness goals implementing alternative
This reduces stress and Planning in advance measures for situations
increases self-efficacy. Providing help to others

Taylor, C., Harrison, J., Haimovitz, K., Oberle, E.,
Thomson, K., Schonert-Reichl, K., & Roeser, R.W.
(2015). Examining Ways That a Mindfulness-
Based Intervention Reduces Stress in Public
School Teachers: a Mixed-Methods Study.
Mindfulness, 7:115-129.
Vaisanen, S., Pietarinen, J., Pyhalto, K., Toom, A.,
& Soini, T. (2018). Student teachers’ proactive
strategies for avoiding study-related burnout
during teacher education. European Journal of
Teacher Education, 41 (3): 301-217.
Vaisanen, S., Pietarinen, J., Pyhalto, K., Toom, A.,
& Soini, T. (2018). Student teachers’ proactive
strategies for avoiding study-related burnout
during teacher education. European Journal of
Teacher Education, 41 (3): 301-217.
 • TEACHER FATIGUE •
WORK-LIFE BALANCE
EXERCISE
The most common practice
helps with overall health
through increased mental
clarity, stronger immune
function, and overall physical
health.
FAMILY/FRIENDS
Helps boost happiness,
reduce stress, improve self-
confidence, and provide
support.
IN-SERVICE TEACHERS
READING
Helps with mental health by
stress reduction, stimulates
mindfulness, and improves
memory.
DISCONNECT
Helps improve mindfulness,
reduce stress, and increase
mental clarity.
YOGA
Helps with mental and physical
health through improved sleep,
increased mindfulness, and
body strengthen.
PREPARATION
Helps improve confidence,
self-efficacy and stress.
Annotated Bibliography:

Mclean, L., Abry, T., Taylor, M., Jimenez, M., & Granger, K. (2017). Teachers’ mental health and
perceptions of school climate across the transition from training to teaching. Teaching and Teacher
Education, 65: 230-240.

This article focuses on outlining the influence that school climate has on the burnout rate of
teachers. The article discusses that symptoms of both depression and anxiety increased with students
who transitioned into schools with lower-quality climates while teachers in schools perceived as having a
positive school climate reported no significant increase in symptoms. The article continues to suggest
that first year of teaching suggest that preservice teachers could benefit from mental health training and
support before starting their careers. The current models of teacher training are not focused on mental
health despite evidence that emotional regulation is crucial to teacher success.

Taylor, C., Harrison, J., Haimovitz, K., Oberle, E., Thomson, K., Schonert-Reichl, K., & Roeser, R.W. (2015).
Examining Ways That a Mindfulness-Based Intervention Reduces Stress in Public School Teachers: a
Mixed-Methods Study. Mindfulness, 7:115-129.

This article outlines a study completed that looked at the influence of mindfulness on teacher
burnout. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) is a training is the cultivation of skills for dealing with
challenging, uncertain, and stressful situation. The training program is focused on present-moment
somatic, mental and social experiences in the form of feelings, thoughts, and mental images. The article
suggest that mindfulness training is known to affect the emotional regulation and reduces stress through
efficacy for regulating emotions.

Vaisanen, S., Pietarinen, J., Pyhalto, K., Toom, A., & Soini, T. (2018). Student teachers’ proactive
strategies for avoiding study-related burnout during teacher education. European Journal of Teacher
Education, 41 (3): 301-217.

This article outlines the effect proactive measures in teacher education to mitigate burnout
effects. The article suggest that pre-service teachers experience similar stressors as in-service teachers
including heavy workload, time management and pressures, and student misbehaviour. Burnout is
defined as having three distinctive symptoms including exhaustion, cynicism and inadequacy.
Additionally, the authors suggest that coping strategies in teacher preparation courses will allow
educators to reduce stress. This includes both self-regulation and co-regulation strategies for educators.