Two Big Reasons Why Teachers Burn Out

It is hot (this was an accidental pun) to talk about burn out. A couple of years ago one of my colleagues recommended a book by Emily Nagoski about the science of burnout centering stories of women called Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. Reading that reminded me of some lessons learned from Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr almost a decade ago in The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time is the Key to High Performance and Personal Engagement. This is part of why I read new books—to help me remember and engage in conversations with the older books.

Most recently, Anne Helen Peterson’s article, which led to a whole book, “How Millenials Became the Burnout Generation” and Tiana Clark’s response “This is What Black Burnout Feels Like” deepened the conversations about burnout, examining it from not just a neuroscience perspective, but from socio-cultural, historical perspectives in the context of one’s racial and generational identities. All of these authors have stretched my initial understanding of burnout as just a personal crisis of conscience or just a physical state of being dead dog tired.

Two reasons for burnout that have really stuck with me came from a recent conversation with Dr. Wenimo Okoya, who was generous enough to share some of her thinking with me. She said there are two main reasons teachers burn-out: (1) the impact of secondary trauma from working with students who have experienced trauma first hand and (2) the loss of a sense of purpose. Check out her Healing Schools Project for how she is addressing healing for educators, especially educators of color.

My conversation with her resonated with my own experience so much and is part of why I founded The Teacher Sanctuary. I deeply believe that reading and writing practices can help us as teachers reimagine our purpose as educators and to help us reignite our passion, our why for teaching. Reading and writing in a loving community can be a healing force in the midst of burnout.