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Article review- The problem with stories about teacher ‘burnout’
Kristi Carson
Liberty University
Andrew Sheldrake
EDUC 200
February 16 , 2023
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Article review- The problem with stories about teacher ‘burnout’
The article, "The problem with stories about teacher 'burnout'", focuses on how school
leaders and policymakers describe the action of teachers leaving their profession or when they
raise their concerns as being exhausted, disappointed, and frustrated by their occupation as
"burnt out". The article further states that this has contributed to teachers getting themselves
often in analogous stations despite having full moral objections to school practices and policies
(Santoro, 2019). School administrators and policymakers make the quick diagnosis that these
instructors are "burnt out" and need to learn how to relax rather than investigate the root of their
dissatisfaction. "Burnt out" is the phrase that is most frequently used to describe instructors who
seem dissatisfied with their positions, report having thought about leaving, or show resistance to
implementing the most recent reform program. Teachers are also urged to be vigilant for the
"warning symptoms" of burnout to prevent entering the unrecoverable professional abyss.
Concerns about teacher burnout properly suggest that there are problems in many of our public
schools. According to the most recent PDK Poll, 50% of current public school teachers have
given the idea of quitting the job considerable thought ( . As a result of being Santoro, 2019)
pushed to do too much while receiving little support and little pay, inadequate school resources, a
rapid pace of reform initiatives, and a lack of time for anyone to adjust, implement, evaluate, and
reflect, teachers may be burning out. Calling it "burnout" paints a false picture of the kind of
suffering educators are going through since it implies that the source of the issue is each
instructor. That they are burned out implies that they are weak and worn out, capitulating to the
pressure, and have little prospect of recovery. This diagnosis not only prompts policymakers to
suggest ineffective solutions, but it also probably contributes to the bigger issue, like teacher
demoralization.
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The author's stance appears to be one that supports the notion of describing teachers as
“burnt out” when they are discounted with school policies and practices. Since they are expected
to do too much while receiving little support and low pay, schools' resources fall far short of
what students need, and reform efforts happen quickly with little opportunity for everyone to
adjust, enforce, evaluate, or reflect, teachers have given this profession serious thought. I support
the author’s stance since, dubbing it "burnout" misrepresents the kind of suffering educators are
going through because it implies that the source of the issue is each particular teacher. School
leaders should rather term teachers’ discontent as “demoralized” as it explains how educators feel
about the moral and ethical issues they encounter. A teacher who is burned out may not have
anything left to offer. However, I would say that demoralized instructors were the ones who were
most dissatisfied because they could not instruct in the manner, they thought was proper. We
must properly identify the causes of teacher unhappiness given the critical requirement to recruit
and keep outstanding teachers. These sources are frequently relevant: Teachers deserve fair pay,
manageable workloads, and secure working conditions. Teachers' discontent, nevertheless, might
also be motivated by moral considerations. And the only way to stop the teacher exodus is to
address the moral causes of the teachers' suffering. For teachers who discover they can no longer
do quality work, demoralization is a more precise diagnosis.
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Reference
Santoro, D. A. (2019). The problem with stories about teacher “burnout”. Phi Delta
Kappan 101, (4), 26-33.
