Oh yeah. It’s either that time of the year, or that time of the career. In my sixth year of teaching, I’ve seen so many things that were not supposed to be done in the ways they were done by administrators, a couple of other teachers, students, school aides, school security officers, and parents. Among all those things, I don’t have “the top” reason that I’m feeling this way, and I don’t believe anyone does, even if a teacher believes so. I’m not saying my work as a graduate student has to be the final say in this at all, but my thesis in my Masters of Science in Education program was about the retention and attrition rates of new teachers who have gone through alternative teacher certification program. My survey concluded that the factor with the highest correlation with attrition was school leadership.
I’ve been also reading a lot to figure out how to treat my burnout-like symptoms: fatigue, lack of motivation, and temper flares. One study finds a “music therapy” helps. But I would’ve had to pay to get the article and I decided that it would’ve stressed me out to spend money on reading an academic article about an obscure music therapy.
I also came across this article under Health section in New York times, titled “Teacher Burnout? Blame the Parents.” Most of my students, who are mostly from the South Bronx area, one of the most economically challenged community in this country, wouldn’t have to worry about their teachers leaving because of parents. However, I do believe that this is a dangerous shift in the blame game. In fact, the whole blame game is ridiculous.
I’m burned out because I’m burned out. This is a very demanding job, and it takes toll on a person’s health (I appreciated the article was under the Health section instead of Education section.) I just need to figure out how to get back into the groove, I think.
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