How to Solve Educator Burnout: A Guest Blogpost by Dr. Jessica Werner

What happens to education without great teachers? Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, we are close to finding out. UNESCO is projecting a shortage of 44 million teachers by 2030, which, scarily enough, is not that far off. 

Because of statistics like this, educator wellbeing has suddenly become a buzzword. This isn’t a bad thing - on the contrary, we should have been caring more about the wellbeing of educators long ago. However, it is important to know that it is not one dimensional, and there are no quick fixes. To start, it is important to know the actual contributors to wellbeing, because they might not be what you expect, and they won’t be fixed by Friday donuts or access to faculty yoga (although these acts of kindness and generosity are appreciated, they won’t solve the problem).

I like to start by helping others realize what the actual cause of low educator wellbeing is. That the number one contributor to educator burnout is something very tangible, and actually quite fixable. According to a study conducted by the Wall Street Journal in 2024, teachers stated that the challenges of managing student behavior was the number one cause of their feelings of burnout. 

Close behind were supporting diverse student learning needs and supporting students’ mental health and wellbeing. The students in schools are much different than they were 20 years ago. They have a host of learning difficulties, mental health challenges, and social and emotional difficulties that have drastically increased over the past two decades. Teachers feel unprepared to work with the challenges that confront them in their student populations. They are eagerly seeking more opportunities that provide guidance on how to best support the needs of their students. And when they are unable to do so it causes feelings of hopelessness and futility. 

Access to donuts isn’t going to move the needle on any of the issues mentioned above, but targeted, strategic professional learning opportunities will. Educators are looking for support for the difficult aspects of their jobs. Ongoing opportunities for professional learning about how to work with the new, diverse learning and behavioral needs of students will help enhance teacher feelings of efficacy, which means, they will feel more confident in knowing how to do their jobs well, and enhanced efficacy leads to increased job satisfaction.

In addition to offering quality professional learning opportunities, several other interventions have been shown to promote educator wellbeing as well. For example, providing access to leadership opportunities, and pathways to leadership positions, for teachers stands out as having the potential to increase feelings of job satisfaction and wellbeing. Often teachers think of leadership as being positions such as principal or superintendent. Other leadership pathways may include allowing teachers to provide professional learning for their peers or offering access to training to become instructional coaches. 

Additionally, teachers cite wanting to feel more autonomous in their roles. Research shows teachers want autonomy because it increases motivation, wellbeing, and retention. In practice, autonomy looks like having meaningful voice over instructional decisions, professional learning, and how they meet students’ needs within shared school goals.. Many new curriculums are scripted or prescriptive, taking away some of the creative planning that many teachers enjoy. Finding ways to honor teacher expertise and creativity helps teachers feel trusted, valued, and energized in their work.

My hope is that my own children, currently ages 14 and 11, will be able to take for granted having access to amazing educators throughout their careers. Ideally, the same can be said for my grandchildren one day. However, I am terrified by the statistics we see, and also by my day to day work with thousands of educators who I see suffering from exhaustion and burnout. The key to supporting educator wellbeing is not elusive, but it does require intentional thought and strategy, as well as financial backing. The best schools will find ways to do it, many will not. The teachers are counting us to do what is right before it is too late.