TEACHER SUPPORT

Strategies to Support Teachers Struggling with Burnout

The pandemic, learning loss, and staff shortages have all put a strain on K–12 education. Organizations—and many educators themselves—are sounding the alarm: teachers are burned out, and so are school leaders.

Here are tips for supporting your faculty members so they continue to help students thrive:

1. Say goodbye to the “egg crate” model, and adopt collaboration instead.

Research suggests that a collaborative teaching model—one that replaces the siloes of “egg crates”—may improve student learning and teacher satisfaction.

2. Provide trauma-informed training to help teachers support students’ social-emotional learning.

Research has shown that when teachers can help reduce stress in students, there is a positive impact on students and teachers alike.

3. Minimize paperwork for teachers.

Reducing required paperwork—i.e., providing a bureaucratic shield—has been shown to increase teacher retention.

4. Involve teachers in key decision-making processes.

Having a voice in decision-making processes makes a significant impact on teacher job satisfaction; yet a large proportion of teachers report that they do not feel heard.

5. Protect teachers’ planning time.

When teachers have limited or no time to plan during the school day, their stress levels increase while morale decreases. When asked about what would significantly improve their daily work, teachers have identified additional planning time as a key factor.

6. Set incremental goals, and celebrate wins.

Providing clear, achievable goals drives incremental progress and makes work meaningful. In other words: small wins yield big results.

7. Provide tools for students to get individualized help.

At Tutor.com, we’ve seen a rise in school-day utilization—and we still deliver thousands of sessions at midnight, too. On-demand support helps students at their moment of need, while also reducing the burden on teachers and school leaders.

At Tutor.com, we support students and teachers every day by providing one-to-one tutoring and homework help during class time—and well beyond. Reach out to our team to learn more.

Find additional tips in the Annenberg Institute’s Brief 19, and check out other articles for K–12 leaders on Tutor.com.