Most of us have faced burnout at some point. You know the feeling—you’re exhausted, groggy, and trudging through your day just to complete basic tasks. Maybe you felt disconnected from your work or irritated by colleagues and clients alike.

Now imagine that during that same period, you were handed a classroom of twenty to thirty preteens—each with boundless energy, conflicting emotions, and smartphones—and told that you were responsible not only for educating them but also for shaping their character and managing their moods. Oh, and every lesson you teach may be dissected and debated nationwide, through the lens of shifting political and moral ideologies.

Sounds intense? Don’t worry! There’s always the classic advice: “Here are ten easy steps to cope with your job! Step One: Remember to breathe.”

Sure. Easy fix. Feeling better already, right?

What is Teacher Burnout?

Burnout is a state of emotional and physical exhaustion that occurs from prolonged stress. Burnout affects students and professionals of all types, but we are currently facing a crisis in the education system with higher rates of teacher burnout. Teacher burnout causes emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and reduced feelings of personal accomplishment (PA) due to chronic job stress. EE refers to feelings of being overextended and a lack of emotional resources. DP refers to a negative, callous, or unfeeling response to the job, making it harder to connect with students and coworkers. Reduced PA may manifest as feelings of incompetence or a reduction in productivity.[1] Burnout can also lead to feelings of anxiety and depression and might adversely affect educators’ health, as it is a risk factor for poor physical and mental wellbeing.[2]

What Does Teacher Burnout Look Like?

While teacher burnout is characterized by EE, DA, and reduced PA, it can culminate in several ways. Some symptoms of teacher burnout are . . .

  • Physical fatigue: Constantly feeling tired despite getting enough rest, which can impact one’s ability to perform daily tasks.
  • Increased irritability and/or cynicism: In addition to feeling an emotional disconnect from the job, burnout may cause educators to become easily frustrated, irritable, or impatient. They may develop a negative outlook toward their work, colleagues, or even students.
  • Decreased job satisfaction: Educators may no longer feel a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in their job.
  • Reduced productivity: Educators may struggle to concentrate, make decisions, or plan effectively, resulting in a decline in job performance.
  • Withdrawal and isolation: Educators suffering from burnout may isolate themselves from colleagues and avoid social interaction, including participation in extracurricular activities. 
  • Increased absenteeism: Arising from mental health struggles or physical illness, educators facing burnout may find it challenging to find the motivation or energy to go to work.
  • Physical and mental health issues: Chronic stress from burnout can contribute to various health problems, such as headaches, insomnia, frequent illnesses, anxiety, depression, or even substance abuse.[3]

How is Teacher Burnout Impacting the Industry?

While burnout is a possibility in any profession, educators are suffering from burnout at an alarmingly high rate. In fact, a Pew Research survey found that 77% of teachers say their job is highly stressful, 68% say that it is overwhelming, and 52% say that they would not advise a young person today to become a teacher. 

These statistics are not just a reflection of job frustration—they’re a reflection of a mass exodus occurring in the profession. According to projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), more than 270,000 teachers are expected to leave the profession each year for the decade of 2016 through 2026. Likewise, it’s estimated that one third of new teachers leave after three years, and 46% are gone within five years.[3] In 2025, this meant that at a minimum, 411,549 teaching positions were either unfilled or filled by teachers not fully certified for their role. 90% of teacher vacancies are because of attrition (teachers leaving the profession), rather than a lack of new educators entering the field.[3]

Why is This Happening?

This is because of the incredibly high level of pressure and stress placed on educators during the school year, which combines with society’s treatment of teaching as a profession that leads to exorbitantly high levels of stress. [4]

Teachers face rigorous schedules and workloads, wherein they have large class schedules, inadequate time for breaks and prep, and are often responsible for supervising extracurricular activities. In fact, 84% of teachers say there’s not enough time during their regular work hours to do tasks like grading, lesson planning, paperwork, and answering work emails. [4]

Likewise, educators face a lack of resources and support, including inadequate funding, limited access to professional development, and inadequate support staff. 

The high stress of the profession can often lead to low self-efficacy, causing educators to doubt their ability to achieve their goals. [3]

Finally, classroom management places a huge amount of stress on educators, and many have reported an alarmingly high amount of behavioral problems after COVID—in fact, 49% say the behavior of most students at their school is fair or poor. The presence of challenging behavioral problems and high rates of absenteeism within a classroom can eventually contribute to educator exhaustion, and a sense of ineffectiveness and growing disillusionment regarding their purpose in the educational setting.[5]

Systemic Support for Teachers

All these factors are creating worsening teacher burnout, and many areas are dealing with teacher shortages. Something needs to change—and it cannot be simply giving advice to educators about how to deal with burnout. This is a systemic issue, not an individual one. 

Addressing teacher burnout requires systemic efforts to restore educators’ sense of purpose, autonomy, and professional fulfillment. Things like creating supportive work environments, offering opportunities for professional growth and development, and recognizing and valuing teacher contributions are a good place to start.[3] This can foster an environment where educators feel supported, respected, and appreciated. 

However, teacher burnout is not just about feeling unsupported: it’s often about feeling forced to do the impossible. Therefore, it is important that schools also take a resources and staffing approach to addressing teacher burnout. Administrators need to recognize that educators face immense workloads, and strive to alleviate these pressures by ensuring that they have the necessary resources. This includes materials and supplies, but also adequate staffing to ensure that teachers have the necessary support from instructional aides, paraprofessionals, and other staff members. [3]

Finally, administrators can work to implement policies that prioritize work-life balance. These could include strategies to manage workload demands effectively, such as providing planning periods and collaborating with educators to create manageable schedules. By prioritizing work-life balance, administrators ensure that educators have time for personal lives, rest, and self-care.

Publishing Solutions Group

At Publishing Solutions Group, we recognize that the teacher burnout crisis cannot be solved with self-care checklists alone. This article powerfully articulates a systemic problem that demands systemic solutions. This is where our mission aligns directly: we support our clients by developing the very resources and curriculum supports that can help alleviate the “impossible” workload placed on educators.

By creating high-quality, ready to implement content and providing robust professional development, we aim to give teachers their most precious resource back: time. We help reduce the burden of relentless lesson planning and material creation, empowering educators to focus on what matters most – connecting with students and rediscovering the fulfillment that drew them to the profession. Our work provides the foundational support educators need to thrive, not just survive.

[1] https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19052725

[2]https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9518388/

[3]https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/extinguishing-teacher-burnout-strategies-and-resources-educators

[4]https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/extinguishing-teacher-burnout-strategies-and-resources-educators

[5]https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/04/04/whats-it-like-to-be-a-teacher-in-america-today/

Image by DuoNguyen for Unsplash.