Teacher Burnout or Demoralization? Why It’s Important to Know the Difference
Doris Santoro is educating school systems on the difference between burnout and demoralization and sharing effective strategies to help teachers reclaim job satisfaction. Over the past year, teaching has felt especially hard. “Burnout” is a common buzzword in education, but I believe much of the dissatisfaction many teachers feel is due to a different cause: demoralization. Doris Santoro is a professor at Bowdoin College and the author of Demoralized: Why Teachers Leave the Profession They Love and How They Can Stay. She encourages teachers to understand how burnout and demoralization differ, both in their causes and in their solutions. Burnout is physical or emotional exhaustion, as a result of prolonged stress or frustration . Self-care is often prescribed to help with burnout. Demoralization happens when teachers are asked to work in a way that does not align with their professional values. While self-care strategies such as exercise or meditation can help with symptoms of burnout,