Avoiding Burnout

Feeling stressed? Can you see the ‘Burnout’ sign flashing in the distance? Do you feel like you’re not really a teacher or a professor? If you are, then you’re in luck because I will explain how to fight both issues, thanks to the guidance of Prof. Sydney Lee. She submitted a video titled “Imposter Syndrome and Teacher Burn-Out amongst Foreign English Instructors in South Korea. If you are not an ELT in South Korea, still continue to read along as you might find much of the advice to be helpful.

To gather data on the subject, Prof. Lee posted a 28-question SurveyMonkey survey on 18 Facebook groups that ESL teachers in Korea frequent. The survey results found that while most teachers are happy with their jobs, the vast majority of those surveyed experience serious difficulties like depression, burnout, and imposter syndrome, along with feeling underappreciated or exposed to toxic work environments. Let’s dig into the numbers.

55% had Imposter Syndrome

60% happy with their job

64% suffer from burnout

58% don’t feel appreciated by employer

43% have moderate stress at work

27% believe these feelings affect their teaching

43% believe these feelings affect their teaching only sometimes.

In her discussion, Prof. Lee noted 5 things about the teaching that we should be aware of.

• Our work as an EFL educator IS important, so feel appreciated for the work we do.

• You can love your job even if you feel burned out or like an imposter.

• Imposter Syndrome and Burnout are real issues. 

• Develop Emotional Intelligence to help pinpoint our feelings and their triggers to help work through them. We can even work on our relationships with people and form support systems. 

• Trying to change the culture or system or your coworkers will not work. It is pointless to feel that you can 

• Be happy with yourself. 

So what can a teacher feeling this way do to get out of the depressive spiral? Prof Lee. recommends a self-care focused approach.

Fundamentally, we have to avoid what noted philosopher Blade said in his first movie about “ice skating uphill” and focus on the things we can change. And we can always change ourselves.

What are some issues that you think lead to burnout? What are some ways that you have learned to overcome or fight depression? Feel free to leave a comment in our form below. We will post comments as they come in.