Could limiting daily caffeine consumption help alleviate teacher burnout?

New Teachers and Burnout

Burt, C. (2021). How SEL training can help alleviate teacher burnout, stress. District Administration, 57(6), 4.

This article is based on a report from the Southern Education Foundation that deemed teaching as one of the worst for “physical health, psychological well being, and job satisfaction.” The report was authored by a former fourth grade teacher who believes that through offering teachers skills to manage their own emotions they can create a healthier school environment for students. The article highlights five ideas that district leaders can use to boost SEL for staff that include: passionate new teachers need as much support as, if not more, than their colleagues, don’t assume you have a pulse on the mental health and well being of teachers, and any teacher prep programs should include SEL programs. For future teachers, it is beneficial to know some of these ideas so that they can vet potential employers based on what type of support they offer teachers in regards to their SEL training post-employment and during.

Kim, L. E., Klassen, R. M., & Jörg, V. (2019). A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Teacher Personality on Teacher Effectiveness and Burnout. Educational Psychology Review, 31(1), 163–195. https://doi-org.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/10.1007/s10648-018-9458-2

This article proposes two questions for study: what are the personal characteristics of effective teachers and what are the personal characteristics of teachers with low burnout tendencies? The study measures each of the Big Five personality domains against teacher effectiveness and burnout. The results of their study found that all Big Five personality domains, except for agreeableness, correlated with teacher effectiveness. The greatest effect sizes came from extraversion, which includes traits such as sociable, assertive, and energetic.) The study on burnout resulted in low correlations between the Big Five and burnout, but the author warns that a very small number of effect sizes was available for burnout so the results should be taken with some caution. Of the slight correlations made, the strongest association was with emotional stability, followed by conscientiousness and extraversion. The author makes note that it was surprising that agreeableness was not highly correlated with teacher effectiveness, but states that perhaps this is because this is a trait that is more significant in positions that require teamwork. Implications derived from this study include employing personality assessments in aiding in the employment of new teaching staff and determining adequate support for current or incoming staff. Similarly to the article by Burt, the authors ascertain that just as SEL interventions with students have proven successful, teachers would benefit greatly from similar programs. For perspective teachers, these personality assessments would be a great way to get to know their personal characteristics and find ways to adapt these to help in their teaching or work on improving them so as to avoid the effects of burnout.

McCarthy, C. J., Lambert, R. G., & Reiser, J. (2014). Vocational Concerns of Elementary Teachers: Stress, Job Satisfaction, and Occupational Commitment. Journal of Employment Counseling, 51(2), 59–74. https://doi-org.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/10.1002/j.2161-1920.2014.00042.x

In this article the authors conduct a study of 185 elementary teachers which they grouped by classroom demands and available resources, then compared these to personal coping, job satisfaction, and occupational commitment. Studies mentioned by the author include reports that there has been a 25% decrease in job satisfaction among teachers. Much of this, the author says, can be attributed to occupational stress which was significantly higher in elementary school teachers than middle or high school teachers. It is important to mention that the authors note that transactional theories (theories that acknowledge the social, cultural, and political factors) are consistent in predicting that stress can be brought on when individuals “appraise themselves as unable to cope with work demands.” This says much about the demands teachers feel and the support that they are receiving. The CARD system (Classroom Appraisal of Resources and Demands) was used in the study to evaluate the three groups the teachers were categorized into: (highly) resourced, balanced (resource and needs), and demand (high need). The study found that the demand group had higher representation of new teachers, possibly a by-product of the high turnover rate (5 years before leaving the profession). In addition the demand group reported a lack of preventative coping resources. Among the three groups, the teachers were on a spectrum when it came to job satisfaction. The newer teachers had a little more trouble personally coping while for the more seasoned teachers, job satisfaction was a little bit higher, but even these varied at times. On the topic of occupational commitment, the researchers found that in all groups many teachers engaged in varying degrees of discussing or considering leaving the profession, but the numbers were much lower for those who went as far as searching for other jobs. The conclusion that the researchers reached was that this study would serve as a gauge for employment counselors to use to try to slow the revolving door for teachers by noticing the signs of demand and stress and taking preventative measures before these become a problem. Coping methods that the authors present which may be helpful as a first year educator are self-efficacy and strong, positive relationships with colleagues and administrators. A big takeaway from this article, as a prospective teacher, is the importance of developing these positive relationships early on in my career to help reduce those feelings of isolationism which can lead to burnout.

McCarthy, C. J., Lambert, R. C., O’Donnell, M., & Melendres, L. T. (2009). The Relation of Elementary Teachers’ Experience, Stress, and Coping Resources to Burnout Symptoms. Elementary School Journal, 109(3), 282–300. https://doi-org.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/10.1086/592308

The study conducted by the authors of this article aimed to determine whether teacher need and available resources correlated with stress and burnout, and compared these at the school level by comparing teacher groups and at the individual level by comparing teacher with teacher. Data was collected from 13 elementary schools within 3 adjacent counties, all of which covered the same metropolitan area. The results showed that while there was little variance from school to school in regards to burnout, the stress and burnout levels fluctuate at the individual level. The authors point out that while research has been conducted in regards to teacher burnout, it has incorrectly, or at least has been incomplete, in its view that burnout can be attributed solely to external factors. They propose a “transactional model of stress” developed by Lazarus and Folkman in which every life encounter can be viewed as a transaction, and when a person perceives that the demand outweighs their capabilities, the stress response ensues. Burnout, defined as a loss of idealism and enthusiasm for work, then is a result of a series of these stressful transactions. Several other ideas that contribute to burnout were also proposed in this article, including isolationism, emotional exhaustion (which contributed for one-third of findings of burn-out), depersonalization, and reduced self efficacy. One idea that the authors propose as an underlying factor for schools to increase, or teachers to perceive an increase in demand and reduction of resources is teacher tenure which results in greater non-classroom responsibilities and administrative functions. The authors recommend that districts take these findings into account when allocating resources to classrooms so that those with higher demand can receive much needed resources, and also heed against assuming seasoned teachers are immune to stress. Based on the ideas presented by this article, it would be beneficial for future teachers to ask questions when applying and interviewing for districts about the resources available to them and their students and how these are allocated.

Oberle, E., Gist, A., Cooray, M. S., & Pinto, J. B. R. (2020). Do students notice stress in teachers? Associations between classroom teacher burnout and students’ perceptions of teacher social–emotional competence. Psychology in the Schools, 57(11), 1741–1756. https://doi-org.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/10.1002/pits.22432

The goal of the study in this article was to discover if there was a correlation between students' perception of teacher’s social-emotional competence and the teacher’s burnout. The researchers predicted that higher levels of burnout would result in lower SEC ratings given by students while students who had teachers with higher SEC levels would have a more positive school concept and autonomy. As was expected, students reported being more engaged and motivated if they saw that their teachers were more emotionally supportive in the beginning of the year. The study found that teaching younger students was related to higher levels of burnout as well as teaching in schools with higher levels of lower family income. On top of that, the study also found that there was a moderate correlation between being a new teacher and higher levels of burnout as well as being a female teacher and higher levels of burnout.

The authors believe that these correlations make it clear that teacher burnout is not only a personal problem, but it concerns the education system and its ability to support social, emotional, and academic learning conditions for students. They advocate for burnout prevention and enhancing teacher well being in order to be able to in turn support student success and autonomy. For a new teacher, burnout prevention programs would be of great importance, seeing as the study found that burnout is more likely to affect new and female teachers. Because of this, it would be important when entering a new school to ask what prevention programs they have in place or are willing to offer. If none are available, at the very least the incoming student would have the opportunity to look into preventative measures that they can take on a personal level to avoid burnout.

Based on my area of interest, I was partnered up with two other students who also developed a teacher inquiry on Health & Wellness. Upon comparing our Problem of Practice questions and research, we decided to implement a plan of action which would explore the effect that caffeine consumption would have on mood and night's sleep. Each of us had a different amount of caffeine that we were expected to consume, one high (me), one only one cup a day, and the third no caffeine at all. The caffeine amount was to be the variable so we established a goal of 15 minutes of physical activity and eight hours of sleep a day. We logged this for a period of one week and compared our results at the end.

Based on the data we collected, I found that both large quantities of caffeine consumption and the absence of caffeine had very similar side effects. Ms. Solis and I, Ms. Flores, would start our days tired and by lunch time we would be exhausted and foggy-minded, which progressed during the week ending with us both crashing by Thursday afternoon. For Ms. Solis, her irritability seemed to increase through the day, while for me the caffeine made me extremely anxious and frustrated.

I was expecting the third student teacher, Ms. Mendez, to have a much better time than Ms. Solis and I because she was allowed to keep her routine of having one cup of coffee a day. I was surprised to see that similarly to Ms. Solis and I, Ms. Mendez also found that she was very tired at the end of the school day, and on some days was also very anxious.

One difference that the caffeine made for me was that as the week continued, I would get less and less sleep. It felt that the caffeine would keep me mentally awake so falling asleep at night would become more and more difficult. This would result in me being even more tired in the morning, relying more heavily on the caffeine to get me through the day, and the problem would just continue again and again for the rest of the week.

Overall, I believe that the action plan which we developed was a good start, but one week was most definitely not enough time to really collect enough data to determine a correlation between stress and burnout and caffeine consumption. It would also be a good idea to take note of other external factors which may be affecting mood and stress such as personal stress.

Going forward, I plan to create a digital journal in which I can continue to log my caffeine, diet, water, sleep, and mood during my first year of teaching. Based on research on teacher burnout I have found that one of the biggest factors that contributes to burnout is feeling like there is lack of support, but I think that there may not be enough information on how first year teachers every day life is also contributing to this. It is my hope that continuing to keep a log of these things will at least allow me to see patterns in my own life, and in the future be able to share what I've learned with first year teachers.