teacher burnout essay

How much do teachers struggle with stress and burnout?

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February 8, 2022

There’s long been a perception—even before COVID-19—that schoolteachers are perpetually stressed and on the verge of burning out. Teaching is, without question, a challenging profession. The nature of the work is uniquely challenging, and many facets of the job are outside of teachers’ control—namely, the experiences that students bring to class. And those facets that teachers can control, like lesson preparation and good classroom management, require long hours of managing emotions during the workday and extra, uncompensated effort at night.

Stories in popular media frequently tell these stories with a narrative arc that portrays teaching as a Sisyphean task. One such story , “Hey, New Teachers, It’s OK To Cry In Your Car,” caught our attention years ago due to the vivid description of a rookie teacher hitting her breaking point just a couple months into the school year. Listening to the story, we wondered if teaching really differed from other professions in terms of mental health issues, or if everyone’s similarly stressed out in an increasingly fast-paced, cynical world.

Exploring perception and reality

Does the perception that teachers are uniquely stressed out match the reality? Has mental health worsened over time? And how are trends in mental health different for teachers than similar nonteachers? With Rui Wang of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and support from the Spencer Foundation, we answered these questions .

We use nationally representative survey data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth (NLSY) that tracks two cohorts of young adults as they age. The NLSY 79 sample includes roughly 13,000 respondents who were aged 14-22 when first interviewed in 1979; it assessed mental health in follow-up interviews in 1997, and at ages 40 and 50 for participants. The NLSY 97 sample includes roughly 9,000 respondents aged 12-17 when first interviewed in 1997; it assessed mental health in five different follow-up interviews spanning 2004 and 2015.

With these survey responses, we establish some basic facts about teachers’ mental health:

• In the 1979 cohort, women who became teachers had similar mental health to college-educated nonteachers prior to entering the profession. This suggests differences between teachers’ and nonteachers’ mental health are not due to pre-existing differences. We find no evidence that women with better (or worse) mental health than their peers opt for teaching as a profession.
• While teaching, educators appear to enjoy slightly better mental health, on average, than their nonteaching, college-educated peers. This is not to say that teachers experience no stress, but that their stress levels are no worse—and perhaps even better—than college-educated women in other professions.
• Regarding changes over time, in the 1997 cohort, teachers self-report worse mental health, on average, than their counterparts in the 1979 cohort. Yet, there is no significant difference between teachers’ and nonteachers’ mental health measures in the 1997 cohort—so it appears everyone has more stressors over time, and the decline in mental health is not unique to teaching.

These findings suggest that concerns about mental health, stress, burnout, and work-life balance are universal, and not unique (or uniquely pressing) in the teaching profession. A team at University College London has been studying similar questions in Europe and reached similar conclusions. This doesn’t mean that we should ignore teachers’ concerns, of course. Everyone needs to be in good mental and physical health to do their job well. And in the case of teaching, there’s a lot we can do to ease their workload, boost their morale, and provide supports that enable teachers to be their best selves in the classroom.

Teacher stress and mental health in the 2020s

A major limitation is that all of this research predates the pandemic. Alongside their role as educators, COVID-19 put teachers on the frontlines of managing ever-changing public health guidance and forced an abrupt pivot to remote instruction for prolonged periods of time. The dual burden has re-ignited concerns about teachers’ mental health, workloads, and what this means for the future of the teaching force.

As the pandemic and efforts to control it continue, teachers face unprecedented work-related stress, for sure. Recently, a survey released by the Alberta Teachers’ Association made headlines with the striking result that one-third of surveyed teachers said they were not sure they’d return to the classroom next school year. In the U.S. context, a recent survey conducted by the RAND Corporation finds a notable increase (almost 50%) in the share of teachers who say they might leave the profession at the end of the current school year, compared to pre-pandemic survey results. In addition to concerns about mass departures, stress hinders the effectiveness of those who remain in the profession. Protecting and maintaining a robust workforce of effective teachers necessitates helping teachers in developing the tools and skills for managing workplace stress. But first, we need to understand the sources of workplace stress.

As if keeping schools operational during a pandemic wasn’t stressful enough, keep in mind that teachers have had to confront the ripple effects of extreme political polarization in the U.S. in recent years as well. Teachers now find themselves in the center of conflicts over mask and vaccine mandates,  how to teach about racial issues in social studies and history, and a nonstop cycle of current events that continue to raise the salience of both deep partisan divisions and racial inequities.

The need to address these controversial topics with students, with increasing interference from parents, has undoubtedly made an already difficult job that much more challenging. And, since public schools are a safety net institution in the U.S.—often providing children multiple meals per day and their primary access to technology—teachers, especially those in preschool and day-care centers , have also been tasked with helping students navigate pandemic impacts on basic needs while experiencing their own pandemic-related hardships. In short, America’s contentious political climate and ongoing pandemic have simultaneously increased teachers’ workloads—and work-related stress.

New podcast turns spotlight onto teachers’ workloads

To help parents, school leaders, policymakers, and teachers understand and confront these challenges, we created a five-episode podcast called “ Mind the Teacher ,” with support from the Spencer Foundation and American University’s School of Public Affairs. In it, we speak to a range of experts including educators, researchers, and journalists about identifying and addressing problems related to teachers’ mental health.

Our main takeaway is that mental health is an important, and too often overlooked, aspect of our lives. This is true for everyone: teachers and nonteachers, parents and students. The global pandemic has shone a spotlight on the importance of, and inequities in, mental health. It’s also made the broader public, including parents, more aware of the challenges that teachers face, and the hard work they do, on a daily basis. While mental health concerns are not unique to teachers, teachers play a hugely important role in society, and their concerns must be addressed.

There’s a lot that school leaders, policymakers, and community stakeholders can do to support teachers. Some of these lessons come from the general psychology literature on workplace mental health, some come from listening to teachers, and some are just common sense.

There’s no silver bullet here. Rather, our reading of the literature suggests a two-pronged approach , with both individual-facing interventions and organizational-level changes. Teacher-directed interventions may include increased pay or programs that provide free counseling. Other teacher-facing interventions that have been shown to lift teacher morale include mindfulness training , peer mentorship, and coaching programs . School leadership might consider allowing teachers more autonomy, input on policy issues, planning and preparation time, and paid personal/mental health days. Decision-makers can free up valuable teaching capacity by providing grading assistance, reducing class sizes, and employing more counselors, social workers, and supervisory administrators.

At the organizational level, interventions should focus on quality, supportive leadership, access to free or affordable health care (including mental health care), and systematic policies to ease teachers’ workloads. And leadership should recognize racial and socioeconomic disparities and design support systems that alleviate the historical stresses on Black and other marginalized teachers.

Ultimately, many aspects of workplace stress stem from anxiety about being effective at work. Teachers, like many other professionals, want to be effective in their jobs and suffer from increased stress, anxiety, and depression when they know they aren’t at their best or are not receiving needed support. Both the individual- and organization-level approaches outlined here share a recognition that teachers’ mental health is inextricably linked to feeling supported and effective in the classroom—and that means giving teachers the dedicated time, space, and resources they need.

At the end of the day, public schools play a fundamentally important role in society, and teachers play a fundamentally important role within schools. It’s a difficult job made even tougher by the pandemic. We should fully support teachers and their mental health, as they can’t do their best work—and ensure that our students reach their full potential—when they’re suffering from chronic fatigue, pressure, and stress.

Authors’ note: If you’ve read this far, we hope that you’ll give “ Mind the Teacher ” a listen. All stakeholders should find this to be a useful resource. Episodes are available on Apple and Stitcher , and can also be streamed from American University’s website ; the latter also offers transcripts and links to the research referred to in each episode.

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Addressing Teacher Burnout: Causes, Symptoms, and Strategies

American teachers have markedly less time to prepare lessons, collaborate with colleagues, and assess student work than educators in other countries. Instead of a balance between time spent with students and preparatory activities, American educators have relatively limited time to engage in work key to successful teaching. Teaching loads can require educators to spend 39 percent more time with students than teachers spend outside of the United States, according to the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS). This lopsided distribution of time places extraordinary pressure on American teachers. Insufficient time to complete tasks integral to successful teaching and a host of other stressful conditions often lead to exhaustion. Today, 50 percent of teachers consider quitting, naming stress as one of the primary reasons. To address this crisis, leaders in education must find strategies to combat teacher burnout and build supportive teaching environments.

What Is Teacher Burnout?

Teachers confront significant challenges. They must adapt curricula to a wide range of learning styles, manage shifting education policies, attend to students with special needs, and juggle administrative work. In addition, many of our greatest social ills show up in their classrooms. So, what happens when teachers who already contend with so much also experience unsupportive work environments?

Many experience teacher burnout, hitting their limit in dealing with their work’s daily challenges. It occurs after prolonged exposure to poorly managed emotional and interpersonal job stress.

Consequences of Teacher Burnout

Over time, teacher burnout can lead to a variety of responses. The World Health Organization describes burnout as an occupational phenomenon characterized by three main attributes:

• Exhaustion . When teachers experience burnout, they can feel depleted of energy and too exhausted to continue with their work.
• Cynicism . Teachers who have reached a state of burnout can begin to feel mentally detached from their jobs. Their feelings about the profession can turn negative and cynical.
• Inefficacy . Teacher burnout also leads to feelings of incompetence or ineffectiveness.

Causes of Teacher Burnout

Teachers confront disheartening experiences that can lead to fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Left unmanaged, these symptoms can result in teacher burnout. Some of the causes of teacher burnout include:

Poor Funding

Many districts and schools lack sufficient funding for updated materials, technology, and staff. This places a huge burden on teachers, who must make do with insufficient books and supplies while managing high teacher-to-student ratios. Over time, this burden can leave teachers feeling hopeless and ill-equipped to address achievement gaps and meet students’ needs.

Education leaders must advocate for better school funding and, in the meantime, find ways to cut waste and manage their budgets so schools are as well-stocked and staffed as possible.

High Emotional Demands

In addition to educating students, teachers must care for students’ emotional needs, which can be emotionally demanding. Teachers often feel the very future of a generation rests on their shoulders. If a work environment lacks the support needed to fulfill this responsibility, teachers can understandably feel overwhelmed.

Additionally, teachers frequently find themselves supporting students who have experienced trauma. For example, teachers are likely to be among the first to notice signs of child abuse in a student. As mandated reporters, the law requires teachers to inform authorities.

Such experiences and others in which teachers have no control over the tragic events in their students’ home lives can prove harrowing. Ultimately, teachers can experience secondary trauma when they help students going through difficult times.

Education leaders need to provide teachers with the tools to endure the weight of the emotional demands of their role. For example, they can offer training sessions that give formal instruction on developing emotional skills such as:

• Accurate emotional recognition
• Understanding of the causes and consequences of one’s emotions
• Comfortable expression of emotions
• Effective regulation of emotions

Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence research has shown that teachers with developed emotional skills experience less burnout.

Inadequate Preparation

All too often, schools put teachers in situations they are adequately prepared to handle. For example, administrators may require educators to teach outside of their subject area, or they may assign students with learning and behavioral challenges to teachers who lack the necessary training to meet their needs. Such scenarios not only prevent students from learning but also prevent teachers from feeling accomplished, which can cause burnout.

Education leaders must ensure teachers get meaningful professional development that prepares them to deal with behavior issues, new education policies, educational technology, and other obstacles. Additionally, administrators must mindfully assign responsibilities that align with a teacher’s preparation and experience.

Challenging Teaching Situations

Educators face increasingly difficult teaching situations that can lead to burnout. These challenges range from policies that tie teacher evaluations to standardized exams that don’t accurately reflect student learning to transitions to distance learning during the pandemic.

For example, with virtual learning, many teachers are bombarded with parent emails while also trying to direct students who can’t navigate online learning platforms. As a result, teachers often feel obligated to work all hours of the day and night, struggling to find a healthy work-life balance. Additionally, challenging student behavior has become more severe and frequent, leaving teachers to manage difficult situations.

Education leaders need to consider how policies regarding teacher evaluations and standardized exams affect teachers and also mindfully advocate for programs that boost teacher morale. They can support teachers by setting boundaries on their behalf, such as by communicating clearly to parents what teacher work hours are and putting limits on teachers’ obligations.

Finally, leaders can continue to deliver specific training that prepares teachers to respond to individual challenges as they arise.

Teacher Burnout Statistics

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that more than 270,000 teachers have left the profession each year since 2016 and projects this rate of departure to continue through 2026.

While the BLS attributes some of the departures to retirement, it classifies more than half of them—in every category of teacher, from kindergarten to special education—as “occupational transfers.” That percentage equates to hundreds of thousands of teachers leaving their careers in education for work in another field each year. One must wonder why, considering all the preparation required to become a teacher in the first place.

With 90 percent of the demand for teachers coming from teachers exiting the profession for reasons unrelated to retirement, leaders must look more closely at teacher burnout and how to keep teachers in the classroom.

Teacher Burnout’s Disproportionate Impact on High-Poverty Schools

The National Center for Education Statistics projects school enrollment will grow 2 percent by 2028. The combination of growing student populations and significant numbers of departing teachers has set off alarm bells for education leaders, who are now searching for ways to curb the attrition. Even more distressing, this attrition disproportionately affects disadvantaged or marginalized students.

Research has consistently shown that the highest teacher attrition rates occur in high-poverty schools and schools made up largely of students of color. For example, as of 2016, Title I schools (schools where at least 35 percent of students are low-income) had turnover rates 50 percent higher than non-Title I schools. The churn and instability that teacher burnout causes intensifies the challenges marginalized students experience and can contribute to a widening achievement gap.

Signs of Teacher Burnout

Teachers often don’t recognize they’re on the road to burning out before they hit a threshold of no return. However, early identification of the following symptoms, which teachers may experience to varying degrees, can help education leaders implement intervention strategies at a point when they will be most effective.

Constant Fatigue

Excessive workloads and emotional strain can lead to fatigue. However, in a manageable situation, this fatigue should ebb and flow. Three-day weekends and seasonal vacations can go a long way in renewing energy. Unfortunately, for overburdened teachers, fatigue can remain a constant. It can interrupt sleep, cause irritability, and even affect eating habits.

Teachers may wonder about the effectiveness of a lesson or self-critique their work. This is part of the growing process and key to development. However, teachers heading for burnout may begin to question whether they are cut out for teaching altogether. They may not only doubt the strength of an individual lesson or unit but also wonder if anything they do has value.

When teachers feel overwhelmed by their work, they may withdraw in several ways. For example, they may pass on social gatherings with colleagues or stop joining other teachers for lunch. They may also take mental health days more often. They may participate less in faculty and department meetings and cut back on attending optional school events after hours, such as athletic competitions and school plays.

Burnout can lead teachers to stop collaborating with their peers. Burned-out teachers often feel little inspiration to share lessons, visit their peers’ classrooms, or engage in email correspondence. When they do communicate with their peers, the purpose is usually to complain about students, parents, school policies, and administration. They often struggle to see anything positive about their surroundings.

A Loss of Inspiration

Most teachers start their careers full of inspiration. Driven to make a difference, they believe in their ability to effect change and feel motivated to dive in. Teacher burnout quashes this inspiration and drive. Rather than feeling excited to meet new students at the beginning of the year, burned-out teachers feel dread about the things that might go wrong. Instead of feeling confident in their ability to make a difference in students’ lives, they may feel like they are fighting a hopeless battle.

How to Prevent Teacher Burnout

Solving teacher burnout cannot be reduced to calls for teacher resilience or encouraging self-care. Such responses seem to suggest teachers experiencing burnout lack the grit to persevere. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth for the vast majority of teachers.

Stripping teachers of their autonomy, as well as imposing standardization and high-stakes exams, can eat away at the rewards and gratification of teaching. Education leaders must examine such trends and find ways to fortify the rewards of teaching if they hope to prevent teacher burnout.

Instead of looking at teacher burnout as an individual problem, leaders in education must shift their focus to assess the problem as a systemic, institutional, or policy-based issue.

Though teachers from high-poverty schools disproportionately make up burned-out teachers, educators from high-performing schools can also feel demoralized. They report serious frustration and confusion dealing with administrative work that often gobbles up unreasonable amounts of time that could be better spent.

For example, many teachers find themselves forced to use proprietary software bought by a district when creating lesson plans or keeping records. While sometimes helpful, such district decisions often prove burdensome, creating excessive data entry tasks and diverting teachers’ attention away from more meaningful and pressing work. Such a frustration, piled on top of others, can contribute to teachers’ sense of defeat.

Increase Teacher Autonomy

Giving teachers more autonomy can improve job satisfaction and retention. The United Kingdom’s National Foundation for Educational Research recently identified strong links between teacher autonomy and retention. Its findings suggest that involving teachers in activities that honor their independence and bolster their sense of feeling respected can significantly affect their morale and motivate them to stay.

For example, rather than imposing goals on teachers, school leaders can involve teachers in goal setting. Additionally, education leaders can consider how to give teachers more control over the curricula they select and the content they teach.

Engage Teachers in the Right Conversations

While policy shifts can improve the climate teachers work in, schools can make important moves to address and prevent teacher burnout. Author of Demoralized: Why Teachers Leave the Profession They Love and How They Can Stay , Doris Santoro explains the value of certain types of conversations between school leaders and teachers. Santoro recommends school leaders initiate conversations about good work, including:

• What good work looks like
• Obstacles to achieving good work
• What’s needed for good work
• Immediate shifts to removing obstacles to good work

Santoro recommends school leaders get past simply following policy. Rather, she encourages district and school administrators to respond with flexibility and commit to deep engagement with teachers about the issues preventing them from achieving their teaching goals and feeling rewarded.

Build Teachers’ Coping Skills

Education leaders can help teachers manage their stress. With the right support and guidance, teachers can avoid the hopelessness and emotional drain that often leads to teacher burnout.

School leaders can guide teachers to modify their responses to the challenges they confront. Often, teachers enter the field full of anticipation and hope. When confronted by some of the harsh realities of teaching, they can easily fall into despair. However, with the right coping mechanisms, teachers can adjust the responses that fuel negative feelings.

Workshops, counseling, and training sessions can direct teachers to adopt strategies that allow them to reframe issues and compartmentalize difficulties. This approach can make a big difference in avoiding teacher burnout.

Address Symptoms of Teacher Burnout

Teacher burnout does not appear overnight. This means education leaders can institute programs that address the symptoms that lead to it and hopefully prevent teachers from reaching a breaking point.

First, teachers need to trust that school administration will take steps to address their symptoms. However, if teachers see no evidence that they can expect help—or even worse, if they suspect reporting their symptoms will result in less autonomy or diminished faith in their abilities—they will have no reason to share their struggles.

Ways to successfully address symptoms that lead to burnout include:

Implementing Responsive Policies to Teacher Burnout

Schools can offer clear policies and procedures about reporting teacher burnout. They should also provide information about the care available to teachers who are struggling with it.

Keeping Open Lines of Communication

Teachers experiencing symptoms that lead to burnout should receive attention from administrators or people in a position to take direct action in response.

Giving Teachers Choices About Teacher Burnout Care

Teachers know their circumstances best. School leaders should give them choices with regard to the care they receive.

Staying Vigilant

School leaders should be on the lookout for symptoms that lead to burnout among their faculty. This awareness can allow them to intervene while there is still time to make a difference.

The Effect of teacher Burnout on Students

When teachers lose their sense of purpose, feel burdened by fatigue, and withdraw from their work, students will likely feel the effect. Not surprisingly, research indicates teacher burnout negatively impacts students.

First, teacher burnout and attrition go hand in hand. According to the National Education Association, the loss of a teacher during the school year is like losing up to 72 instructional days—almost half the school year. This experience causes students to fall behind and significantly disrupts learning.

Several studies have found that teacher turnover does not solely impact the individual students who lose their teachers. Research has repeatedly shown that high turnover affects the achievement of all students in a school.

Even when teachers experiencing burnout stay on, students pay a price. Teachers overwhelmed by stress use less effective teacher strategies. This affects the clarity of their instruction and classroom management. It also results in less stimulating classroom environments.

A study in the Journal of Educational Psychology found that teachers experiencing burnout at the beginning of the school year had notably worse classroom management by the spring than other teachers. Their classrooms also suffered from significant student disruptions.

A study from the University of British Columbia also found that the students of teachers reporting burnout had elevated levels of stress hormones, suggesting that teachers inadvertently pass their stress on to students.

Learn How to Become an Education Leader and Tackle Teacher Burnout

Addressing teacher burnout means more than responding to it after the fact. Education leaders must prioritize eliminating the causes of teacher burnout and implement solutions that help teachers cope with stress and build supportive work environments that boost morale.

Explore how American University’s online Master of Education in Education Policy and Leadership and online Doctor of Education in Education Policy and Leadership programs equip educators with the skills needed to tackle teacher burnout.

Data Literacy for Teachers: Bridging the Gap Between Education Policy Makers and Educators

Teacher Retention: How Education Leaders Prevent Turnover

Why Do Teachers Strike? Understanding How Policy Makers Can Help

Applied Education Systems, “The 7 Best Ways to Avoid Teacher Burnout in 2020”

The Atlantic, “The Ticking Clock of Teacher Burnout”

Classcraft, “4 Signs of Teacher Burnout and Ways to Deal With Them”

CNBC, “50% of Teachers Surveyed Say They’ve Considered Quitting, Blaming Pay, Stress and Lack of Respect”

Education Finance and Policy, “The Consequences of Leaving School Early: The Effects of Within-Year and End-of-Year Teacher Turnover”

Education Policy Analysis Archives, “Understanding Teacher Shortages: An Analysis of Teacher Supply and Demand in the United States”

Education Week Teacher, “How Teachers’ Stress Affects Students: A Research Roundup”

Edutopia, “Curbing Teacher Burnout During the Pandemic”

The Graide Network, “The Impact of Teacher Turnover on Student Learning”

The Graide Network, “Teacher Burnout Solutions & Prevention—How to Retain Talented Educators”

Greater Good Magazine, “How to Support Teachers’ Emotional Needs Right Now”

Insider, “Teachers Are Seeing Their Colleagues Leave the Profession at an Alarming Rate, and This Might Be Why”

Journal of Educational Psychology, “Teacher-Child Relationships, Classroom Climate, and Children’s Social-Emotional and Academic Development”

National Center for Education Statistics, Enrollment Trends

NEA News, “Teacher Burnout or Demoralization? What’s the Difference and Why It Matters”

SecEd, “Retention: The Vital Role of Teacher Autonomy”

US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Projections for Teachers: How Many Are Leaving the Occupation?”

Waterford.org, “Teacher Burnout: What It Is, Why It Happens, and How You Can Prevent End-of-Year Burnout”

World Health Organization, “Burn-Out an ‘Occupational Phenomenon’: International Classification of Diseases”

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Evidence-based Strategies to Reduce Teacher Burnout

For our nation’s more than 3 million teachers, the COVID-19 pandemic has added a host of new challenges and stresses that have led to increased burnout and demoralization.

That’s why Results for America and the Annenberg Institute at Brown University are releasing a  new brief  highlighting  evidence-based strategies to help promote teacher well-being .

• The brief was written by two leading experts - Doris Santoro of Bowdoin College and Olga Acosta Price of the George Washington University.
• It details ways that schools can  reduce stress, boost morale, and better support and empower teachers  so they can continue to help students succeed.
• Read the brief : “ Structural Supports to Promote Teacher Well-Being ”

Interested in more?  The brief is the latest from our EdResearch for Recovery Project, which has produced nearly two dozen briefs on topics including:

• addressing  learning loss  and  student trauma ;
• implementing effective  tutoring  and  summer programs ;
• supporting  students with disabilities ,  homeless students ,  immigrant students , and  English Learners ;
• building  positive school climates ;
• assessing students’  social and emotional well-being ;
• improving  distance and blended learning ;
• engaging  families  and  communities ;
• helping education leaders  budget , train  student teachers  and improve  teaching and learning ; and
• assisting students with the transition to  college and career .

Take a look at all of our evidence briefs  here , and sign up  here  to learn more about upcoming events with leading education experts.

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Understanding the factors affecting teachers’ burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

Orly shimony.

1 School of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

2 Seymour Fox School of Education, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

Haya Fogel-Grinvald

Thomas p. gumpel, associated data.

All the data files are available from the OSF database - https://osf.io/74j3c/ .

During the COVID-19 pandemic, which enforced social distancing and isolation, teachers were required to handle multiple challenges related to their work, including dealing with remote teaching, in addition to personal, medical and financial challenges. The goal of the current research was to examine factors that contributed to professional burnout and commitment to work among teachers during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 344 elementary school teachers in Israel completed online self-report questionnaires, including assessments of stressors, anxiety, resilience, self-efficacy beliefs, and coping strategies. Structured Equation Modeling [SEM] was used to examine the contribution of these factors to professional burnout and commitment.

The gaps between needed and received support had a direct effect on teachers’ burnout and commitment, and an indirect effect through anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs. Stress relating to remote teaching and support-gaps regarding remote teaching were the most significant of all the stressors and sources of support.

Conclusions

Collectively, these findings highlight the significance of remote teaching as the main cause of stress and professional burnout and suggest that proper preparation of teachers—before and during times of crisis, may have a significant impact on their mental and professional well-being.

Introduction

Professional “burnout” has been defined as a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job [ 1 ]. Several studies confirmed a two-factor structure of the burnout syndrome, including emotional exhaustion and personal fulfillment [ 2 , 3 ]. Teaching is considered a profession with high rates of burnout [ 4 , 5 ], which eventually lead to high professional turnover rates [ 6 ]. Teachers burnout has a significant impact not only on their own will to maintain their profession and their ability to manage classroom behaviors but was also shown to affect their students’ performance and motivation [ 7 ]. In this study, we aimed to better understand the factors that contribute to teachers’ burnout and commitment to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which was announced in March 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a worldwide pandemic, was a significant global stressor [ 8 , 9 ]. As part of the curve-flattening policy adopted by many countries around the globe, schools were closed, affecting more than 1.5 billion students from 185 different countries [ 10 ]. As a result, educational systems were forced to adopt emergency routines and new teaching methods, such as remote teaching, or learning with parents’ assistance and involvement [ 11 ]. In addition, school teams dealt with health and financial uncertainties and frequent changes in teaching methods. Indeed, several studies to date demonstrated the effect of COVID-19 on teachers’ mental and professional state [ 9 – 13 ]. Collectively, these studies report increases in teacher burnout, which also resulted in high rates of turnover during the pandemic. However, the specific factors within this uniquely stressful situation that may lead to increased burnout rates are still not entirely understood.

Burnout has been shown to be affected by both internal (e.g., psychological distress, anxiety) [ 14 ] as well as external factors, such as teaching resources [ 15 ]. Considering internal factors, such as distress, and anxiety first, these factors were shown to collectively increase in the general population [ 16 – 18 ] and specifically in teacher populations [ 13 ] during the pandemic. Not surprisingly, increased levels of professional burnout were observed among teachers during the pandemic. For example, a study conducted among middle school teachers in Israel found that the high levels of stress during the pandemic were associated with increased burnout and desire to leave the profession [ 14 ]. Similarly, a cross-sectional study among healthcare workers found that trait worry and psychological distress significantly predicted work burnout during the pandemic [ 19 ]. Another cross-sectional study conducted during the first wave of the pandemic among 125 primary school teachers found that 54% of them experienced burnout [ 12 ].

Self-efficacy beliefs, defined as “people’s beliefs about their capabilities to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events that affect their lives” [ 20 ], have also been suggested as another internal predictor of teachers’ burnout [ 21 ]. Teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs are related to their ability to be effective teachers [ 22 ] and to their commitment to teaching [ 23 ] and are negatively correlated with emotional exhaustion [ 24 ]. The more teachers perceive themselves as empowered by their organization, the more they express their commitment to their organization and to their profession [ 25 ]. Specifically, self-efficacy beliefs may act as a mediator of the relationship between the stress experienced by teachers during this period and eventual burnout. Studies found that teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs ratings were lower during the pandemic compared to previous studies conducted before the pandemic [e.g., 26]. Furthermore, teachers who engaged in virtual teaching only, had the lowest levels of self-efficacy beliefs compared to their peers, who taught in hybrid or face-to-face models. This may be related to the challenges of using novel teaching methods or to the stress and anxiety from teaching the pandemic. In contrast, higher self-efficacy beliefs were found among teachers who reported greater levels of support within their schools during the pandemic [ 26 ]. However, none of these studies, to the best of our knowledge, has examined the effect of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs on burnout levels during the pandemic.

The type of specific coping strategy used to deal with the stressful situation is another internal factor that may contribute to teachers’ professional burnout [ 27 ]. In distressing situations, people use one of two coping strategies—approach-coping or avoidant-coping. Approach-coping strategies are activities designed to change stressful situations or accept their presence, such as seeking comfort and understanding. In contrast, avoidant-coping strategies aim to increase emotional or physical distancing from stressful situations, such as drug and alcohol use [ 28 ]. In a study which examined the coping strategies used by teachers during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the authors found that the approach-coping strategies were linked to increased happiness, welfare, health, and resilience [ 29 ]. In contrast, avoidant-coping strategies were associated with higher levels of stress, anxiety, anger, sadness, and loneliness. Herein, we ask whether the specific coping strategy used is associated with teachers’ burnout.

In addition to these internal factors—of anxiety, distress, self-efficacy beliefs, and coping strategies—there are external factors that may also significantly affect teacher burnout. Among them, the social support system within the school seems to be a key factor. Studies show that within-school support from peers and supervisors is more effective in reducing teacher burnout compared with non-school support from family and friends [e.g., 30]. A recent study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic found that administrative support, such as instructional, technological, or emotional assistance, played a crucial role in reducing teacher burnout [ 31 ]. Similarly, perceived support, such as support from the school principal and peer assistance, may also contribute to reducing emotional exhaustion and improving personal accomplishment among teachers [ 32 ]. In addition, social support may strengthen the sense of self-efficacy beliefs among teachers, leading to further reduction in burnout levels [ 33 ]. A comprehensive study from Canada which included 1,626 teachers found that the changes in teaching methods and administrative support predicted teacher burnout during the pandemic [ 34 ]. This is in line with a recent report which examined the educational policy and effects in OECD countries and found that shifting from frontal teaching to remote teaching during the pandemic was done without proper training and support [ 10 ]. Collectively, these studies show that increased burnout during the pandemic was the result of new information and communication technologies, and that the support from the school played a key role in the ability to handle these challenges [ 12 ].

Teachers’ seniority may also affect their professional burnout, commitment to work, and self-efficacy beliefs. However, findings related to seniority are thus far mixed. For example, while one study found that seniority affected self-efficacy beliefs [ 33 ], another study involving elementary school teachers did not find an effect of seniority on burnout [ 32 ]. One potential reason for this discrepancy could be that the effect of seniority on burnout is non-linear. Indeed, a study among 201 high-school teachers, found that teachers with up to five years of seniority and teachers with 21 years or more were more committed to their organization compared with teachers with 6–20 years of seniority [ 33 ]. To the best of our knowledge, no study to date examined the effect of seniority on teachers’ burnout during the pandemic.

In the current study, we examined how all these potential factors—level of stress and anxiety, coping strategies, self-efficacy beliefs, and gaps between the needed and received support contribute to teachers’ professional burnout and commitment to work during the 1 st and 2 nd waves of the pandemic among elementary school teachers. While the relationships between factors such as stress, self-efficacy beliefs, and coping strategy are well-established, there is a lack of understanding of how a health and social crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic may affect them. Based on the literature reviewed, we developed a theoretical model linking these factors together ( Fig 1 ) and applied structural equation modeling to examine its statistical validity. The model examines how all predictors contribute—both directly and indirectly—to teachers’ commitment to work and to their professional burnout. A secondary goal of this research was to focus on the different types of stressors and support-gaps and their relations with the dependent variables- anxiety, self-efficacy beliefs, burnout and commitment.

Hypothesized positive correlations are marked by ‘+’, negative correlations are marked by a ‘-’ sign, and connections which incorporate both positive and negative dimensions are marked by a ‘+/-’ sign.

Gaining a better understanding of the factors contributing to teachers’ professional burnout and commitment to teaching during a time of global crisis may have important implications for preventing stress-related burnout and applying better coping mechanisms during times of crisis. The pandemic itself is a case study for a scenario with a global impact, and as the literature cited above showed, increased burnout among teachers was observed globally. Although most schools have now returned to in-person teaching routines, understanding of the factors contributing to burnout during crisis may help with preparation for future crises.

Materials and methods

Participants and procedure.

The study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the Hebrew University’s institutional committees and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was approved by the ethics committee of the Seymour Fox School of Education, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (approval number 2021C06). All participants gave written informed consent before participating in any study-related activities.

We conducted a cross-sectional retrospective quantitative research, designed to determine the path to professional burnout and commitment to work among elementary school teachers during the 1 st and 2 nd waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using this design, we could collect data from a relatively large pool of participants at a single point in time.

Data collection took place between January 25th and February 20th, 2021, during Israel’s 3 rd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 344 teachers were recruited using a “snowball” sampling method, a convenience sampling technique [ 35 ], via mailing lists, groups of teachers in digital and social media, and teachers with whom we had prior acquaintance. Using the “snowball” sampling technique, we were able to reach teachers’ populations that are difficult to sample when using other sampling methods.

Sample size calculations were conducted using the G-Power software, based on an expected effect size of Cohen’s d = 0.2, as was found in a recent study [ 30 ], for the correlations between the coping approach and the mental state. A sample size of at least 262 participants is required to obtain a power of 0.95 and a significance level of 0.05. Since the dropout rate tends to be relatively high in online studies, we collected data from more participants.

Teachers who met the following inclusion criteria and expressed interest were included in the study: [a] teachers working in elementary, state, or state-religious schools in the Jewish sector. [b] native Hebrew speakers. The exclusion criteria were being on sick leave for more than two weeks or not teaching during this period for reasons other than COVID-19 infection for more than two weeks. We attempted to include a diverse sample in terms of socio-demographic status by advertising in different geographic areas across Israel.

After providing informed consent, participants were given a link to a mobile application and were asked to complete a battery of online questionnaires. The overall completion time for the entire battery was ~25 min. Participants were not directly compensated for their participation in the study. However, participants were asked to provide their email addresses if they wanted to participate in a raffle to win a laptop (four were given to participants).

Participants were asked to provide their responses to all questionnaires in relation to the 1 st (February through May 2020) and 2 nd (June through October 2020) waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. We measured stressors, needs and sources of support, anxiety, resilience, coping strategy, and self-efficacy beliefs as independent variables, and burnout and commitment to teaching as the dependent variables. Below we provide the full list of measures used.

Since all data collection took place online, we applied the following procedures to maintain the trustworthiness of the data: first, a Google reCAPTCHA was integrated in the application, such that participants were required to click the "I am not a robot" phrase before filling out the questionnaire. This is an acceptable procedure designed to prevent robots from filling out the survey [ 36 ]. Next, three easy random mathematical questions were interleaved among the questionnaires (e.g., “2+2”). This was done to make sure that the participants are attentive to the questionnaires and are not providing random answers. Finally, teachers who wanted to participate in the raffle were required to provide their email address, and we verified that the email address given was valid.

Of note, data collected during this study was saved on the secure database only if the participant clicked on "I am not a robot" and approved to continue, completed all questionnaires, and answered the three mathematical questions correctly, and provided a valid email address (in case an email address was provided).

Stressors resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic

W used a 15-item questionnaire which is based on Main et al.’s [ 37 ] original questionnaire to measure stressors resulting from the SARS pandemic, and was adjusted by Khouri et al. [ 19 ] for the COVID-19 pandemic. All items are scored on a 5-level rating scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). An exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation yielded the following four distinct categories and accounted for 68.5% of the variance: (a) physical concerns, (b) mental health concerns (self and relatives), (c) economic and employment concerns (own, relatives), and (d) concerns related to remote teaching. A total score was derived from the average of all 15 items, as well as sub-scores for each category, with higher scores indicating higher level of concern. The scale had strong internal consistency in our sample (Cronbach’s α = .89).

Needs and sources of support during the pandemic

We used a novel questionnaire that was developed specifically for this study. This 32-item questionnaire included questions from two main types: (a) needs—or sources of support that the teachers needed (16 items), and (b) sources of support received by teachers (16 items). Answers to each item were given on a 6-point Likert scale, from 1 (not at all) to 6 (very much). Final scores were derived by calculating the average difference between items in group “a” (needs) and group “b” (sources), as well as separately for each category. Higher scores indicate a higher level of needs or receiving higher assistance compared to what was received. An exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation yielded four categories of needs and sources of support, accounting for 60.9% of the variance: (a) the school and the Ministry of Education, (b) remote teaching infrastructure, (c) emotional needs and support, and (d) family and friends. The internal consistency of this scale in our sample was good (Cronbach’s α of .87 and .78 for parts a and b, respectively).

State anxiety

State anxiety was assessed using the 20 items assessing state anxiety from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) [ 38 ]. Each item is scored on a 4-point scale, ranging from 1 (almost never) to 4 (almost always). Total scores range from 20 to 80 points, with higher scores indicating higher levels of anxiety. The scale also yields a categorical distinction between low (scores between 20–37), moderate (scores between 38–44) and high (above 45) levels of anxiety [ 39 ]. The internal consistency of this scale in our sample was high (Cronbach’s α of .92).

Psychological resilience

Psychological resilience was measured using the 10-item version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) [ 40 ]. This scale measures the feeling of resilience and one’s ability to cope with stress. Responses are provided on a 5-point scale ranging from 0 (almost never) to 4 (almost always). Total resilience scores range from 0 to 40 points, with higher scores indicating higher self-reported resilience. The internal consistency of this scale in our sample was adequate (Cronbach’s α = .82).

Coping strategies

Coping strategies were measured using the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced inventory (Brief-COPE) [ 29 ]. This 28-item questionnaire measures two categories of coping strategies (see similar use in MacIntyre’s et al. study [ 29 ]): 14 items represent ‘approach’ coping strategies and 14 measure ‘avoidant’ coping strategies. Items are rated on a 4-level rating scale, ranging from 0 (not at all) to 3 (very much). The total score in each group is the average of the items, with higher scores indicating higher levels of the coping strategy. The internal consistency in our sample was good (Cronbach’s α = .78 for both avoidant and approach strategies).

Teacher’s self-efficacy beliefs

Self-efficacy was measured using the short version (12-item) of the Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) [ 39 ]. On this scale, teachers were asked to evaluate their likely success regarding remote teaching. We used the overall score (12 to 60 points) based on its high reliability in previous studies (Cronbach’s α = .90) [ 41 ] and in the current study (α = .92). Each item rated on a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much) when higher scores indicating higher levels of self-efficacy beliefs.

Commitment to teaching

Commitment to the teaching profession was measured using the 9-item Teacher Commitment Scale (TCS) [ 40 ]. Items were rated on a 6-point scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 6 (very much). Total scores range from 9 to 54 points, with higher scores indicating a higher level of commitment to the teaching profession. The internal consistency of the scale was found to be good in previous studies (Cronbach’s α = .71–.89) [ 42 , 43 ], as well as in our sample (Cronbach’s α = .84).

Professional burnout

Teachers’ burnout from their profession was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) [ 1 ]. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). Here, we used the 14 items which measure two components of burnout concerning teacher-student interactions: emotional exhaustion (six items), and personal fulfillment (eight items). The internal consistency of this scale in our sample was good (Cronbach’s α of .76 and .86 for emotional exhaustion and personal fulfillment, respectively).

Data analysis

IBM SPSS [Statistical Package for the Social Sciences] version 27.0 and IBM AMOS Graphics software version 27.0 were used for statistical analyses. First, descriptive statistics were used to derive participants’ characteristics and study variables. All data were checked for normality and for multivariate outliers. We then used Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlation coefficients to examine the correlations between study variables, and FDR correction with Benjamini-Hochberg method [ 43 ] was applied to adjust for multiple testing. After reviewing the correlations, we tested the theoretical model with the factors contributing to burnout and commitment to teaching (see Fig 1 ), using Structural Equation Model (SEM) [ 44 ] with maximum likelihood estimation. Model fit was assessed using the following standard goodness-of-fit indices: chi-square, Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), and Root-Mean-Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) [ 45 ]. A non-significant chi-square, CFI and TLI equal to or greater than .95, and RMSEA equal to or less than .06 are indicative of an acceptable fit. The standardized path coefficients were assessed to examine the statistical significance and directions of path estimate that exist between the variables in the model. Lastly, Pearson’s correlations were used again to zoom-in on the different types of stressors and sources of support and their correlation to the outcome variables. For all analyses, p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Characterization of the study sample

Table 1 lists the demographic characteristics of the study sample. A total of 344 elementary school teachers, from 133 different regions and provinces in Israel, participated in this study. There were no missing data points in the study sample. In total, 320 of the 344 participants were female (93%) and 24 males (7%). The age range of participants was 21–69 years (Mage: 40.69 years; SD: 10.85). Most participants were married or in a relationship (82.5%). More than 50% had at least 10 years seniority as teachers.

Descriptive statistics and correlations between measures

Descriptive statistics of the study variables are shown in Table 2 . Overall, the mean level of anxiety in the sample was 42.03 ± 11.42, on a scale from 20 (low anxiety) to 80 (high anxiety). More than 60% of participants reported moderate to high levels of anxiety (total score of 38–80) during the pandemic: 21.51% experienced moderate levels of anxiety (total score of 38–44; M = 41.35 ± 11.41) while 39.83% of them experienced high anxiety (total score of 45 and over; M = 53.29 ± 7.46). The overall mean level of psychological resilience in the study sample was M = 29.7 ± 7.0 on a scale from 0 (low resilience) to 40 (high resilience).

a All reported p-values were adjusted using FDR correction;

* p < .05;

** p < .01;

*** p < .001.

As a first step towards forming the model, we first calculated the correlations between predictor variables and between predictors and outcomes (see Table 2 ). As expected, both commitment to teaching and personal fulfillment (the 1 st factor of burnout) were positively correlated with the predictors of psychological resilience and self-efficacy beliefs, and negatively correlated with state anxiety. Furthermore, commitment to teaching and personal fulfillment had a significant negative correlation with the gap in support (i.e., the gap between the support needed and the support received) and with stressors. In other words, the larger the gap between needs and provided support, and the higher the level of stressors, the lower the commitment to teaching and the sense of fulfillment. In addition, commitment to teaching had a significant weak negative correlation with avoidant-coping, such that more use of avoidant coping was associated with less commitment. No such correlation was found with the ‘approach’ coping style.

The 2 nd factor of burnout—emotional exhaustion—was negatively correlated with resilience and with self-efficacy beliefs, such that lower levels of psychological resilience and perceived self-efficacy beliefs were associated with higher levels of emotional exhaustion. As expected, emotional exhaustion was positively correlated with avoidant-coping, gap in support, and with all stressors, such that higher levels of emotional exhaustion were associated with higher levels of avoidant-coping, reduced support-gap, and with higher levels of external stressors.

We further examined the correlation between professional seniority (i.e., the number of years as a teacher) and all other variables using Spearman’s correlations. Professional seniority was weakly negatively correlated with anxiety, with emotional exhaustion, and with the gap between needed and provided support (r s (344) = -.13; -.12; -.11, respectively; all p values < .05), and weakly positively correlated with commitment to teaching and with personal fulfillment ( r s (344) = .11; .15, respectively, all p values < .05).

Validation of the theoretical model using SEM

Our first goal was to examine the direct effects of model predictors—namely, stressors, coping strategies, seniority, resilience, and support—on professional burnout and commitment to teaching. In addition, studied their indirect effects through anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs. To further examine the theoretical model, we used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). We excluded the variables with no significant direct or indirect effect on the dependent variables: professional seniority, resilience, and approach coping. The final model is given in Fig 2 . All fit indices indicate a suitable fit of the model to the data (Χ 2 (6) = 5.974, p = .426, CFI = 1.00, NFI = .99, RMSEA = .00, and TLI = 1.00).

The gap in support had a direct and significant effect on all other variables. Specifically, insufficient levels of support directly affected burnout (personal fulfillment and emotional exhaustion) and commitment to teaching. Support-gap also indirectly affected burnout and commitment to teaching, via its effect on self-efficacy beliefs and on anxiety. In other words, insufficient support (less received than desired) directly led to lower levels of professional commitment and to higher levels of burnout, and indirectly, by contributing to the reduction in self-efficacy beliefs and higher levels of anxiety.

Both stressors which were associated with the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., health concerns, dealing with remote teaching) and using the avoidant-coping style had similar and small direct effect on the emotional exhaustion component of burnout, but not on personal fulfillment nor on commitment to work. Interestingly, both variables—stressors and avoidant-coping—had strong indirect effects on burnout and professional commitment, via their strong positive effects on anxiety (0.33 and 0.31 for stressors and avoidant-coping, respectively).

Finally, both anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs significantly contributed to the two components of professional burnout and to commitment to teaching. Specifically, higher levels of anxiety reduced personal fulfillment and commitment to teaching, and increased emotional exhaustion, while higher levels of self-efficacy beliefs had the opposite effect.

COVID-19 related stressors in relation to outcome measures

A secondary goal of the study was to better understand different factors related to the pandemic in relation to well-being and burnout among teachers. More specifically, we aimed to focus on different sources of stress and the gap in support, and their relations with anxiety, self-efficacy beliefs, professional burnout and commitment. For this, we calculated the correlations between all types of stress and support-gaps with all outcomes (see Table 3 ).

We found that stressors related to remote teaching and the gap in support of remote teaching were significantly correlated with all other outcome measures. Higher levels of stress from remote teaching were associated with increased anxiety and with emotional exhaustion. In addition, a larger gap between the support needed and received for remote teaching was associated with lower levels of commitment to teaching. In general, all stressors and support-gaps were positively correlated with anxiety and with emotional exhaustion.

In this study, we examined the factors which contributed to teachers’ burnout and commitment to teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. For this, we collected information from 344 elementary school teachers, assessing their mental health, concerns, and resources during the pandemic. Using SEM analysis, we found that the stressors, gaps in support, and coping strategies all contributed to teachers’ burnout, both directly and indirectly, via their effect on anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs. The gaps in support further affected teachers’ commitment to work. A closer look at the different stressors and sources of support and their relations with other variables revealed that the most significant predictors of professional burnout and commitment were stressors and gaps in support which were specifically related to remote teaching. Another contributor was the use of avoidant-coping strategies, which was associated with increased anxiety and burnout and decreased self-efficacy beliefs and commitment.

The contribution of support-gaps, stressors, and coping strategy

A main finding in our study is the fact that insufficient support (i.e., a larger gap between needed and received support) contributed both directly to lower levels of professional commitment and to higher levels of burnout, as well as indirectly, by affecting both self-efficacy beliefs and anxiety. This novel finding is generally in line with previous literature, showing that a supportive environment increases the likelihood of teachers remaining in their job for extended periods of time [ 46 ]. Specifically, teachers rated the support they received from the school’s principal as a critical factor contributing to a feeling of professional satisfaction [ 47 ]. Our study demonstrated the importance of support from schools during emergency times such as the pandemic, even when teaching is done from home. Our results further showed that among the different sources of stress and support, the support from schools is even more critical than support from family and friends. This finding suggests that stakeholders and schools should focus on supplying support to teachers on normal days and particularly during crisis times.

In addition to support, we further found that stressors associated with the pandemic (e.g., health concerns, remote teaching) as well as avoidant-coping styles had direct effects on emotional exhaustion (one of the two components of burnout), and indirect effects on burnout and on professional commitment, via their effects on anxiety. Increased stress during the pandemic has been shown in multiple studies to date, and a recent meta-analysis concluded that 30% of teachers experienced high levels of stress during the pandemic [ 48 ]. In addition, a recent study conducted among Israeli teachers found that more than half of them experienced high levels of stress, which were associated with increased burnout and a desire to leave the profession [ 14 ]. Here we further found that teachers’ burnout was in addition affected by their use of a maladaptive coping strategy, sources of support, and their self-efficacy beliefs, suggesting that tools to strengthen these supports should be provided to teachers by schools ahead of time. In addition, our zooming in on different stressors revealed that stress relating to remote teaching was the most significant one of all the stressors, suggesting that the challenges of teaching were even more salient than the direct effects of the pandemic.

The use of a particular coping strategy to handle stressful situations also contributed to burnout. Specifically, we found that the use of an avoidant-coping strategy was associated with higher levels of stress and anxiety and was associated with increased burnout, and with a reduced commitment to teaching. This finding is consistent with a recent study by MacIntyre and colleagues, in which the authors reported that an avoidant-coping strategy was associated with increased negative emotions of anger, sadness, and loneliness in teachers during the pandemic [ 29 ]. Here, we further show that coping strategies are not only related to changes in mental health but also contribute to burnout and commitment to work. Interestingly, however, the more adaptive coping strategy (approach-coping) was not associated with burnout or with commitment in our study. The fact that the study by MacIntyre and colleagues did find effects of this strategy on positive emotions may indicate that while this type of strategy is beneficial for positive emotions in personal life, it may not have a significant effect on work-related outcomes. It may be that professional burnout and commitment to work are less related to a positive attitude toward the pandemic, such as the approach coping strategy. More research is needed to better understand the potential contribution of this type of strategy to burnout among teachers.

Anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs as contributors to burnout

More than 60% of the teachers in our sample reported medium to high levels of anxiety during the pandemic. This finding is aligned with those of recently-conducted studies [e.g., 13, 27, 48] and of recent meta-analyses showing high levels of anxiety during the pandemic both in the general population and specifically among teachers [ 49 , 50 ]. Here, we further show that higher levels of anxiety contributed to a reduction in personal fulfillment and commitment to teaching and increased emotional exhaustion among teachers, indicating that teacher mental state had a significant impact on their professional functioning. The indirect relations between support, anxiety, burnout, and commitment to teaching in our model, suggest that sufficient support from school could alleviate anxiety which in turn would have led to less burnout and better commitment to teaching during the pandemic.

Gaps in support also influenced teacher self-efficacy beliefs, which in turn have led to increased burnout and decreased commitment. Several studies demonstrated that during pandemic times, teacher self-efficacy beliefs were reduced compared with pre-pandemic times [e.g., 27]. This reduction in self-efficacy beliefs appears to be related to remote teaching. Teachers who were only teaching virtually reported the lowest levels of self-efficacy beliefs, as compared to teachers who were teaching in a hybrid or all-in-person form [ 27 ]. Potentially, the requirements associated with remote teaching, including learning new technologies and adapting lesson plans for virtual and hybrid instruction, have a significant effect on self-efficacy beliefs. In another study, self-efficacy beliefs were also found to mediate the association between difficulties stemming from remote teaching and perceived stress [ 51 ]. Collectively, these findings and our results demonstrate the difficulties in adopting new forms of teaching. They may also suggest that support from the school in adopting new methods of teaching during the pandemic could contribute to teacher self-efficacy beliefs. A strong sense of self-efficacy leads to less burnout and a greater commitment to teaching. Strategies for increasing self-efficacy beliefs among teachers could therefore be employed to reduce burnout and increase commitment, especially during crisis times [ 52 ].

Psychological resilience entails better recovery from adversity and a better ability to regulate negative emotions [ 53 ]. Indeed, individuals with high resilience adapt better to stressful situations [ 54 ]. Our findings show that higher levels of resilience alleviated teachers’ stress due to remote teaching. We claim here that teachers who have high levels of self-reported resilience can better adopt new teaching methods and frequent changes between methods. This finding is also in line with previous findings which pointed to the relationship between resilience, professional functioning, self-efficacy beliefs, burnout, and stress among teachers, during non-pandemic times [ 55 ]. Interestingly, however, the effect of resilience in our model was weaker, secondary to more prominent variables such as support-gap and stressors. It may be that during emergency times the effect of internal factors such as resilience are weaker than the effect of external factors such as support. Future studies should therefore address the question of psychological resilience and examine its relationship with teachers’ burnout during times of distress.

Source of stress and support during the pandemic

To examine the factors associated with teachers’ stress during the pandemic, we assessed four different categories of stressors–- stressors related to remote teaching, health worries, financial concerns, and occupational worries. Our results show that all these categories were significant sources of stress for teachers during the pandemic, all directly affecting their professional burnout. The effect of stressors on burnout and their commitment to teaching was also expressed indirectly, via its effect on anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs. This finding is consistent with the literature, generally showing that stress contributes to professional burnout. Specifically, previous studies found that even during non-pandemic times, teachers deal with many professional stressors leading to stress at work and in their personal life, which in turn lead to professional burnout [ 56 ].

Among the four stressors examined, our findings indicate that stress related to remote teaching was the most significant one. Remote teaching that was enforced during the long lockdown periods included new challenges related to online teachings, such as the use of novel technology, teaching from home while having young children, sharing computers between family members, and the like. Our results are consistent with those of recent studies, showing that one of the main stressors that led to burnout among teachers during the pandemic was new teaching demands due to the transition to online teaching [ 32 ]. While we hypothesized that teachers’ seniority will affect this factor, no such effect was found in our study. It may be that remote teaching was novel enough to both new and senior teachers alike, hence no effect of seniority was found. In addition to the difficulties brought about by the switch to online teaching, another study found that teachers believed that the online platform prevented teachers from teaching the regular curriculum [ 47 ]. Furthermore, a recent study found that even teachers with relevant technological skills reported decreased well-being [ 57 ]. Our results further suggest that online teaching constituted the primary stressor among teachers, even compared to health-related stressors, leading to more significant burnout and reduced commitment to teaching.

A novel finding from our research is that insufficient support from schools increased teacher burnout and decreased their commitment to work. We examined the gaps between the support that teachers felt they needed, compared to the support they received, and found that the highest gap was in the support related to remote teaching. This gap significantly contributed to lower levels of commitment and self-efficacy beliefs and higher levels of anxiety and professional burnout. A previous study found that altogether, the use of new information and communication technologies, work/family conflict, social support, and workload related to distance education, have led to increased burnout [ 12 ]. Our study further shows that remote teaching did not constitute merely a technical challenge or exhaustion from an increased workload, but instead, has led to stress and a specific need for support from the school. Specifically, more significant support from the school regarding remote teaching might have reduced adverse feelings among teachers such as anxiety. Interestingly, a recent study reported that not just the pandemic—but also returning to teaching in the classroom after it—was accompanied by high stress and anxiety among teachers [ 58 ]. This finding may suggest that stressors related to remote teaching may also stem from frequent changes and a lack of stability and consistency. One conclusion is that support from the school should supply teachers not only with technical skills but also emotional skills to deal with this kind of situation.

Broader implications

This study is rooted in specific educational, technological, social, and cultural circumstances in Israel which affect Israeli schools and remote teaching. Nevertheless, the literature outlined above along with our findings demonstrates a universal effect of COVID-19 on teachers around the globe. Despite the different cultures and teaching methods, the global transition to remote teaching universally led to a reduced commitment to teaching, and increased stress, anxiety, and burnout for teachers. The results of the current study therefore further contribute to this body of knowledge, specifically highlighting the need for better preparation and training for teachers in novel remote teaching methods.

This study has important implications in two dimensions—technical and psychological. At the technical level, stakeholders should make efforts to strengthen remote teaching skills among teachers and ensure that teachers have all the necessary facilities for remote teaching and to support a smooth transition to remote teaching when this is required [ 59 ]. In addition, help can be provided in the form of a strategy of reframing, which aims at leading to an approach coping, instead of the use of avoidant coping. The contribution of mental health-related factors—such as anxiety and distress—to burnout and commitment, calls for providing better and stable support for teacher populations, especially during crisis times. There is a need to provide teachers with a place to express their feelings at such times, exposing administrators and stakeholders to teachers’ actual needs [ 60 ].

Study limitations

Our study has several limitations which may affect the generalizability of the findings. First, data collection was done retrospectively, i.e., participants were asked to address their feelings about the 1 st and 2 nd waves of the pandemic during the 3 rd wave. Such retrospective self-reports may be biased in multiple ways and are limited to a subjective point of view. Importantly, during the 3 rd wave of the pandemic, unlike the uncertainty of the first two waves, people may have felt more depression or despair, which is more characteristic of a chronic, rather than an acute state [ 61 ].

In addition, the design of this study was cross-sectional, and as such, no causal or sustained effects could not be addressed. This cross-sectional design further limited our ability to assess the contribution of effects not related to COVID-19 on professional burnout among the teachers in our sample. Second, our study sample included elementary school teachers, which limits their generalizability to middle and high school teachers. Although we aimed for a diverse sample, the majority of the sample included women, which is also similar to their proportion in the teaching profession. Given that past research indicated that teachers’ mental health is significantly related to gender [ 62 ], the results may be biased in this respect. Future research with long-term follow-up and a diverse sample of teachers from different educational systems and genders should be conducted to strengthen and validate the current findings.

Finally, we should note that the study only examined a limited set of potential contributors to burnout and professional commitment, considering the feasibility of the remote application of the study. Other factors which may have affected burnout such as socioeconomic status were not considered here, and should be examined in future studies.

We found that gaps between the needed and received support had a direct effect on teacher burnout and commitment, and an indirect effect through anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs. Stress relating to remote teaching and support-gaps regarding remote teaching were the most significant of all the stressors and sources of support. These findings demonstrate the significance of remote teaching as the main cause of stress and professional burnout and suggest that proper preparation of teachers and support by schools can have a significant effect on teachers’ mental and professional well-being.

Funding Statement

This work was supported by a research grant to authors O.S, M.N. and T.G. from the Israeli Ministry of Education (grant number 23/11.20). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Data Availability

Leaders: It's Time to Rethink Teacher Burnout

Rethinking What Effective Leadership Means

Maybe change can wait.

We tend to think of burnout as an individual problem, solvable by “learning to say no,” more yoga, better breathing techniques, practicing resilience—the self-help list goes on. But evidence is mounting that applying personal, band-aid solutions to an epic and rapidly evolving workplace phenomenon may be harming, not helping, the battle…. Leaders take note: It’s now on you to build a burnout strategy.

If leaders shoulder responsibility for teacher burnout and commit to confronting it, there is a chance they can stop the mass exodus from the profession.

Leaders should not act unilaterally on their own conclusions about what would help. Instead, they should ask employees to be a part of making things better. Solicit ideas and feedback on various alternatives, and then listen to what people contribute.

If you’re serious about addressing burnout, you may need to change your priorities, abandon your plans, and unlearn what you thought it meant to be a school leader.

Elizabeth Dampf is the director of professional learning at a large unit district in the Chicagoland area. She holds masters degrees in educational leadership and English Literature, and she has authored several print and online articles in Educational Leadership and The Learning Professional .

ASCD is dedicated to professional growth and well-being.

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Peter DeWitt's

Finding common ground.

A former K-5 public school principal turned author, presenter, and leadership coach, DeWitt provides insights and advice for education leaders. He can be found at www.petermdewitt.com . Read more from this blog .

To Boost Student Mental Health, Support Teachers

• Share article

Professional development since 2020 has featured some version of this check-in.

While we chuckled in person or virtually shared into a Zoom chat, we were met with shallow acknowledgement of stressors and then back to work we went. Education has had key shifts, and 2020 was different from those previous shifts. Between school shutdowns, an unprecedented mistrust of community toward educators, and political divide in society, it is no wonder sessions opened with tiptoeing around the needs of educators. These challenges have persisted while changing the landscape of our schools.

A more accurate check-in might look like this:

When considering these squares from real voices, it may be hard to identify with one. We must brace ourselves for deeper challenges, including a looming fiscal cliff. As budgets tighten, critical resources dwindle. Support that offset behavior and mental health are among the first to go. Our teachers, academic counselors, and administrators will be left with the task of serving as ill-prepared and ill-equipped behavioral interventionist, mental health professional, and social-skills instructor. That goes in tandem with expectations of taking students with learning gaps to higher academic levels.

While well-meaning districts and leaders have facilitated after-school yoga sessions, like many other ideas, it falls short. A group of teachers, paraprofessionals, and principals from Southern California have provided insight into actionable steps to go beyond check-ins to address the impact that a post-pandemic world has had.

Align the Currently Existing MTSS System

Schools have some version of a multitiered system of support (MTSS). Implementation falls short from three factors: 1) lack of common language and common understanding of the components of and alignment to MTSS; 2) ineffective communication across all levels of the school system; and 3) identified Tier 1 strategies need not be implemented universally.

Strengthen Classroom-Level Processes

Teachers have observed high levels of aggression, anxiety, developmental delays, relationship problems, and trauma among students. As teachers better identify challenges, they have found the most effective tool in addressing and reducing the symptoms of behaviors was consistent and clear classroom structures and routines. Schools that had strong schoolwide Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (PBIS) systems realized more success through implementation across the school.

Implement Tiered Levels of Support

It seems the understanding of tiered levels of support is limited to identifying that there are up to four tiers of support. There is a need to establish a common language and a common understanding. Students cannot access services that adults cannot speak to clearly. Teams should look at already existing proven frameworks such as PBIS, trauma-informed practices, Zones of Regulation, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to align tiers of intervention to their MTSS framework.

Empower Teacher Assessment to Connect to Services

An ineffective process is the student study team. Teachers identify academic, behavioral, mental, or social challenges. They then follow steps outlined that, at a minimum, can take up to 12 weeks from referral, identification and implementation of interventions, and meeting to discuss outcomes. Many times a full year was wasted because teachers could have been provided the tools to act immediately. The elephant in the room: Teachers expressed signaled mistrust in their ability to serve a student just in time. Schools need to overhaul their student study-team system to allow teachers to have immediate access to implement interventions. One suggestion is to follow the Everyone Graduates Center ABC Model developed in partnership with John Hopkins University.

Utilize the Multidisciplinary Team

While tools and agency should be given to execute support, teachers cannot work in isolation. After establishing common language and common understanding around the various strategies, tiers of interventions, and support available, schools should utilize a framework for communication and ongoing access to resources. The Everyone Graduated Center ABC Model offers guidelines for creating cohorts, forming effective teams, and scheduling meetings in a proactive rather than reactive manner.

Identify and Address Barriers to Implementation

Building and district leaders must address eight different barriers:

This is the starting point for immediate action. Building and site leaders must establish common language and common understanding around frameworks and practices that need to be implemented or better aligned. We must also care for our staff’s mental health differently. This begins with ensuring that our teachers’ professional development needs, as well as this alignment, is done during the workday. While it is great to provide teachers with additional pay after school, when teachers express burnout and compassion fatigue, putting in hours after a long workday does not cut it. We show we are serious about supporting our teachers by incorporating this into the professional workday and fully equipping and training our teams.

The opinions expressed in Peter DeWitt’s Finding Common Ground are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

Understanding the factors affecting teachers’ burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

Contributed equally to this work with: Orly Shimony, Yael Malin

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration

Affiliation School of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

Roles Conceptualization, Investigation, Project administration, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Seymour Fox School of Education, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

Roles Formal analysis, Methodology

Roles Funding acquisition, Writing – review & editing

Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

• Orly Shimony, 
• Yael Malin, 
• Haya Fogel-Grinvald, 
• Thomas P. Gumpel, 

• Published: December 30, 2022
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279383
• Reader Comments

During the COVID-19 pandemic, which enforced social distancing and isolation, teachers were required to handle multiple challenges related to their work, including dealing with remote teaching, in addition to personal, medical and financial challenges. The goal of the current research was to examine factors that contributed to professional burnout and commitment to work among teachers during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 344 elementary school teachers in Israel completed online self-report questionnaires, including assessments of stressors, anxiety, resilience, self-efficacy beliefs, and coping strategies. Structured Equation Modeling [SEM] was used to examine the contribution of these factors to professional burnout and commitment.

The gaps between needed and received support had a direct effect on teachers’ burnout and commitment, and an indirect effect through anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs. Stress relating to remote teaching and support-gaps regarding remote teaching were the most significant of all the stressors and sources of support.

Conclusions

Collectively, these findings highlight the significance of remote teaching as the main cause of stress and professional burnout and suggest that proper preparation of teachers—before and during times of crisis, may have a significant impact on their mental and professional well-being.

Citation: Shimony O, Malin Y, Fogel-Grinvald H, Gumpel TP, Nahum M (2022) Understanding the factors affecting teachers’ burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study. PLoS ONE 17(12): e0279383. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279383

Editor: Vittorio Lenzo, University of Catania: Universita degli Studi di Catania, ITALY

Received: August 4, 2022; Accepted: December 6, 2022; Published: December 30, 2022

Copyright: © 2022 Shimony et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All the data files are available from the OSF database - https://osf.io/74j3c/ .

Funding: This work was supported by a research grant to authors O.S, M.N. and T.G. from the Israeli Ministry of Education (grant number 23/11.20). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

Professional “burnout” has been defined as a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job [ 1 ]. Several studies confirmed a two-factor structure of the burnout syndrome, including emotional exhaustion and personal fulfillment [ 2 , 3 ]. Teaching is considered a profession with high rates of burnout [ 4 , 5 ], which eventually lead to high professional turnover rates [ 6 ]. Teachers burnout has a significant impact not only on their own will to maintain their profession and their ability to manage classroom behaviors but was also shown to affect their students’ performance and motivation [ 7 ]. In this study, we aimed to better understand the factors that contribute to teachers’ burnout and commitment to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which was announced in March 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a worldwide pandemic, was a significant global stressor [ 8 , 9 ]. As part of the curve-flattening policy adopted by many countries around the globe, schools were closed, affecting more than 1.5 billion students from 185 different countries [ 10 ]. As a result, educational systems were forced to adopt emergency routines and new teaching methods, such as remote teaching, or learning with parents’ assistance and involvement [ 11 ]. In addition, school teams dealt with health and financial uncertainties and frequent changes in teaching methods. Indeed, several studies to date demonstrated the effect of COVID-19 on teachers’ mental and professional state [ 9 – 13 ]. Collectively, these studies report increases in teacher burnout, which also resulted in high rates of turnover during the pandemic. However, the specific factors within this uniquely stressful situation that may lead to increased burnout rates are still not entirely understood.

Burnout has been shown to be affected by both internal (e.g., psychological distress, anxiety) [ 14 ] as well as external factors, such as teaching resources [ 15 ]. Considering internal factors, such as distress, and anxiety first, these factors were shown to collectively increase in the general population [ 16 – 18 ] and specifically in teacher populations [ 13 ] during the pandemic. Not surprisingly, increased levels of professional burnout were observed among teachers during the pandemic. For example, a study conducted among middle school teachers in Israel found that the high levels of stress during the pandemic were associated with increased burnout and desire to leave the profession [ 14 ]. Similarly, a cross-sectional study among healthcare workers found that trait worry and psychological distress significantly predicted work burnout during the pandemic [ 19 ]. Another cross-sectional study conducted during the first wave of the pandemic among 125 primary school teachers found that 54% of them experienced burnout [ 12 ].

Self-efficacy beliefs, defined as “people’s beliefs about their capabilities to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events that affect their lives” [ 20 ], have also been suggested as another internal predictor of teachers’ burnout [ 21 ]. Teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs are related to their ability to be effective teachers [ 22 ] and to their commitment to teaching [ 23 ] and are negatively correlated with emotional exhaustion [ 24 ]. The more teachers perceive themselves as empowered by their organization, the more they express their commitment to their organization and to their profession [ 25 ]. Specifically, self-efficacy beliefs may act as a mediator of the relationship between the stress experienced by teachers during this period and eventual burnout. Studies found that teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs ratings were lower during the pandemic compared to previous studies conducted before the pandemic [e.g., 26]. Furthermore, teachers who engaged in virtual teaching only, had the lowest levels of self-efficacy beliefs compared to their peers, who taught in hybrid or face-to-face models. This may be related to the challenges of using novel teaching methods or to the stress and anxiety from teaching the pandemic. In contrast, higher self-efficacy beliefs were found among teachers who reported greater levels of support within their schools during the pandemic [ 26 ]. However, none of these studies, to the best of our knowledge, has examined the effect of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs on burnout levels during the pandemic.

The type of specific coping strategy used to deal with the stressful situation is another internal factor that may contribute to teachers’ professional burnout [ 27 ]. In distressing situations, people use one of two coping strategies—approach-coping or avoidant-coping. Approach-coping strategies are activities designed to change stressful situations or accept their presence, such as seeking comfort and understanding. In contrast, avoidant-coping strategies aim to increase emotional or physical distancing from stressful situations, such as drug and alcohol use [ 28 ]. In a study which examined the coping strategies used by teachers during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the authors found that the approach-coping strategies were linked to increased happiness, welfare, health, and resilience [ 29 ]. In contrast, avoidant-coping strategies were associated with higher levels of stress, anxiety, anger, sadness, and loneliness. Herein, we ask whether the specific coping strategy used is associated with teachers’ burnout.

In addition to these internal factors—of anxiety, distress, self-efficacy beliefs, and coping strategies—there are external factors that may also significantly affect teacher burnout. Among them, the social support system within the school seems to be a key factor. Studies show that within-school support from peers and supervisors is more effective in reducing teacher burnout compared with non-school support from family and friends [e.g., 30]. A recent study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic found that administrative support, such as instructional, technological, or emotional assistance, played a crucial role in reducing teacher burnout [ 31 ]. Similarly, perceived support, such as support from the school principal and peer assistance, may also contribute to reducing emotional exhaustion and improving personal accomplishment among teachers [ 32 ]. In addition, social support may strengthen the sense of self-efficacy beliefs among teachers, leading to further reduction in burnout levels [ 33 ]. A comprehensive study from Canada which included 1,626 teachers found that the changes in teaching methods and administrative support predicted teacher burnout during the pandemic [ 34 ]. This is in line with a recent report which examined the educational policy and effects in OECD countries and found that shifting from frontal teaching to remote teaching during the pandemic was done without proper training and support [ 10 ]. Collectively, these studies show that increased burnout during the pandemic was the result of new information and communication technologies, and that the support from the school played a key role in the ability to handle these challenges [ 12 ].

Teachers’ seniority may also affect their professional burnout, commitment to work, and self-efficacy beliefs. However, findings related to seniority are thus far mixed. For example, while one study found that seniority affected self-efficacy beliefs [ 33 ], another study involving elementary school teachers did not find an effect of seniority on burnout [ 32 ]. One potential reason for this discrepancy could be that the effect of seniority on burnout is non-linear. Indeed, a study among 201 high-school teachers, found that teachers with up to five years of seniority and teachers with 21 years or more were more committed to their organization compared with teachers with 6–20 years of seniority [ 33 ]. To the best of our knowledge, no study to date examined the effect of seniority on teachers’ burnout during the pandemic.

In the current study, we examined how all these potential factors—level of stress and anxiety, coping strategies, self-efficacy beliefs, and gaps between the needed and received support contribute to teachers’ professional burnout and commitment to work during the 1 st and 2 nd waves of the pandemic among elementary school teachers. While the relationships between factors such as stress, self-efficacy beliefs, and coping strategy are well-established, there is a lack of understanding of how a health and social crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic may affect them. Based on the literature reviewed, we developed a theoretical model linking these factors together ( Fig 1 ) and applied structural equation modeling to examine its statistical validity. The model examines how all predictors contribute—both directly and indirectly—to teachers’ commitment to work and to their professional burnout. A secondary goal of this research was to focus on the different types of stressors and support-gaps and their relations with the dependent variables- anxiety, self-efficacy beliefs, burnout and commitment.

• PPT PowerPoint slide
• PNG larger image
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Hypothesized positive correlations are marked by ‘+’, negative correlations are marked by a ‘-’ sign, and connections which incorporate both positive and negative dimensions are marked by a ‘+/-’ sign.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279383.g001

Gaining a better understanding of the factors contributing to teachers’ professional burnout and commitment to teaching during a time of global crisis may have important implications for preventing stress-related burnout and applying better coping mechanisms during times of crisis. The pandemic itself is a case study for a scenario with a global impact, and as the literature cited above showed, increased burnout among teachers was observed globally. Although most schools have now returned to in-person teaching routines, understanding of the factors contributing to burnout during crisis may help with preparation for future crises.

Materials and methods

Participants and procedure.

The study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the Hebrew University’s institutional committees and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was approved by the ethics committee of the Seymour Fox School of Education, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (approval number 2021C06). All participants gave written informed consent before participating in any study-related activities.

We conducted a cross-sectional retrospective quantitative research, designed to determine the path to professional burnout and commitment to work among elementary school teachers during the 1 st and 2 nd waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using this design, we could collect data from a relatively large pool of participants at a single point in time.

Data collection took place between January 25th and February 20th, 2021, during Israel’s 3 rd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 344 teachers were recruited using a “snowball” sampling method, a convenience sampling technique [ 35 ], via mailing lists, groups of teachers in digital and social media, and teachers with whom we had prior acquaintance. Using the “snowball” sampling technique, we were able to reach teachers’ populations that are difficult to sample when using other sampling methods.

Sample size calculations were conducted using the G-Power software, based on an expected effect size of Cohen’s d = 0.2, as was found in a recent study [ 30 ], for the correlations between the coping approach and the mental state. A sample size of at least 262 participants is required to obtain a power of 0.95 and a significance level of 0.05. Since the dropout rate tends to be relatively high in online studies, we collected data from more participants.

Teachers who met the following inclusion criteria and expressed interest were included in the study: [a] teachers working in elementary, state, or state-religious schools in the Jewish sector. [b] native Hebrew speakers. The exclusion criteria were being on sick leave for more than two weeks or not teaching during this period for reasons other than COVID-19 infection for more than two weeks. We attempted to include a diverse sample in terms of socio-demographic status by advertising in different geographic areas across Israel.

After providing informed consent, participants were given a link to a mobile application and were asked to complete a battery of online questionnaires. The overall completion time for the entire battery was ~25 min. Participants were not directly compensated for their participation in the study. However, participants were asked to provide their email addresses if they wanted to participate in a raffle to win a laptop (four were given to participants).

Participants were asked to provide their responses to all questionnaires in relation to the 1 st (February through May 2020) and 2 nd (June through October 2020) waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. We measured stressors, needs and sources of support, anxiety, resilience, coping strategy, and self-efficacy beliefs as independent variables, and burnout and commitment to teaching as the dependent variables. Below we provide the full list of measures used.

Since all data collection took place online, we applied the following procedures to maintain the trustworthiness of the data: first, a Google reCAPTCHA was integrated in the application, such that participants were required to click the "I am not a robot" phrase before filling out the questionnaire. This is an acceptable procedure designed to prevent robots from filling out the survey [ 36 ]. Next, three easy random mathematical questions were interleaved among the questionnaires (e.g., “2+2”). This was done to make sure that the participants are attentive to the questionnaires and are not providing random answers. Finally, teachers who wanted to participate in the raffle were required to provide their email address, and we verified that the email address given was valid.

Of note, data collected during this study was saved on the secure database only if the participant clicked on "I am not a robot" and approved to continue, completed all questionnaires, and answered the three mathematical questions correctly, and provided a valid email address (in case an email address was provided).

Stressors resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

W used a 15-item questionnaire which is based on Main et al.’s [ 37 ] original questionnaire to measure stressors resulting from the SARS pandemic, and was adjusted by Khouri et al. [ 19 ] for the COVID-19 pandemic. All items are scored on a 5-level rating scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). An exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation yielded the following four distinct categories and accounted for 68.5% of the variance: (a) physical concerns, (b) mental health concerns (self and relatives), (c) economic and employment concerns (own, relatives), and (d) concerns related to remote teaching. A total score was derived from the average of all 15 items, as well as sub-scores for each category, with higher scores indicating higher level of concern. The scale had strong internal consistency in our sample (Cronbach’s α = .89).

Needs and sources of support during the pandemic.

We used a novel questionnaire that was developed specifically for this study. This 32-item questionnaire included questions from two main types: (a) needs—or sources of support that the teachers needed (16 items), and (b) sources of support received by teachers (16 items). Answers to each item were given on a 6-point Likert scale, from 1 (not at all) to 6 (very much). Final scores were derived by calculating the average difference between items in group “a” (needs) and group “b” (sources), as well as separately for each category. Higher scores indicate a higher level of needs or receiving higher assistance compared to what was received. An exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation yielded four categories of needs and sources of support, accounting for 60.9% of the variance: (a) the school and the Ministry of Education, (b) remote teaching infrastructure, (c) emotional needs and support, and (d) family and friends. The internal consistency of this scale in our sample was good (Cronbach’s α of .87 and .78 for parts a and b, respectively).

State anxiety.

State anxiety was assessed using the 20 items assessing state anxiety from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) [ 38 ]. Each item is scored on a 4-point scale, ranging from 1 (almost never) to 4 (almost always). Total scores range from 20 to 80 points, with higher scores indicating higher levels of anxiety. The scale also yields a categorical distinction between low (scores between 20–37), moderate (scores between 38–44) and high (above 45) levels of anxiety [ 39 ]. The internal consistency of this scale in our sample was high (Cronbach’s α of .92).

Psychological resilience.

Psychological resilience was measured using the 10-item version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) [ 40 ]. This scale measures the feeling of resilience and one’s ability to cope with stress. Responses are provided on a 5-point scale ranging from 0 (almost never) to 4 (almost always). Total resilience scores range from 0 to 40 points, with higher scores indicating higher self-reported resilience. The internal consistency of this scale in our sample was adequate (Cronbach’s α = .82).

Coping strategies.

Coping strategies were measured using the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced inventory (Brief-COPE) [ 29 ]. This 28-item questionnaire measures two categories of coping strategies (see similar use in MacIntyre’s et al. study [ 29 ]): 14 items represent ‘approach’ coping strategies and 14 measure ‘avoidant’ coping strategies. Items are rated on a 4-level rating scale, ranging from 0 (not at all) to 3 (very much). The total score in each group is the average of the items, with higher scores indicating higher levels of the coping strategy. The internal consistency in our sample was good (Cronbach’s α = .78 for both avoidant and approach strategies).

Teacher’s self-efficacy beliefs.

Self-efficacy was measured using the short version (12-item) of the Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) [ 39 ]. On this scale, teachers were asked to evaluate their likely success regarding remote teaching. We used the overall score (12 to 60 points) based on its high reliability in previous studies (Cronbach’s α = .90) [ 41 ] and in the current study (α = .92). Each item rated on a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much) when higher scores indicating higher levels of self-efficacy beliefs.

Commitment to teaching.

Commitment to the teaching profession was measured using the 9-item Teacher Commitment Scale (TCS) [ 40 ]. Items were rated on a 6-point scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 6 (very much). Total scores range from 9 to 54 points, with higher scores indicating a higher level of commitment to the teaching profession. The internal consistency of the scale was found to be good in previous studies (Cronbach’s α = .71–.89) [ 42 , 43 ], as well as in our sample (Cronbach’s α = .84).

Professional burnout.

Teachers’ burnout from their profession was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) [ 1 ]. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). Here, we used the 14 items which measure two components of burnout concerning teacher-student interactions: emotional exhaustion (six items), and personal fulfillment (eight items). The internal consistency of this scale in our sample was good (Cronbach’s α of .76 and .86 for emotional exhaustion and personal fulfillment, respectively).

Data analysis

IBM SPSS [Statistical Package for the Social Sciences] version 27.0 and IBM AMOS Graphics software version 27.0 were used for statistical analyses. First, descriptive statistics were used to derive participants’ characteristics and study variables. All data were checked for normality and for multivariate outliers. We then used Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlation coefficients to examine the correlations between study variables, and FDR correction with Benjamini-Hochberg method [ 43 ] was applied to adjust for multiple testing. After reviewing the correlations, we tested the theoretical model with the factors contributing to burnout and commitment to teaching (see Fig 1 ), using Structural Equation Model (SEM) [ 44 ] with maximum likelihood estimation. Model fit was assessed using the following standard goodness-of-fit indices: chi-square, Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), and Root-Mean-Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) [ 45 ]. A non-significant chi-square, CFI and TLI equal to or greater than .95, and RMSEA equal to or less than .06 are indicative of an acceptable fit. The standardized path coefficients were assessed to examine the statistical significance and directions of path estimate that exist between the variables in the model. Lastly, Pearson’s correlations were used again to zoom-in on the different types of stressors and sources of support and their correlation to the outcome variables. For all analyses, p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Characterization of the study sample

Table 1 lists the demographic characteristics of the study sample. A total of 344 elementary school teachers, from 133 different regions and provinces in Israel, participated in this study. There were no missing data points in the study sample. In total, 320 of the 344 participants were female (93%) and 24 males (7%). The age range of participants was 21–69 years (Mage: 40.69 years; SD: 10.85). Most participants were married or in a relationship (82.5%). More than 50% had at least 10 years seniority as teachers.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279383.t001

Descriptive statistics and correlations between measures

Descriptive statistics of the study variables are shown in Table 2 . Overall, the mean level of anxiety in the sample was 42.03 ± 11.42, on a scale from 20 (low anxiety) to 80 (high anxiety). More than 60% of participants reported moderate to high levels of anxiety (total score of 38–80) during the pandemic: 21.51% experienced moderate levels of anxiety (total score of 38–44; M = 41.35 ± 11.41) while 39.83% of them experienced high anxiety (total score of 45 and over; M = 53.29 ± 7.46). The overall mean level of psychological resilience in the study sample was M = 29.7 ± 7.0 on a scale from 0 (low resilience) to 40 (high resilience).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279383.t002

As a first step towards forming the model, we first calculated the correlations between predictor variables and between predictors and outcomes (see Table 2 ). As expected, both commitment to teaching and personal fulfillment (the 1 st factor of burnout) were positively correlated with the predictors of psychological resilience and self-efficacy beliefs, and negatively correlated with state anxiety. Furthermore, commitment to teaching and personal fulfillment had a significant negative correlation with the gap in support (i.e., the gap between the support needed and the support received) and with stressors. In other words, the larger the gap between needs and provided support, and the higher the level of stressors, the lower the commitment to teaching and the sense of fulfillment. In addition, commitment to teaching had a significant weak negative correlation with avoidant-coping, such that more use of avoidant coping was associated with less commitment. No such correlation was found with the ‘approach’ coping style.

The 2 nd factor of burnout—emotional exhaustion—was negatively correlated with resilience and with self-efficacy beliefs, such that lower levels of psychological resilience and perceived self-efficacy beliefs were associated with higher levels of emotional exhaustion. As expected, emotional exhaustion was positively correlated with avoidant-coping, gap in support, and with all stressors, such that higher levels of emotional exhaustion were associated with higher levels of avoidant-coping, reduced support-gap, and with higher levels of external stressors.

We further examined the correlation between professional seniority (i.e., the number of years as a teacher) and all other variables using Spearman’s correlations. Professional seniority was weakly negatively correlated with anxiety, with emotional exhaustion, and with the gap between needed and provided support (r s (344) = -.13; -.12; -.11, respectively; all p values < .05), and weakly positively correlated with commitment to teaching and with personal fulfillment ( r s (344) = .11; .15, respectively, all p values < .05).

Validation of the theoretical model using SEM

Our first goal was to examine the direct effects of model predictors—namely, stressors, coping strategies, seniority, resilience, and support—on professional burnout and commitment to teaching. In addition, studied their indirect effects through anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs. To further examine the theoretical model, we used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). We excluded the variables with no significant direct or indirect effect on the dependent variables: professional seniority, resilience, and approach coping. The final model is given in Fig 2 . All fit indices indicate a suitable fit of the model to the data (Χ 2 (6) = 5.974, p = .426, CFI = 1.00, NFI = .99, RMSEA = .00, and TLI = 1.00).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279383.g002

The gap in support had a direct and significant effect on all other variables. Specifically, insufficient levels of support directly affected burnout (personal fulfillment and emotional exhaustion) and commitment to teaching. Support-gap also indirectly affected burnout and commitment to teaching, via its effect on self-efficacy beliefs and on anxiety. In other words, insufficient support (less received than desired) directly led to lower levels of professional commitment and to higher levels of burnout, and indirectly, by contributing to the reduction in self-efficacy beliefs and higher levels of anxiety.

Both stressors which were associated with the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., health concerns, dealing with remote teaching) and using the avoidant-coping style had similar and small direct effect on the emotional exhaustion component of burnout, but not on personal fulfillment nor on commitment to work. Interestingly, both variables—stressors and avoidant-coping—had strong indirect effects on burnout and professional commitment, via their strong positive effects on anxiety (0.33 and 0.31 for stressors and avoidant-coping, respectively).

Finally, both anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs significantly contributed to the two components of professional burnout and to commitment to teaching. Specifically, higher levels of anxiety reduced personal fulfillment and commitment to teaching, and increased emotional exhaustion, while higher levels of self-efficacy beliefs had the opposite effect.

COVID-19 related stressors in relation to outcome measures

A secondary goal of the study was to better understand different factors related to the pandemic in relation to well-being and burnout among teachers. More specifically, we aimed to focus on different sources of stress and the gap in support, and their relations with anxiety, self-efficacy beliefs, professional burnout and commitment. For this, we calculated the correlations between all types of stress and support-gaps with all outcomes (see Table 3 ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279383.t003

We found that stressors related to remote teaching and the gap in support of remote teaching were significantly correlated with all other outcome measures. Higher levels of stress from remote teaching were associated with increased anxiety and with emotional exhaustion. In addition, a larger gap between the support needed and received for remote teaching was associated with lower levels of commitment to teaching. In general, all stressors and support-gaps were positively correlated with anxiety and with emotional exhaustion.

In this study, we examined the factors which contributed to teachers’ burnout and commitment to teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. For this, we collected information from 344 elementary school teachers, assessing their mental health, concerns, and resources during the pandemic. Using SEM analysis, we found that the stressors, gaps in support, and coping strategies all contributed to teachers’ burnout, both directly and indirectly, via their effect on anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs. The gaps in support further affected teachers’ commitment to work. A closer look at the different stressors and sources of support and their relations with other variables revealed that the most significant predictors of professional burnout and commitment were stressors and gaps in support which were specifically related to remote teaching. Another contributor was the use of avoidant-coping strategies, which was associated with increased anxiety and burnout and decreased self-efficacy beliefs and commitment.

The contribution of support-gaps, stressors, and coping strategy

A main finding in our study is the fact that insufficient support (i.e., a larger gap between needed and received support) contributed both directly to lower levels of professional commitment and to higher levels of burnout, as well as indirectly, by affecting both self-efficacy beliefs and anxiety. This novel finding is generally in line with previous literature, showing that a supportive environment increases the likelihood of teachers remaining in their job for extended periods of time [ 46 ]. Specifically, teachers rated the support they received from the school’s principal as a critical factor contributing to a feeling of professional satisfaction [ 47 ]. Our study demonstrated the importance of support from schools during emergency times such as the pandemic, even when teaching is done from home. Our results further showed that among the different sources of stress and support, the support from schools is even more critical than support from family and friends. This finding suggests that stakeholders and schools should focus on supplying support to teachers on normal days and particularly during crisis times.

In addition to support, we further found that stressors associated with the pandemic (e.g., health concerns, remote teaching) as well as avoidant-coping styles had direct effects on emotional exhaustion (one of the two components of burnout), and indirect effects on burnout and on professional commitment, via their effects on anxiety. Increased stress during the pandemic has been shown in multiple studies to date, and a recent meta-analysis concluded that 30% of teachers experienced high levels of stress during the pandemic [ 48 ]. In addition, a recent study conducted among Israeli teachers found that more than half of them experienced high levels of stress, which were associated with increased burnout and a desire to leave the profession [ 14 ]. Here we further found that teachers’ burnout was in addition affected by their use of a maladaptive coping strategy, sources of support, and their self-efficacy beliefs, suggesting that tools to strengthen these supports should be provided to teachers by schools ahead of time. In addition, our zooming in on different stressors revealed that stress relating to remote teaching was the most significant one of all the stressors, suggesting that the challenges of teaching were even more salient than the direct effects of the pandemic.

The use of a particular coping strategy to handle stressful situations also contributed to burnout. Specifically, we found that the use of an avoidant-coping strategy was associated with higher levels of stress and anxiety and was associated with increased burnout, and with a reduced commitment to teaching. This finding is consistent with a recent study by MacIntyre and colleagues, in which the authors reported that an avoidant-coping strategy was associated with increased negative emotions of anger, sadness, and loneliness in teachers during the pandemic [ 29 ]. Here, we further show that coping strategies are not only related to changes in mental health but also contribute to burnout and commitment to work. Interestingly, however, the more adaptive coping strategy (approach-coping) was not associated with burnout or with commitment in our study. The fact that the study by MacIntyre and colleagues did find effects of this strategy on positive emotions may indicate that while this type of strategy is beneficial for positive emotions in personal life, it may not have a significant effect on work-related outcomes. It may be that professional burnout and commitment to work are less related to a positive attitude toward the pandemic, such as the approach coping strategy. More research is needed to better understand the potential contribution of this type of strategy to burnout among teachers.

Anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs as contributors to burnout

More than 60% of the teachers in our sample reported medium to high levels of anxiety during the pandemic. This finding is aligned with those of recently-conducted studies [e.g., 13, 27, 48] and of recent meta-analyses showing high levels of anxiety during the pandemic both in the general population and specifically among teachers [ 49 , 50 ]. Here, we further show that higher levels of anxiety contributed to a reduction in personal fulfillment and commitment to teaching and increased emotional exhaustion among teachers, indicating that teacher mental state had a significant impact on their professional functioning. The indirect relations between support, anxiety, burnout, and commitment to teaching in our model, suggest that sufficient support from school could alleviate anxiety which in turn would have led to less burnout and better commitment to teaching during the pandemic.

Gaps in support also influenced teacher self-efficacy beliefs, which in turn have led to increased burnout and decreased commitment. Several studies demonstrated that during pandemic times, teacher self-efficacy beliefs were reduced compared with pre-pandemic times [e.g., 27]. This reduction in self-efficacy beliefs appears to be related to remote teaching. Teachers who were only teaching virtually reported the lowest levels of self-efficacy beliefs, as compared to teachers who were teaching in a hybrid or all-in-person form [ 27 ]. Potentially, the requirements associated with remote teaching, including learning new technologies and adapting lesson plans for virtual and hybrid instruction, have a significant effect on self-efficacy beliefs. In another study, self-efficacy beliefs were also found to mediate the association between difficulties stemming from remote teaching and perceived stress [ 51 ]. Collectively, these findings and our results demonstrate the difficulties in adopting new forms of teaching. They may also suggest that support from the school in adopting new methods of teaching during the pandemic could contribute to teacher self-efficacy beliefs. A strong sense of self-efficacy leads to less burnout and a greater commitment to teaching. Strategies for increasing self-efficacy beliefs among teachers could therefore be employed to reduce burnout and increase commitment, especially during crisis times [ 52 ].

Psychological resilience

Psychological resilience entails better recovery from adversity and a better ability to regulate negative emotions [ 53 ]. Indeed, individuals with high resilience adapt better to stressful situations [ 54 ]. Our findings show that higher levels of resilience alleviated teachers’ stress due to remote teaching. We claim here that teachers who have high levels of self-reported resilience can better adopt new teaching methods and frequent changes between methods. This finding is also in line with previous findings which pointed to the relationship between resilience, professional functioning, self-efficacy beliefs, burnout, and stress among teachers, during non-pandemic times [ 55 ]. Interestingly, however, the effect of resilience in our model was weaker, secondary to more prominent variables such as support-gap and stressors. It may be that during emergency times the effect of internal factors such as resilience are weaker than the effect of external factors such as support. Future studies should therefore address the question of psychological resilience and examine its relationship with teachers’ burnout during times of distress.

Source of stress and support during the pandemic

To examine the factors associated with teachers’ stress during the pandemic, we assessed four different categories of stressors–- stressors related to remote teaching, health worries, financial concerns, and occupational worries. Our results show that all these categories were significant sources of stress for teachers during the pandemic, all directly affecting their professional burnout. The effect of stressors on burnout and their commitment to teaching was also expressed indirectly, via its effect on anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs. This finding is consistent with the literature, generally showing that stress contributes to professional burnout. Specifically, previous studies found that even during non-pandemic times, teachers deal with many professional stressors leading to stress at work and in their personal life, which in turn lead to professional burnout [ 56 ].

Among the four stressors examined, our findings indicate that stress related to remote teaching was the most significant one. Remote teaching that was enforced during the long lockdown periods included new challenges related to online teachings, such as the use of novel technology, teaching from home while having young children, sharing computers between family members, and the like. Our results are consistent with those of recent studies, showing that one of the main stressors that led to burnout among teachers during the pandemic was new teaching demands due to the transition to online teaching [ 32 ]. While we hypothesized that teachers’ seniority will affect this factor, no such effect was found in our study. It may be that remote teaching was novel enough to both new and senior teachers alike, hence no effect of seniority was found. In addition to the difficulties brought about by the switch to online teaching, another study found that teachers believed that the online platform prevented teachers from teaching the regular curriculum [ 47 ]. Furthermore, a recent study found that even teachers with relevant technological skills reported decreased well-being [ 57 ]. Our results further suggest that online teaching constituted the primary stressor among teachers, even compared to health-related stressors, leading to more significant burnout and reduced commitment to teaching.

A novel finding from our research is that insufficient support from schools increased teacher burnout and decreased their commitment to work. We examined the gaps between the support that teachers felt they needed, compared to the support they received, and found that the highest gap was in the support related to remote teaching. This gap significantly contributed to lower levels of commitment and self-efficacy beliefs and higher levels of anxiety and professional burnout. A previous study found that altogether, the use of new information and communication technologies, work/family conflict, social support, and workload related to distance education, have led to increased burnout [ 12 ]. Our study further shows that remote teaching did not constitute merely a technical challenge or exhaustion from an increased workload, but instead, has led to stress and a specific need for support from the school. Specifically, more significant support from the school regarding remote teaching might have reduced adverse feelings among teachers such as anxiety. Interestingly, a recent study reported that not just the pandemic—but also returning to teaching in the classroom after it—was accompanied by high stress and anxiety among teachers [ 58 ]. This finding may suggest that stressors related to remote teaching may also stem from frequent changes and a lack of stability and consistency. One conclusion is that support from the school should supply teachers not only with technical skills but also emotional skills to deal with this kind of situation.

Broader implications

This study is rooted in specific educational, technological, social, and cultural circumstances in Israel which affect Israeli schools and remote teaching. Nevertheless, the literature outlined above along with our findings demonstrates a universal effect of COVID-19 on teachers around the globe. Despite the different cultures and teaching methods, the global transition to remote teaching universally led to a reduced commitment to teaching, and increased stress, anxiety, and burnout for teachers. The results of the current study therefore further contribute to this body of knowledge, specifically highlighting the need for better preparation and training for teachers in novel remote teaching methods.

This study has important implications in two dimensions—technical and psychological. At the technical level, stakeholders should make efforts to strengthen remote teaching skills among teachers and ensure that teachers have all the necessary facilities for remote teaching and to support a smooth transition to remote teaching when this is required [ 59 ]. In addition, help can be provided in the form of a strategy of reframing, which aims at leading to an approach coping, instead of the use of avoidant coping. The contribution of mental health-related factors—such as anxiety and distress—to burnout and commitment, calls for providing better and stable support for teacher populations, especially during crisis times. There is a need to provide teachers with a place to express their feelings at such times, exposing administrators and stakeholders to teachers’ actual needs [ 60 ].

Study limitations

Our study has several limitations which may affect the generalizability of the findings. First, data collection was done retrospectively, i.e., participants were asked to address their feelings about the 1 st and 2 nd waves of the pandemic during the 3 rd wave. Such retrospective self-reports may be biased in multiple ways and are limited to a subjective point of view. Importantly, during the 3 rd wave of the pandemic, unlike the uncertainty of the first two waves, people may have felt more depression or despair, which is more characteristic of a chronic, rather than an acute state [ 61 ].

In addition, the design of this study was cross-sectional, and as such, no causal or sustained effects could not be addressed. This cross-sectional design further limited our ability to assess the contribution of effects not related to COVID-19 on professional burnout among the teachers in our sample. Second, our study sample included elementary school teachers, which limits their generalizability to middle and high school teachers. Although we aimed for a diverse sample, the majority of the sample included women, which is also similar to their proportion in the teaching profession. Given that past research indicated that teachers’ mental health is significantly related to gender [ 62 ], the results may be biased in this respect. Future research with long-term follow-up and a diverse sample of teachers from different educational systems and genders should be conducted to strengthen and validate the current findings.

Finally, we should note that the study only examined a limited set of potential contributors to burnout and professional commitment, considering the feasibility of the remote application of the study. Other factors which may have affected burnout such as socioeconomic status were not considered here, and should be examined in future studies.

We found that gaps between the needed and received support had a direct effect on teacher burnout and commitment, and an indirect effect through anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs. Stress relating to remote teaching and support-gaps regarding remote teaching were the most significant of all the stressors and sources of support. These findings demonstrate the significance of remote teaching as the main cause of stress and professional burnout and suggest that proper preparation of teachers and support by schools can have a significant effect on teachers’ mental and professional well-being.

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129 Burnout Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best burnout topic ideas & essay examples, ✍️ burnout essay topics for college, 🎓 interesting topics to write about burnout, ✅ good research topics about burnout, ❓ research questions about burnout.

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IvyPanda . "129 Burnout Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." March 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/burnout-essay-topics/.

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How to 'quiet quit,' from a former teacher who did it for 2 years so she could enjoy a better life while still getting a paycheck

• Maggie Perkins, 30, engaged in "quiet quitting" while working as a teacher beginning in 2018.
• She actually quit in 2020 because "the conditions were not sustainable to have a quality of life."
• Now, she's trying to help others avoid burnout while staying engaged and collecting a paycheck.

Maggie Perkins loved being a teacher.

"I want to be a teacher every day of my life, for the rest of my life," the 30-year-old told Insider. "It's what I enjoy most."

But her passion didn't stop the burnout that came from working 60-hour weeks on a salary that stayed under $50,000 for five years. In 2018, she decided she needed a change and began engaging in what's recently become known as " quiet quitting ."

The term, which gained traction after Insider published a story on " coasting culture " in March 2022, describes the not-so-new idea of establishing work-life boundaries while still collecting a paycheck. Its growing popularity on TikTok shows how millennial and Gen Z workers are pushing back on the expectation that they should go above and beyond what they are paid to do. But the idea is older than these young generations and echoes the " work to rule " tactic that unions have used, in which workers do what they are contractually obligated to and nothing more.

Through the " Great Resignation ," many workers have wielded the power to quit their jobs and pursue more attractive opportunities to get higher pay and more flexibility. Now, however, the quiet-quitting trend suggests workers are trying to find ways to make their current jobs work for them . 

Perkins quit in 2020 and said she doesn't have any plans to return. She's pursuing her Ph.D. in Educational Theory and Practice and focusing her research on teacher attrition — specifically, why teachers with significant qualifications and experience ultimately choose to leave the profession. 

Start slow and prioritize what must get done to keep your job

As a teacher in private and public schools in Georgia and Florida, Perkins said she spent "hundreds if not thousands" of her own dollars a year on classroom supplies, dealt with harassment from parents, and developed "horrible" migraines. 

"It's like a frog in boiling water," she said. "It eventually becomes unsustainable. And either you burn out, or you have to make a choice." 

Perkins advises would-be quiet quitters to "scale back slowly" and "quietly" — not drawing too much attention to the change.

"It can't be overnight," she said. "If you've been the teacher who carries home a ton of work and stays late, it will be incredibly noticeable if you just do this suddenly," adding that one needs to do it in a way that's "sustainable and not going to get you fired."

In 2018, Perkins began leaving school after working her exact number of contracted hours to pick up her daughter from daycare. This laid the groundwork for some work-life balance, but between grading, lesson planning, and meetings, she said she found it almost impossible to get all of her work done during the school day. 

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To cut down on her hours, Perkins began exploring automated-grading systems, not grading everything that was assigned, and having students highlight the portions of their essays that corresponded to a grading rubric.  

"I think this actually made me a better teacher because I became a lot more efficient and I had to prioritize what's worth it," she said. "And I had to be really judicious with my effort."

Quiet quitting doesn't have to mean you're no longer engaged in your job

When Perkins first heard the term "quiet quitting" last year, it resonated with her, and she began posting videos on TikTok about her experience. 

"It was such a simple explanation to something that had been very life-changing for me and healthy for me," she said.

Perkins prefers the term "quiet working," however, because many teachers genuinely engage in their jobs and don't want to quit.

"You don't even have to just give up, but scale back on your commitment, or your presence, or your hustle," she said. "And you're still getting the job done. You're not shorting your company on their productivity. You're doing what you're expected to do."

Perkins says the effort looks different for everyone. For her, it meant giving 100 percent of herself between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., but not taking work home. "If I couldn't do it during my contract hours, I wasn't going to do it," she said.

Some people, however, choose to "just do enough not to get fired."

"They don't have aspirations to move up in that company," she said. "They do have aspirations to just clock in, clock out, and then go hiking. And that's good for them."

Sometimes, going above and beyond is the path to burnout

Perkins has seen some critics argue that "quiet-quitting teachers" are doing students a disservice. But in her estimation, the expectation that teachers should always "go above and beyond" is the real problem, and that "just doing your job" should be enough. 

A 2021 Gallup poll found that the share of US workers who were "engaged" in their work fell to 34% in 2021, the first decline in over a decade. Many teachers, whom society has long characterized as overworked and underpaid — and are being fervently sought out by schools across the country looking to fill openings — have found themselves drawn to the quiet-quitting movement, said Perkins.

She believes the term "teacher shortage" is a misnomer: It's a "teacher exodus."

"Not because they became less passionate or became uncertified," she said. "But because it was time for them to not work under those conditions."

Though Perkins' future career path is unclear, her quality of life is better since she left the classroom: "I haven't had a single migraine since."

If you have a story to tell about "quiet quitting" reach out to this reporter at [email protected] .

This article was originally published in August 2022.

• Main content

Teachers are so fed up with the broken education system that over half wouldn’t tell a young person to do what they do

Not unlike the famed tree of Shel Silverstein’s divisive children’s book, teachers don’t have much left to give. Operating in a infamously demanding and poorly paid sector, many educators have reached a breaking point over the last couple of years as they navigate an increasingly broadening workload.

It all means that current teachers have become like a foreboding side character in a horror movie, telling bright-eyed, bushy-tailed graduates to run away from the crumbling house (or education system) while they can. More than half (52%) of educators tell Pew Research Center that “they would not advise a young person starting out today to become a teacher,” according to a survey of more than 2,500 educators conducted in the fall of 2023.

“I feel like the profession of teaching is no longer a profession; it’s something people do after college for a couple of years to figure out what they really want to do,” Lisa Wolfe, a former educator who quit due to the way schools are run, told Fortune in December. As new teachers are met with poor conditions and wages, they quit, “so we lose all that talent, and our students lose,” she adds. 

Indeed, most teachers report that their job is frequently stressful (77%) and overwhelming (68%). In actuality, it’s the tenured teachers who have been pushed to the edge, as Pew finds that newer teachers are more likely to report that their work is enjoyable.

Part of what’s likely happening is that teachers who have been around for some time realize that things used to be better. Many educators report that the nation’s infrastructure is rapidly slipping, as 82% report that the state of public K–12 “has gotten worse in the past five years.” Of those who report worsening conditions, educators report that the major stressors to their job are the political climate (60%), rippling influences of the pandemic (57%), and a lack of funding (46%).

Indeed, the school room has become a playground for politicians. And the encroachment is pushing teachers out, as figures like Ron DeSantis and the Moms for Liberty mobilize to wage culture wars against the education system. As it stands, educators are grappling with rising school violence and state laws that push to censor topics including critical race theory and LGBTQ+ rights. Pew finds that more trust the Democratic Party to deal with the crisis plaguing the system, which may not be a surprise, considering the party’s close ties to the teachers’ union. Still, a good portion don’t believe either party can do the job, per Pew.

Around eight in 10 teachers report to Pew that the pandemic had a negative effect and “lasting impact” on the way students act. Citing a lack of parental discipline as a potential reason for acting out, most educators report they’ve experienced verbal abuse from their class. And the proportion of students who went to schools with high or extreme levels of chronic absenteeism spiked from 26% in the 2017–2018 school year to 66% in the 2021–2022 school year, according to an analysis from Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University and Attendance Works.

Part of the solution to this absenteeism issue is “relationship building,” Hedy N. Chang, executive director at Attendance Works, told Fortune . But Chang admits that this can’t be done in isolation, as “relationship building also requires investing in the adults working in schools.”

In a workforce marked by brewing dissolution and malaise, educators are especially distressed. While 51% of U.S. workers in general report being very or extremely satisfied with their jobs, that number shifts to only 33% for teachers. Difficulty with retainment leads to greater workloads for current teachers, as 70% of educators report that their school is understaffed.

“We’re failing our students miserably,” Wolfe told Fortune , adding that she would work hours past midnight to grade or do paperwork. Her burnout speaks to the stress that pervades the industry, as 84% of educators report that there’s not enough time in their workday to do all that’s expected of them. Still, even with a hefty workload, teachers are struggling to make ends meet. Only 15% of educators report being extremely or very satisfied with their pay. 

It all means good teachers are throwing in the towel and warning others to not follow in their footsteps. After teaching for 19 years, Wolfe left her dream job last year. “I’ve done enough,” she said. “I don’t have anything left.” She’s not alone, as 29% of teachers who reported not planning on quitting or retiring within the year told Pew they’re looking for a new job. A good portion are looking for a job outside of the sector entirely. 

The kids are not all right, really, fueling the fire for teachers. And when they’re overworked, educators don’t have the ability to properly do their job and provide adequate care or education for said children. The main crises facing kids, according to their teachers, include poverty, chronic absenteeism, and anxiety and depression.

As it stands, educators are feeling empty. “Education only works off free labor from teachers. If teachers would stop working for free, it would collapse,” Wolfe said.

Are you a teacher feeling burned out? Would you advise a young person not to go into your line of work? Reach out to  [email protected] .

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