Lunch time trivia, sports days among strategies to combat ‘vicious’ teacher burnout cycle

Lunch time trivia and open staff rooms may be used as strategies to curb spiralling rates of burnout among young teachers and prevent them from quitting.

Monash University researchers have uncovered 41 strategies schools can adopt to boost teacher belonging and improve early career educators’ attrition rates.

Australian schools are urged to adopt social activities such as lunchtime trivia, open-plan staff rooms and more mentoring in a bid to curb spiralling rates of burnout among young teachers.

Emotional exhaustion coupled with inadequate support from leadership and colleagues are among the factors driving one in two new teachers to quit the profession within their first five years on the job.

In a bid to reverse this trend, researchers from Monash University has uncovered 41 strategies schools can adopt to boost teacher belonging and improve early career educators’ attrition rates.

Key changes suggested included integrating new teachers into the school community by involving them in curriculum development and sports days, updating induction programs and validating experiences of “imposter syndrome”.

One in two new teachers quit the profession within their first five years on the job.

Lead researcher and PhD candidate Ebony Melzak said the teacher shortage crisis could spiral into a “vicious cycle” of burnout and resignations if schools failed to act.

“Worldwide there is a teacher shortage. If nothing is done to boost early career teacher retention then there will be a continuous, vicious cycle of graduate teachers entering the profession, quickly getting burnt out and then leaving the profession,” she said.

“Schools should be prioritising processes and activities that support the development of a sense of belonging through collegial relationships.

“(They also need to understand that) university prepares early career teachers for how to be a teacher but induction and mentoring prepares them for how to apply this learning to their particular school.”

Ms Melzak said without prioritising a sense of belonging, early career teachers were “thrown into the deep end, often without any lifeguards or flotation devices to support them”.

“Early career teachers often report increasingly heightened expectations from school leadership and education authorities and are constantly managing all their administrative demands while feeling unsupported to do so,” she said.

“Implementing some of these methods helps the early career teacher feel supported, appreciated and respected as a member of the school community.”

While such measures could bring great benefits to early career teachers, Ms Melzak said some of the study’s findings could be generalised to the later career teacher population who might be struggling with the repercussions of teacher shortages.

“The benefits of collegial relationships, emotional support and teacher collaboration are likely beneficial regardless of career stage,” she said.

Integrating new teachers into the school community by involving them in curriculum was one strategy to boost teacher belonging.

One high school teacher, who went by the pseudonym Michael, has taught in Melbourne’s inner east for six years, and said having better access to mentors was one way to help new teachers feel supported upon entering the profession.

“Having well-rounded and experienced mentors are especially important as they provide a wealth and variety of experience, which you can really only learn by being in the profession day to day,” he said.

Another former early career teacher, who couldn’t be identified due to the study’s ethical constraints, said more frequent check-ins from leadership and colleagues would have made her feel more supported in her role, prior to quitting the profession.

“I would like to see schools led by supportive leaders who respect and recognise each teacher’s individual strengths while also assisting them with their challenges,” she said.

“Smaller class sizes would help reduce workload and teachers need more dedicated time for planning, as well as access to adequate resources and ongoing professional development.”

A full list of the 41 areas schools should focus on to improve teacher belonging is published in the Educational Research Review journal.

Originally published as Lunch time trivia, sports days among strategies to combat ‘vicious’ teacher burnout cycle