Aussie teachers are quitting on social media – see the one thing tipping them over the edge
Teachers are turning to TikTok to share quitting and burnout stories. New research reveals there’s one main reason why so many are stressed – and it’s not the students.
Teachers are sharing burnout and resignation videos on social media as stress takes its toll on the school workforce.
A new survey of nearly 5000 primary and secondary teachers by the University of New South Wales has found that 90 per cent of teachers are experiencing high levels of stress.
Results also show more than two-thirds of Australian teachers experience moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety and depression – twice the national average.
The research, lead by Dr Helena Granziera, found many teachers are stuck in a cycle of workload-induced mental health symptoms that cause many to leave the profession.
It is not the face-to-face teaching and the delivery of lessons but the minutiae of non-core work that is most burdensome to Australian teachers.
“Administrative duties, compliance requirements, and excessive data collection are taking time away from lesson planning and student engagement. This is leading to burnout and a sense of professional disillusionment,” Dr Granziera said.
As poor mental health leads to teachers abandoning their field, this trend is exacerbating Australia’s teacher shortage, with up to 30 per cent of teachers considering leaving the industry prior to their retirement age.
The UNSW researchers also found the mental health concerns of teachers is impacting on their students, who are likely to perform worse on standardised tests, leading to a regression in their own wellbeing.
It comes as teachers around the nation continue to share stories of their light bulb “quit” moments on social media using hashtags such as #TeacherQuitTok and #TeacherBurnout.
One female educator said she was “going to be stepping away from teaching for a bit” after a student called her a “stupid bitch” without any consequences. In one post attracting more than 2000 comments, she railed about a lack of resources in schools and being told not to take sick days.
Teachers in many states are bargaining for pay rises and other conditions, with striking workers in Queensland attracting much support from their interstate peers.
One such teacher posted that: “Everyone realises how important teachers are the moment they stop showing up.”
Another 30-year-old quit her teaching job “with no back-up plan – just a gut feeling that I needed more. Teaching had been my everything, but burnout crept in and I knew I had to choose myself.”
Another said: “If you’re a teacher who is currently feeling overwhelmed and feeling the effects of teacher burnout, just know you aren’t alone and you deserve this break”.
Associate Professor Rachel Buchanan from the University of Newcastle said teachers continued to use social media to vent their frustrations about their jobs.
“Originally it was more about using social media for shared professional development,” she said. “Now it’s more about discussions on burnout in a more confessional way.”
“Teachers are feeling abandoned by the education departments so they are sharing what they are feeling,” she said.
Associate Professor Buchanan said teachers were taking more risks in expressing more honest details about their jobs, at times in a bid to warn others.
“The feeling is that if their boundaries are not respected, then why should they respect yours?”
Originally published as Aussie teachers are quitting on social media – see the one thing tipping them over the edge
