Stories Most Difficult to Tell Are the Most Vital to Share

• In Event: AERA Graduate Student Research in Progress Roundtable Session One
  In Roundtable Session: Student and Teacher Perspectives on Learning, Well-Being, and Resilience in Schools (Table 14)

Abstract

There are gaps in the literature of teachers' own perspectives of teacher burnout. While school districts, leaders, and the larger communities within which they reside problematize burnout and present the phenomenon as a condition to be treated or a problem to be solved, their attempts are not informed by data related to teachers' own expression or description of burnout. Addressing those gaps can better inform practices designed to support teachers' well-being and resilience by providing information regarding the unique circumstances and characteristics of the burnout phenomena. It is important to understand the phenomenon of burnout from the point of view of the teachers experiencing it. Treating symptoms of or mitigating factors that contribute to teacher burnout without first listening to and empathetically attempting to understand teachers' feelings and thoughts, responses to, and interpretations of burnout is like prescribing medicine in a void. Therefore, it is imperative to develop and unpack teachers' own theories of burnout in order to take informed action intended to interrupt the long-term effects of teacher burnout. Though teachers of any gender or age may experience demoralization, this phenomenographical investigation focuses on women teachers in the mid-career or middle age stage of life and their unique experiences with burnout.

Author

• Kerri Lynn Fair, Washington University in St. Louis
  Presenting Author