• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts

The Educators Room logo

  • Start Here
    • Impact Statements: Teacher Expertise
    • Newsletter
  • Browse Topics
    • Content Strategies
      • Literacy
      • Mathematics
      • Social Studies
      • Educational Technology
      • ELL & ESOL
      • Fine Arts
      • Special Education
      • Popular Topics
        • Teacher Self-Care
        • Instructional Coach Files
        • Common Core
        • The Traveling Teacher
        • The Unemployed Teacher
        • The New Teacher Chronicles
        • Book Review
        • Grade Levels
          • Elementary (K-5)
          • Middle (6-8)
          • Adult
          • New Teacher Bootcamp
          • Hot Button Topics
            • Menu Item
              • Principals' Corner
              • Charter Schools
              • Confessions of a Teacher
              • Interviews
              • The State of Education
              • Stellar Educator of the Week
            • Menu
              • How to Fix Education
              • Featured
              • Ask a Teacher
              • Teacher Branding
              • Current Events
  • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout- An 8 Week Course
    • Becoming An Educational Consultant
    • Teacher Branding 101:Teachers are The Experts
    • The Learning Academy
    • Books
    • Shirts
  • Education in Atlanta
  • Teacher Self-Care
  • The Coach's Academy
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts
×

July 23, 2019 Confessions of a Teacher

The State of the Demoralized Teacher

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Brittany White

Brittany wears many hats including wife, educator, mentor, and friend. She has made it her life’s mission to impact the lives of others through education and service. Her passion and commitment to education earned her the privilege of being named the 2017-2018 Teacher of the Year at her school. Her mission as an educator is to facilitate students’ development, create life-long learners, and promote healthy, collaborative environments for students and educators.
  • The Learning Loss Discussion is Misguided - April 20, 2021
  • Opinion: Prepare for the Mass Teacher Exodus in Georgia and Around the Country - March 17, 2021
  • Reimagining Schools After COVID-19 - September 16, 2020
  • How Much More are Teachers Expected to Give?  - August 22, 2020
  • Considering Opening Schools in the Fall? Think Students and Teachers First. Not Adults - May 27, 2020
  • Teacher Appreciation Day: How Can Schools Appreciate Teachers Regularly? - May 8, 2020
  • 5 Free Reading Apps for Parents to Utilize - April 4, 2020
  • Best Websites for K-5 Math Virtual Education  - March 21, 2020
  • Black Teacher Retention Matters - February 25, 2020
  • Real Talk: How do you know when it is time to leave a school?  - January 30, 2020

Teacher burnout is not a new concept. If you’re connected to education in any way, you know that teachers are burning out more than ever. Educators are losing the spark they once had for the profession. Teachers are struggling with PTSD and resigning as a result of the declining state of education and the increased demands. As a result of the “teacher exodus,” there is a serious teacher shortage, with the majority of the shortage being in the most critical need areas. 

With the increased focus on teacher burnout, there is a more specific reality for some teachers- demoralization. According to Doris Santoro, author of Demoralized: Why Teachers Leave the Profession They Love and How They Can Stay, “demoralization is rooted in discouragement and despair borne out of ongoing value conflicts with pedagogical policies, reform mandates, and school practices (p.3).” 

As I reflected on my reality with PTSD as an educator, I realized my experience aligned more with demoralization than burnout. When comparing the two terms, Santoro says, “burnout is a common explanation for why experienced teachers are dissatisfied with their work. When teachers find out they have reached the limit of what they are able to sustain personally and professionally, they may be experiencing burnout.” Demoralization, on the other hand, has the following characteristics: 

  • Teachers believe they are violating basic moral expectations that educators should embody: do no harm to students, support student learning, engage in behavior becoming of a professional.
  • Teacher distress that can lead to isolation, despair, transfer to other schools, and to leaving the profession entirely.    
  • Teachers are overall unable to do what needs to be done (as a result of school and district policies, etc.) 

My experience with demoralization included was based on the belief that I was doing harm to students’ overall well-being due to increased demands unrelated to the needs of the individual students. In my most recent year in the classroom, I was a third-grade teacher and I co-taught students receiving special education services. There were varying academic levels: from kindergarten upwards to fifth grade. The lessons I planned, specifically for my struggling learners, were not up to the standard of my administration. As an educator with a Master's degree in Behavior and Learning Disabilities, I put my training to work by planning as many individualized and differentiated lessons as possible. However, my work as a professional was constantly questioned. I can't count the number of times the term rigor was brought up to me. I know what my students needed. Slowly, I was seeing steady results. 

Unfortunately, benchmark scores did not demonstrate high scores. My grade level was constantly scrutinized. I was truly under a lot of pressure to make more happen than what I could do as one person. 

As a result of this, I would dread going to work daily because some of my students were not growing in the way I knew they should. I simply didn't have the autonomy to meet all the different needs. I believed I was falling short of doing what was truly best for kids. With the varying academic levels in my classroom, I was overwhelmed and under-supported. I became demoralized early in the school year when I realized that my vision and that of administrations’ was different. I truly believed I was doing overall harm to my students. I felt this way because I knew their needs were not being met, at no fault of my own.  I was running in a race that I would never win. I was reprimanded more times than I care to admit, which caused me to feel shame and embarrassment. I did what no teacher plans to do when they first enter the profession: I resigned from the classroom. 

I truly believed I was doing overall harm to my students. Click To Tweet

As you can see, demoralization goes deeper than simply teacher burnout. Demoralization is a result of various factors such as harming students a degrading of the profession by society. Teachers are constantly being flooded with new ideas and initiatives. We have been forced to become jacks of all trades but are ending up as masters of none. 

It’s time to acknowledge the unfortunate state of the demoralized teacher.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related posts:

The Declining Mental Health of Educators The Facets of Personality and Successful Teaching Pregnant While Teaching - The Ultimate Self-Care Challenge Short storiesWhat a Teacher's Summer Really Entails
« Keeping Your Head Down?
Marie Kando Your Classroom »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

The Educator's Room was launched in 2012 to amplify the voice of educators. To date, we have over 45+ writers from around the world and boast over twelve million page views. Through articles, events, and social media we will advocate for honest dialogue with teachers about how to improve public education. This mission is especially important when reporting on education in our community; therefore, we commit our readers to integrity, accuracy, and independence in education reporting. To join our mailing list, click here.

What we do

At The Educator's Room, we focus on amplifying and honoring the voice of educators as experts in education. To date, we have over 40 staff writers/teachers from around the world.

Popular Posts

  • My Union Showed Up for Me, and I'll Never Forget It
  • Your Students Deserve a Diverse Classroom Library. Here's How to Set It Up.
  • You Don't Have to Watch the Tyre Nichols Video, But Be Ready to Talk About It
  • "Let's Make This Happen": Following Student Interests to Interest-Based Mentorships

Featured On

Buy Our Books/Courses

How to Leave Your Job in Education

Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout

Using Your Teacher Expertise to Become an Educational Consultant

Check out our books on teaching and learning!

The Learning Academy

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Services
  • Media Kit
  • FAQ

 

Copyright © 2021 The Educator's Room.