Teacher’s burnout amid the pandemic
Leila Pearlangela M. Bamba
The Coronavirus pandemic has had effects on teachers since the implementation of distance and online learning via modular schemes for students, particularly those in public schools.
These effects range from physical fatigue, emotional stress and psychological strain, specifically “burnout” which teachers are prone to since they are frontliners who ensure effective responses in education and continuity in the learning process amid a very unstable condition and environment.
An online article on “The Conversation” (June 17, 2020) notes that teachers who are burned out are less effective as teachers, have less supportive relationships with students and, in turn, the students they teach have lower academic and social outcomes.
The same article states that this “burnout” results from teachers’ concern for vulnerable students as one of the most stressful aspects of teachers’ jobs in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, since teachers have a caring role in the lives of students outside students’ academic work, and that teachers’ concern for their students is top of mind for them. Not being able to observe every child and youth each day intensifies teachers’ worries, as they aren’t confident that all their students are OK. Of particular concern to teachers are children who have not been heard from and whose families have not responded to their teachers since schools shut down. Some teachers have gone so far as to go to students’ homes to check on them.
With the pandemic, resilient and resourceful as they are, teachers are finding ways to engage students through remote learning. The article emphasized that “teachers noted that without classroom-based, consistent observation and monitoring, it is even more important that tasks and learning activities motivate the students to sustain their attention and focus. In “The Conversation” survey, some said that the collaboration of colleagues was important. When teachers worked together to develop theme-based, cross-curricular inquiry in their lesson planning, this resulted in more engaged students and also bolstered existing professional learning communities.
Finally, the article stressed that “in order to ensure that our children get the best education possible both during distance learning and when returning to classrooms, supporting teachers and listening to their voices will be important to ensuring these essential members of the educational team remain resilient.
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The author is Head Teacher I at Calangain Elementary School