{"id":6214,"date":"2017-10-13T07:46:47","date_gmt":"2017-10-13T07:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/?p=6214"},"modified":"2024-07-24T00:52:39","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T00:52:39","slug":"burnout-in-elt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/2017\/10\/13\/burnout-in-elt\/","title":{"rendered":"Burnout in ELT"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Roseli<\/p>\n

Burnout in ELT<\/strong>
\nby Roseli Serra.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Photo from ELTPics by Branislav Kubecka<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019d\u00a0like to thank all EFL\/ESL teachers who agreed to participate and collaborate in my research of this important issue.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Burnout:<\/i><\/b>\u00a0\u202fphysical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress (Oxford dictionary<\/a>). Burnout is a\u00a0theme which\u00a0seems to have been frequently discussed among EFL teachers recently. I myself have reflected about it since I experienced a certain awful situation in 2012. I can assure you it is as if one steals the floor under your feet and the consequences are extreme and pure chaos.\u00a0And \u202fI\u00a0tell you: either you change or lose your physical and mental health.<\/p>\n

It is as if the body and the mind put an\u00a0end point: “Now it’s enough!” A devastating weariness reveals an absolute lack of energy. At work, normally competent and attentive person turns on the “autopilot”. Instead of\u00a0motivation\u00a0there is irritation, lack of concentration, discouragement, a sense of failure. These are indications of a cruel and difficult diagnosis that progresses in hospitals, companies, schools …\u00a0The burnout syndrome, or professional exhaustion<\/b>,\u00a0which<\/b>\u00a0results from prolonged stress at work.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s when the house falls. I stayed out of my house for 14\u00a0<\/i>hours,<\/i>\u00a0three days in a row this week… it was horrible. By the last day, I was already questioning everything in my life.\u00a0<\/i>Basically it’s<\/i>\u00a0the fact that we have to work long hours in order to make a good living.\u00a0<\/i>And<\/i>\u00a0we don’t just give classes: we must prepare lessons, correct students’ productions, go to meetings with parents, and there are also the pedagogical meetings. It’s very exhausting.\u201d\u00a0<\/i>(by\u00a0an EFL teacher)<\/p>\n

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\u201c… On top of that, there is the \u2018emotional\u00a0labour\u2019 of facing several classes of students each day and attempting to create a conducive learning environment and \u2018good vibes\u2019. All of these aspects are challenging and draining and too often institutions just see teachers\u2019 time as a series of time segments that can be divided up arbitrarily without considering the psychological and emotional states and needs of teachers\u201d.\u00a0<\/i>(by\u00a0an EFL teacher)<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething that affects self-employed teachers – or teachers working for schools that provide in-company classes – is a lack of support and no sense of belonging: rushing from one place to another and not having any colleagues to share concerns\/ideas with. In many teaching contexts, teachers have no access to social media or online platforms where they could form healthy PLNs. In Brazil, for instance, mainly in big cities teaching means facing heavy traffic and hours of commuting to go to students’ workplaces and homes. It can be exhausting\u201d.\u00a0<\/i>(by\u00a0an EFL teacher)<\/p>\n

In general, teachers I talked with listed the following causes of stress:<\/p>\n