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Teacher attrition is a growing concern for the U.S. educational system. One promising practice in teacher education to combat this trend is a wellness paradigm focus. This article includes information concerning current teacher stress, burnout, and attrition. In addition, the historical and theoretical underpinnings of wellness will be introduced as well as case illustrations of wellness in teaching practice. Implications for teacher educators will be discussed.
Keywords: wellness; burnout; teacher attrition; teacher retention
What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches.
-Karl Menninger
Teacher stress, burnout, instruction fatigue, and attrition are a growing concern in the Unites States because the need for highly qualified teachers continues to increase (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2005). Occupational stress is a topic that has gained considerable attention in recent years. Iwasaki, Mactavish, and Kelly (2005) stated, "Stress is a frequent topic in popular media, health and social service, and policy-making areas" (p. 81). Teachers are faced daily with both work-related and institutional stress factors. Some common educational stressors include schools and school systems becoming increasingly more bureaucratic; greater service delivery demands in the form of heavy workloads with fewer resources (Escandon, Kroes, Boren, & Stewart, 2007; Maslach & Leiter, 1997); teachers are expected to manage difficult student behavior including misconduct, violence, and lack of student motivation; a lack of planning time; an increased emphasis on accountability measures to support effectiveness; and teachers often are excluded from policy-making procedures (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2005; Huang, 2009; Ingersoll & Smith, 2003; Maslach & Leiter, 1997; Young & Lambie, 2007).
Global stressors have also impacted teachers and schools systems. Examples include terrorist attacks (specifically those of 9-11; Zalaquett, 2005), natural disasters (e.g., Hurricane Katrina), the growing disparity in socioeconomic strata, the changing demographics of the U.S. population, and legal mandates or federal policy that influence the lives of students and classroom teaching protocol (e.g., No Child LeftBehind). Therefore, political, social, and systemic changes may also contribute to increased levels of stress experienced by teachers in and out of work.
The stress experienced by teachers may result in eventual burnout if it is not addressed. Burnout "is characterized by emotional fatigue, disengagement, irritability, and apathy resulting from the work environment" (Butler & Constantine, 2005, p. 55). Furthermore, according...