What's the best way for schools to keep new teachers from burning out?

A new teacher or even one who has been around for years needs to see that administrators care. Caring means that the administrators are visible on campus - in the hallways, and in the classroom (and not just for evaluations). Administrators must remove themselves from their hiding spaces (their offices) and visit classes, simply to observe the teacher and students, seeing and hearing the interaction between the two. Their presence will help to deflect student behavior problems which weigh heavily on teaching - and are no doubt the greatest cause of teacher burn-out. The administrator can offer some suggestions to the teacher (at a separate friendly meeting) that may be helpful in improving teaching or relationships with students. Teachers have many skills and are capable to learning through practice and appropriate instruction how to do their job better. Mentoring by both administration and department chairs plus other teachers provides an opportunity for camaraderie that is non-threatening. A new teacher is under tremendous pressure to do everything "right" for the sake of keeping the job, and very often fails because there was not sufficient or appropriate support.

I would also recommend - especially in California - the tossing out of the Education Code, and rewriting it to make education more relevant to the needs of the states' student population. This nonsense that every student MUST BE PREPARED to go to college does not take into consideration that students may simply want to be a gardener/landscaper, or an auto mechanic, or a plumber or electrician. We have tossed Career Technical education out the door because of our politicians' misguided idea of every child going to college. How about reversing laws that allow for the social breakdown of society - easy divorce, lack of pray in schools. How about a return to strong Judeo-Christian values, where students learn responsibility, respect, honesty, and the value, sanctity, and rule of law. By returning to the basics of our founding fathers, we can return the classroom to a true venue of learning, and not one of daily, minute-by-minute discipline and behavior modification.

Would you buy a car knowing that the raw material (steel) used for the frame was cracked? Well, we get raw material for the classroom (our students) who come to us with a multitude of imperfections. Our education system is broken - and we cannot expect new OR experienced teachers to fix it. That is why our schools suffer teacher drop-out or early retirement. Teachers burn-out or simply get tired of the day-to- day hassle which transcends the responsibility of teaching and facilitating learning to that of a child sitter monitoring behavior to students who are not motivated to learn, or are being taught in a direction that will not truly prepare them for a productive future.

Teacher burn-out or stress is a classic example of work-related stress. The Brits have established what work-related stress does to workers' health - the British civil service workers have been studied for years. What have the studies shown? Workers who have little social support, a great deal of demand and responsibility and little control of how the work gets done suffer a high prevalence of high blood-pressure, cardiovascular disease, depressive symptoms and other illnesses.

It's time we studied teachers and other workers to assess the conditions that make them ill or drive them to leave the profession. Changes that improve the quality of their work and lives will inevitably benefit children.

I almost quit my first teaching job after the first two weeks. I was given some of the hardest kids to teach and I did not have the skills or experience to deal with them. New teachers should have some "golden" kids to teach and as their skills increase, they can have the harder kids. I still feel bad about that first year.

I almost quit my first teaching job after the first two weeks because I was given some of the hardest kids to teach. Those kids needed all the skills a veteran teacher brings to the classroom. New teachers should get some "golden" kids and as their skills increase, they can have some of those more challenging students. I was not was those kids needed. R. Horwitz

I have been teaching for over 35 years. I am well educated and see many programs come around a 2nd time after years of being replaced by newer programs. What I have noticed is that most of the comments made about teacher burn out looks at the newer teachers. I find that some of us experienced teachers need help with the newer programs and get very little help in how to process them. Also, I find that there are too many new programs, and usually they only last a year or two and then a newer program is adopted. A teacher is just beginning to understand and adapt the last program before it is taken away and replaced with a new program...that actually seems less effitive. Another factor in burn out is the time frames that are given teachers. Sometimes when we get a new program, we are supposed to add it in with the old programs with the same time frames.

TIME - If there was time for teachers to meet and discuss students and strategies, to have PRODUCTIVE conversations retention would be higher.

Young teachers benefit from support and collaboration, and principals are key in the effort to provide them with this model. School leaders must be committed to intentionally structuring repeated opportunities for teachers to collaborate and support each other in order for relational trust in the school to be nurtured. Adults who want to ensure that their students are collaborators must model that in the building, and visibly work that way. In addition, there's really no substitute for the principal's personal touch: Skilled leaders know that the personal work of supporting every individual is time-consuming, yet must be done in order for a productive, positive climate to be in place.

If there are so many of us out here who have these horrible experiences (I tried to send mine but it didn't go through and came back blank, lost it all trying to send it in), then why aren't there more people willing to mentor maybe long distance? I would give anything (except money as we all know teachers don't have it)to have someone to ask regarding all my SPED questions. Someone impartial and unrelated. We could even offer support to one another as it is nice to know we're not out there as an island unto ourselves. I guess one good thing has come of all this...I have done pretty well in teaching MYSELF how to fish :)

Teacher burnout has become a serious problem. In 22 years of teaching, it has been my experience that teachers who receive no administrative support (at my current school, that's everyone but a few "chosen ones") get burned out quickly. It seems that principals are being taught how and encouraged to harass their teachers to get them to do whatever they want them to do. In my doctoral studies in Ed. Leadership, I actually read in one of my textbooks that the way to get rid of teachers who "don't fit your vision" is to make life so miserable for them that they will leave. Since I have only had 1 decent administrator in 22 years (I've taught in about 15 different schools in 2 different states), I'd say most of them have taken this advice to heart. This problem will become crucial in about 10 years when all of the baby-boomers have retired, and the word has been spread about how more and more is demanded of teachers (NCLB)for less and less pay and benefits. Who will want to sign up for this abuse?