Burnout may drive more than 40% of teachers out of profession, study finds

Some 86% of teachers reported moderate to high levels of personal burnout. File photo

Significant burnout may be driving teachers to leave the profession as a new study on occupational wellbeing finds high levels of the condition caused by prolonged and unmanaged workplace stress.

As concerns about retaining teachers continue to grow, the first study of its kind here finds high levels of poor mental health amongst both primary and post-primary teachers.

More than 40% of teachers who took part in the study, conducted by researchers at Dublin City University (DCU), said they were ‘unlikely’ to stay as teachers in the long term.

More than 1,000 teachers took part in the study, making it the most in-depth study of this topic in Ireland.

It found:

• 86% of teachers reported moderate to high levels of personal burnout;
• A similar figure (85%) reported experiencing moderate to high levels of work-related burnout.
• A further 28% of teachers rated their mental health as poor or very poor over the past year.

The study asked teachers to record their self-rated mental health over the past year.

Using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI), which is recognised as a reliable tool for the measurement of emotional exhaustion, respondents were asked 19 questions rated on a five-point scale.

Scores of 50-74 reflected moderate burnout. A score of 75 or above indicates high burnout, indicating severe emotional exhaustion.

When asked if they had received any training on managing their personal wellbeing and mental health, 83% of those taking part indicated they had not.

When asked to rate their own mental health, 17% of teachers who reported poor or very poor mental health also feel that this has negatively influenced their ability to engage in teaching and learning with pupils.

The study also found there was no strong correlations between burnout and age, gender, having children or teaching experience.

According to researchers, this implies burnout levels may be influenced by other systematic factors, such as workload, parental expectations, organisational issues, challenges in working with students, and school expectations and culture, rather than demographic or experience-related factors.

The study was authored by Dr Sabrina Fitzsimons, Dr Pia O’Farrell and Professor Catherine Furlong in DCU’s Centre for Collaborative Research Across Teacher Education (DCU CREATE). It demonstrates the need for a comprehensive policy response to teacher occupational health, said Dr Sabrina Fitzsimons.

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"We must take the poor wellbeing of teachers seriously and therefore there should be a co-ordinated approach to prioritise and address the structural factors contributing to teacher burnout.” 

Dr Pia O’Farrell added the study is “particularly relevant at this time given the persistent concern of teacher supply, policy churn and the evolving curriculum landscape of primary and post-primary education.” 

“The new primary curriculum, currently being rolled out, marks a significant shift in teaching and learning approaches.” 

Simultaneously, changes to the Senior Cycle are set to begin implementation from September, she added.

“These developments are occurring alongside the rapid integration of AI in education, which will significantly impact teachers’ approaches to teaching and assessment in the current Junior Cycle and the upcoming Senior Cycle reforms.”