An Appraisal Perspective of Teacher Burnout: Examining the Emotional Work of Teachers

Abstract

K-12 teaching is a profession characterized by high levels of burnout and emotional exhaustion. Teacher burnout has been widely reviewed and studied; however, only limited literature examines the emotional aspects of teachers’ lives and its connection with teacher burnout. The purpose of this article is to review the literature on teacher burnout and teachers’ emotions and to examine the role of teachers' appraisal of their emotional exhaustion. Through reviewing the literature on teacher burnout and emotions, I argue that the habitual patterns in teachers’ judgments about student behavior and other teaching tasks may contribute significantly to teachers’ repeated experience of unpleasant emotions and those emotions may eventually lead to burnout. In order to ease teacher burnout, I argue that more studies on the antecedent appraisals that teachers make are necessary to help teachers better understand how their emotions were triggered and then learn how to regulate those emotions.