Abstract
Concerns regarding high rates of teacher stress and burnout are present globally. Yet there is limited current data regarding the severity of stress, or the role of intrapersonal and environmental factors in relation to teacher stress and burnout within the Australian context. The present study, conducted over an 18-month period, prior to the COVID pandemic, surveyed 749 Australian teachers to explore their experience of work-related stress and burnout; differences in stress and burnout across different demographic groups within the profession; as well as the contributing role of intrapersonal and environmental factors, particularly, emotion regulation, subjective well-being, and workload. Results showed over half of the sample reported being very or extremely stressed and were considering leaving the profession, with early career teachers, primary teachers, and teachers working in rural and remote areas reporting the highest stress and burnout levels. Conditional process analyses highlighted the importance of emotion regulation, workload and subjective well-being in the development of teacher stress and some forms of burnout. Implications for educational practice are discussed.
Highlights
Teaching is an extremely rewarding profession; it is recognised as highly stressful and demanding
The present study aimed to add to the knowledge base about stress and burnout among Australian teachers
Data collected from a broad sample of current educators offered insights into the degree of stress and burnout across different demographic groups within the profession as well as the contributing role of intrapersonal and environmental factors
Summary
Teaching is an extremely rewarding profession; it is recognised as highly stressful and demanding. High rates of teacher occupational stress have been documented globally (e.g., Bottiani et al, 2019; Herman et al, 2018) and within Australia (OECD, 2020a), the context of the present study. Findings from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALISFreeman et al, 2014; OECD, 2014, 2020a) indicate that globally, high levels of administrative work are a notable source of stress for teachers, more so than long hours teaching in the classroom. According to TALIS (Freeman et al, 2014; OECD, 2014), teachers’ work in Australia is like other countries, with teachers on average spending 19 h teaching, 7 h planning, and 5 h marking per week. With the closing and reopening of schools repeatedly occurring in many countries since March 2020, teachers have carried the burden of rapidly upskilling in digital literacy, while having concerns for the engagement, motivation, and well-being of their students (Hoffman & Miller, 2020)
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