Avoiding the burnout trap: strategies for surviving for early years of teaching
Spooner-Lane, Rebecca S. (2009) Avoiding the burnout trap: strategies for surviving for early years of teaching. In Millwater, Jan & Beutel, Denise A. (Eds.) Transitioning to the real world of education. Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, N.S.W., pp. 148-164.
The initial year of employment is a critical stage in a teacher’s career. As teachers enter the profession, they encounter a range of new challenges and responsibilities as they attempt to establish a professional identity within the school culture (McCormack & Thomas, 2003). Accompanying feelings of enthusiasm and eagerness are feelings of stress and anxiety as they face the challenge of being on their own in the classroom without supervision. Beginning teachers are put to the ultimate test as they are expected to take on the same responsibilities as experienced teachers; often being allocated the least desirable and most difficult classes to teach (Carter & Francis, 2001). It should come as no surprise, then, that novice teachers are vulnerable to stress and burnout. There are however, marked individual differences in the way teachers respond to their early years of teaching. Whilst some choose to exit the profession, others develop a set of coping strategies to deal with the complex tasks of being a full-time teacher (McCormack & Thomas, 2003). In this chapter, the factors that may contribute to stress and eventually lead to burnout will be explored before discussing a range of strategies proposed by teachers for preventing or avoiding burnout. It is hoped that by reading this chapter you will be better equipped to recognise symptoms of stress and be able to take appropriate action to avoid burning out.
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|Item Type:||Book Chapter|
|Additional Information:||For more information about this book please refer to the publisher's website (see link) or contact the author.|
|Keywords:||Burnout, Coping, Stress|
|Divisions:||Current > Research Centres > Office of Education Research
Current > Schools > School of Cultural & Professional Learning
Current > QUT Faculties and Divisions > Faculty of Education
|Copyright Owner:||Copyright 2009 Pearson Education Australia|
|Deposited On:||30 Jan 2009 00:01|
|Last Modified:||25 Mar 2013 08:18|
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