As part of a professional development class on language teaching every week I have to reflect on one common idea or belief about the language acquisition process. Here are some of the discussion prompts and my personal take on them:
"TEACHERS THAT WORK TOO HARD ARE THE ONES THAT BURN OUT"
ABOVE AND BEYOND OR WORKING TOO HARD?
The instinctive reaction I have to this statement is: “what does it mean to work too hard? Is there such a thing as working too hard as a teacher? What’s too hard/too much when you have in your hands the education and litterally the minds of your students? NOTHING!”. How many times, preparing new session plans or new didactic materials, do we let our perfectionism and never ending drive towards betterment take over? How many times do we try to improve and perfect things putting in just a little more time, a little more energy, a little more effort… This is the blessing and the curse of a job that for most of us is a CALLING, a VOCATION. Like doctors, nurses and animal-keepers most teachers enter their profession with selfless intentions and because of that we get to enjoy an unparalleled sense of purpose and meaning: our work matters, it matters to our students, to their families and to society in general, it impacts and even shapes their (and our) present and future lives. This strong sense of purpose directly translates into intrinsic motivation, which, as most supervisors and CEOs know, leads to highly performing workers: the ones that WANT TO GO ABOVE AND BEYOND.
So what’s the difference then between the wonderful and auspicabile “going above and beyond” and the infamously dangerous “working too hard”? The difference, I believe, lies not in ourselves but in our “teaching ecosystem”. Let’s imagine a young, enthusiastic teacher, passionate about helping their students and making a difference in the world. They will bring their work home and keep grading, keep planning, keep studying and improving themselves, they will propose new solutions and ask for new materials to their supervisors etc., now let’s place this wonderful teacher in two extreme and opposite “teaching ecosystems”:
A - the teacher works at an institution that helps them implement positive changes, gives them recognition and maybe even a bonus at the end of the year; in such institution teachers are relaxed, help and support each-other, share materials and ideas, have monthly professional development days etc.; the students are able and willing to participate and learn and the teacher sees them grow and improve constantly => Very likely, at the end of the year of hard work the teacher’s satisfaction will outweigh the personal cost and the teacher will continue to be enthusiastic about what they are doing and come back the following year with the same or even more energy and enthusiasm - to use the metaphor of the burning candle - the teacher (our candle) used a lot of wax but the feedback from the community replenished it with new wax.
B- The same teacher works in a school that can’t or won’t implement any advisable improvement; their students are often unable to attend class and when they are in class their minds are usually busy with their “outside troubles”; their supervisors don’t notice or recognize their hard work; their pay is low and they don’t have enough vacation days to rest during the year; their colleagues are overwhelmed by the same circumstances and don’t have the time or the energy to really share knowledge or socialize, the only thing they do is complain about the situation. => Disappointment and cynicism are likely in this teacher’s future and burn out might follow shortly after. To use the metaphor of the burning candle - the teacher (our candle) used a lot of wax, there was a strong wind that made the candle burn faster and there was no deposit of new wax from the “ecosystem”.
Our teacher is working as hard as he can in both scenarios but only one will likely burn out: hard work is the result of passion, which is what makes our jobs wonderful, and is not by itself sufficient to cause a teacher’s burn out. Burn-outs are complex phenomena, intrinsic factors as a high motivation are only a part of the equation, extrinsic factors as salary, relationship with coworkers and superiors, work conditions etc. are decisive in determining the teachers’ success and their long lasting love relationship with this wonderful job.
The instinctive reaction I have to this statement is: “what does it mean to work too hard? Is there such a thing as working too hard as a teacher? What’s too hard/too much when you have in your hands the education and litterally the minds of your students? NOTHING!”. How many times, preparing new session plans or new didactic materials, do we let our perfectionism and never ending drive towards betterment take over? How many times do we try to improve and perfect things putting in just a little more time, a little more energy, a little more effort… This is the blessing and the curse of a job that for most of us is a CALLING, a VOCATION. Like doctors, nurses and animal-keepers most teachers enter their profession with selfless intentions and because of that we get to enjoy an unparalleled sense of purpose and meaning: our work matters, it matters to our students, to their families and to society in general, it impacts and even shapes their (and our) present and future lives. This strong sense of purpose directly translates into intrinsic motivation, which, as most supervisors and CEOs know, leads to highly performing workers: the ones that WANT TO GO ABOVE AND BEYOND.
So what’s the difference then between the wonderful and auspicabile “going above and beyond” and the infamously dangerous “working too hard”? The difference, I believe, lies not in ourselves but in our “teaching ecosystem”. Let’s imagine a young, enthusiastic teacher, passionate about helping their students and making a difference in the world. They will bring their work home and keep grading, keep planning, keep studying and improving themselves, they will propose new solutions and ask for new materials to their supervisors etc., now let’s place this wonderful teacher in two extreme and opposite “teaching ecosystems”:
A - the teacher works at an institution that helps them implement positive changes, gives them recognition and maybe even a bonus at the end of the year; in such institution teachers are relaxed, help and support each-other, share materials and ideas, have monthly professional development days etc.; the students are able and willing to participate and learn and the teacher sees them grow and improve constantly => Very likely, at the end of the year of hard work the teacher’s satisfaction will outweigh the personal cost and the teacher will continue to be enthusiastic about what they are doing and come back the following year with the same or even more energy and enthusiasm - to use the metaphor of the burning candle - the teacher (our candle) used a lot of wax but the feedback from the community replenished it with new wax.
B- The same teacher works in a school that can’t or won’t implement any advisable improvement; their students are often unable to attend class and when they are in class their minds are usually busy with their “outside troubles”; their supervisors don’t notice or recognize their hard work; their pay is low and they don’t have enough vacation days to rest during the year; their colleagues are overwhelmed by the same circumstances and don’t have the time or the energy to really share knowledge or socialize, the only thing they do is complain about the situation. => Disappointment and cynicism are likely in this teacher’s future and burn out might follow shortly after. To use the metaphor of the burning candle - the teacher (our candle) used a lot of wax, there was a strong wind that made the candle burn faster and there was no deposit of new wax from the “ecosystem”.
Our teacher is working as hard as he can in both scenarios but only one will likely burn out: hard work is the result of passion, which is what makes our jobs wonderful, and is not by itself sufficient to cause a teacher’s burn out. Burn-outs are complex phenomena, intrinsic factors as a high motivation are only a part of the equation, extrinsic factors as salary, relationship with coworkers and superiors, work conditions etc. are decisive in determining the teachers’ success and their long lasting love relationship with this wonderful job.
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