Understanding Teacher Burnout Coping Strategies During a Global Pandemic

Abstract

In the beginning of 2020, the impromptu conversion to distance learning forced administrators to consider alternatives to providing quality education which often neglected to consider the toll asked of the teachers. Subsequently, these conditions contributed to an unprecedented surge in teacher burnout. This chapter explores the strategies of 165 U.S. world language teachers for coping with teacher burnout during the pandemic: 76.7% of respondents indicated an increase in burnout after the pandemic started. The most alarming trends in the data are the reduction of access to certain coping strategies, the degradation of effective strategies into ineffective ones, and the severe reduction of the time and energy available to engage in these strategies. These data indicate that teacher burnout should be a priority concern to prevent any further damage to our education systems.