Sharing Good Practice
Warning signs
Looking back , there were a number of signals that my body was giving me signals that I was burning out before I broke down in a meeting with Steffen .
Burnout signs felt like :
• Inexplicable tiredness
• Constant aches and pains
• Twitching in my eyes
• Trouble sleeping
• Constant dread about opening emails , messages or interacting with colleagues
Burnout signs looked like :
• Restlessness
• Little patience
• Over socialising / Withdrawing
• Tearfulness
• Undereating / Overeating
• Breakouts and skin complaints
Burnout signs sounded like :
• “ Everyone thinks I ’ m useless .”
• “ I ’ m too [ insert every innate personality trait I have ].”
• “ I ’ m going to be fired .”
• “ I don ’ t belong here .”
• “ Taking a break looks lazy .”
( Phillips , 2020 )
What can teachers do to remedy burnout ?
If you think that you might be heading towards burnout , it will be essential to give yourself plenty of self-compassion . Be kind to yourself , ensure you rest . Speak to someone . Whether it is sharing it with a friend or sharing your concerns with your line manager , speaking about it will help .
Rest is a crucial part of the equation . If you need to take time off to help you rest , then you need to take it . If you try to out-run burnout , it will not end well , as I found out to the detriment of my physical and mental health . If you broke your leg on the weekend , would you be at work the following week ? Probably not . The difficulty with mental health issues is that they are invisible , and the only person who can see them is you . Do not be afraid to flag your problems with your management team .
Always seek professional help should you not feel anything is changing – I did , and it helped me significantly .
What can schools do to help their staff with burnout ?
Employers have a duty of care for their people . At this current time , it is more important than ever for school leaders to look after the wellbeing of their staff and themselves as senior leaders . I would suggest that school leaders could look at the following areas to improve staff wellbeing :
1 . Build awareness of mental health issues such as burnout and stress within your staff . Awareness becomes before prevention and highlighting what can cause it and giving everyone a common understanding is a great start .
2 . Sharing stories of burnout or stress as a leader will help to remove the stigma that surrounds the two terms with staff .
3 . Review of events and their IMPACT - What events in the school calendar have the biggest impact on students ? If any events in the calendar have little or no impact on the students at your school – do you need them ? Will this elevate some pressure on your staff ?
4 . Lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic – Are there aspects of running your school during the recent Covid-19 pandemic that can remove pressure from staff ? Shifting parents ’ evenings to online parent meetings for example .
5 . Inset days – Do all of your inset days need to be used for staff development ? Can at least one be used as a staff wellbeing day ?
6 . Be supportive – Leaders are not there to diagnose or be a therapist but being a signpost to what resources or services are available is important . Being open to making changes to the way your staff work can really be the difference between happy and engaged or frazzled and burnt out .
Burnout is a topic that has wide reaching consequences . Whether you are a school leader wondering what more you can do to support staff wellbeing or someone who might be experiencing high levels of stress or worried that you might be heading towards burnout , it is essential , in both situations , to put the PERSON at the centre of process .
References
Phillips , K . D ., 2020 . ‘ Burnout Prevention : How to support yourself and your team ’. KDP Consulting and Consulting . 1 September . Available at : https :// www . kdp . coach / burnoutprevention / ( Accessed : 27 February ).
Phillips , K . D ., 2020 . ‘ How to spot the signs and understand the causes of Burnout ’. KDP Consulting and Consulting . 1 September . Available at : https :// www . kdp . coach / burnoutsigns-causes / ( Accessed : 27 February ).
World Health Organisation , 2019 . Burn-out an " occupational phenomenon ": International Classification of Diseases . Available at : https :// www . who . int / news / item / 28-05-2019-burn-outan-occupational-phenomenon-internationalclassification-of-diseases ( Accessed : 27 February ).
Neil Thomas is a teacher with over 14 years of teaching and leadership experience both in the UK and internationally and is now working as an educational consultant . Having been affected by burnout , Neil decided to return to the UK to find a better work-life balance and recuperate both mentally and physically .