Findings and Results

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of COVID-19 on teacher burnout. The study identifies the COVID-19 global pandemic as an example of environmental factors that contribute to or influence teacher burnout. This research was conducted on grounds that teacher well-being remains one of the most critical issues in the United States educational sector. Teacher well-being has gained interest in the U.S. because of the increased diversity and demands across schools and classrooms. Moreover, given the nature of their work, teachers are predisposed to a series of stressors including lack of emotional support, student discipline problems, and poor working conditions (Ross, Romer, & Horner, 2012). To achieve the purpose of the study, four individual teachers were included in the survey. These participants provided significant insights into the issue of teacher burnout, environmental factors contributing to it, and the impact of COVID-19 on teacher burnout.

Results

As previously indicated, a total of four teachers were included in this qualitative survey. The surveyed teachers are from kindergarten, middle school, high school, and higher education. In addition, the study participants are from diverse racial backgrounds and have a working experience in a teaching role of between 5 and more than 20 years. Their experience in teaching makes the ideal participants as they provided rich data relating to the issue under investigation. Teachers from these different schools were identified in order for the researcher to have a wider perspective of the issue under investigation.

Data obtained from participants was analyzed using the thematic analysis technique, which is a qualitative data analysis technique that identifies themes and patterns in existing data. The emerging themes and patterns are in turn utilized to answer the research questions and/or achieve the purpose of the study. This analysis revealed four major themes relating to the phenomenon under investigation. The emerging themes and patterns in the dataset are as follows:

Theme #1 - Teacher burnout is multifaceted

One of the emerging themes from the dataset is the view that teacher burnout is multifaceted in nature. Study participants contend that teacher burnout incorporates different dimensions or aspects depending on the experience of the individual. They provided different understandings of this concept based on their experiences while teaching. They state that teacher burnout incorporates physical, psychological, and emotional aspects. Participant #2 and Participant #4 defined teacher burnout as mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion brought about by work and impacting ones life. Participant #2 said that teacher burnout means mentally and physically a persons life is impacted by work and they need to make a change. Participant #4 agreed by stating, burnout means that you are physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. It encompasses the idea of being in a state of constant exhaustion because you are overworked and always feel swamped. As evident in their statements, the physical, mental and emotional exhaustion are a result of work.

While Participant #1 and Participant #3 did not use the terms physical, mental, or psychological, and emotional exhaustion, they demonstrated the multifaceted nature of teacher burnout by sharing their thoughts. Participant #3 said it is someone no longer having the energy, passion, or commitment to do their job effectively. Despite not experiencing teacher burnout, Participant #3 believes that the lack of energy, devotion and passion carry out job responsibilities effectively could be an indicator of burnout. Participant #1 showed the multifaceted nature of teacher burnout by prioritizing different major points. He stated that teacher burnout incorporates lack of consistency in teaching, lack of appreciation, repetitiveness, lack of support from the school community, systematic and structural issues, and conflict and staff inconsistency.

Participants #1, #2, and #4 provided their views of teacher burnout based on their individual experiences. Their view of teacher burnout as a...…worsening health problems, which affected their entire teaching experience.

However, study participants did not specifically mention how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected teacher burnout. They mostly focused on its impact on the overall teaching practice and experience. These findings on the effect of COVID-19 neither support nor contradict existing literature, which states that the pandemic increased workload and uncertainties among teachers resulting in increased vulnerability to burnout (Zadok-Gurman et al., 2021).

Implications

The findings of this study have significant implications for teaching practice and research on the phenomenon under investigation. This study demonstrates that teachers are increasingly vulnerable to burnout due to personal and environmental factors. As a result, teachers need to undertake some measures that improve their well-being in relation to personal factors that could affect their work. With regards to the environmental factors, there is a need for collaboration between teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders in education to develop measures to prevent and mitigate teacher burnout. Such collaboration would help address structural issues and school supports that are contributing to the problem. In essence, the issue of teacher burnout can be resolved, but that requires the involvement of all stakeholders in the education sector. Through collaboration, these stakeholders will help ensure that the teaching workplace is established in a manner that provides teachers with adequate resources and tools to carry out their work with minimal stressors.

While this study provides significant insights on teacher burnout, its environmental factors, and the impact of COVID-19, future studies should incorporate more participants. This study was conducted on a group of four participants, which limits the generalzation of its findings. Future studies on this issue should incorporate a larger group of participants that could help obtain findings that could be generalized to the target audience. In addition, future studies should examine the link between COVID-19 and teacher burnout. This study could not specifically establish whether and/or how COVID-19…