Teacher Burnout in Black and White

Martin Haberman
Distinguished Professor
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Causes of Teacher Stress and Burnout

Scholars define teacher burnout as a condition caused by depersonalization, exhaustion and a diminished sense of accomplishment (Schwab et al. 1986). A psychological model of how stress leads to burnout describes it as a syndrome resulting from teachers’ inability to protect themselves against threats to their self esteem and well being (Kyriacou and Sutcliffe 1978). In this model, teachers’ coping mechanisms are activated to deal with demands. When those coping mechanisms fail to stem the demands then stress increases and threatens the teachers’ mental and physical well-being ultimately leading to teachers quitting or burning out. Because many of the conditions which determine teacher effectiveness lie outside of their control and because a high level of continual alertness is required, teaching is a high stress job. Haberman uses a behavioral definition of burnout and defines it as a condition in which teachers remain as paid employees but stop functioning as professionals.

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