Overcoming Burnout and Compassion Fatigue in Schools

A Guide for Counselors, Administrators, and Educators

Alison L. Dubois, Molly A. Mistretta

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9781351030007
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Mental Health in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

This book examines the cumulative effects of working with high trauma populations as they pertain to education settings. This text incorporates current research, anecdotal stories, and workbook pages so that practitioners are properly informed on how to identify and employ protective practices when it comes to burnout and compassion fatigue.

Educators rarely receive training that prepares them for working with children and youth who are the victims of neglect, abuse, poverty, and loss. Education professionals who are already overburdened with an overwhelming number of job-related tasks can find themselves depleted due to their care and concern for their most vulnerable students. As a result, educators experience the physical and emotional symptoms of burnout and compassion fatigue. Appropriate for both young and experienced educators, this important text provides a clear and concise approach to the topic of burnout and compassion fatigue that engages the reader in a journey of self-reflection, highlighting potential signs and symptoms of burnout, as well as examining how the school environment and individual characteristics might collide to put educators at risk.

Most importantly, this book provides guidance and resources to assist educators in implementing both individual and organizational practices that promote long-term resilience and self-care. To be at their most effective, educators must be able to care for themselves while also caring for their students.

1

INTRODUCTION

Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself.

John Dewey

Come and be a Part of the Tribe!

Humans are social beings driven by our desire to connect with one another. Child-rearing involves using a number of tools: empathy and compassion being arguably the most important. Effective educators connect with the children in care in myriad ways. Strong attachments form as they scaffold information to meet each child’s developmental level in an effort to help the child make meaning of his world. Child development is an ongoing, dynamic process reliant on positive adult exchanges fostered in early childhood. Children today face multiple adversities and carry this “load” to school. Teachers, school counselors, and administrators rarely acknowledge the toll of helping children through these difficulties. Educators especially become protective of the children in their care, especially when the child’s safety is compromised. The feeling of helplessness can lead professionals to despair.

Emotional togetherness, along with a passion for working with children, helps the teacher to genuinely be there—not just to be present, but to be wholly available on emotional, cognitive, and physical levels—and therefore capable of coming to genuinely understand and appropriately engage with the child. This genuine understanding and engagement is important for all children, but especially children who have experienced trauma.

(Lucas, 2007–2008, p. 88)

The Wild, Wacky World of Education

Applicants wanted. A bachelor’s degree or higher is required. Applicants must be willing to work beyond the regularly contracted day. Strong communication skills are a must as applicants will have to interface with a dizzying array of individuals including but not limited to colleagues, administrators, a large caseload, and the general populace who possess little understanding or even respect for the nature of the job. Flexibility is also a must, as the demands of the job can change rapidly and with little warning. Applicants must also be willing to accept lower wages than other professionals with a bachelor’s degree. Teaching sounds glamorous, right? What draws us to the field of education? I have worked as or alongside teachers for over 20 years and I have heard one response over and over from individuals entering the teaching profession: it is simply their calling to make a difference in a child’s life. Teaching children with complex issues can create complex problems for us as professionals, however. As a first-year teacher, almost 25 years ago, I discovered quickly that on any given day I functioned as a teacher, counselor, nurse, cheerleader—you get the idea. As my students came to school grappling with some serious trauma, I had to learn how to help them cope with what they were experiencing so that some classroom learning could take place. I found that I was wholly ill-equipped to handle the task. Nothing in my teacher training program even addressed the topic of trauma, let alone how to address the complex thoughts and feelings generated as a result of creating a safe space for my students. Years later, after much additional schooling (M.A. and Ph.D. in Counseling), I realized that I did not cope well. I also began to identify signs of secondary trauma in my staff, who had little to no training in this area either. I not only was witnessing the personal, psychic toll this secondary trauma had on my staff, I could clearly see how this affected their functioning—and ultimately their efficacy—in the classroom. The task became clear: school personnel needed training in accurately identifying the signs of burnout and compassion fatigue, in addition to resiliency skill development.

The Evolution of Education: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, an emphasis on moral and value development in the curriculum occurred, changing the educational pedagogy landscape. Gender bias was also prevalent with society largely believing that rational attributes were ascribed to men and emotional attributes were largely possessed by women. As a result, men “administrated” and women “taught.” By the end of the century, industrialization expanded urban areas, contributing to a number of social issues. A fear began to take hold that these urban areas would experience a loss of community and social control, an increase in crime, and poverty (Spring, 2001). After almost of century of instructional practices focusing entirely on morals/values education—taught almost solely by women—pressure was put on educational institutions to be a “cure all” for society’s ills. Spring states, “School was considered a logical institution to prevent these problems by providing social services, teaching new behaviors, and creating a community center” for children and adults in an effort to “reduce (neighborhood) delinquency” (2001, p. 229). Teachers saw their roles and responsibilities shift to now expanding the professional work environment beyond the school setting and interfacing with various community-based systems. Fast forward 60-plus years and urban decay and poverty were still prevalent in society. In 1963, Robert Heller presented a report The Problem with Poverty in America, and once again, the conclusion was made that education could be a major factor in “uprooting the culture of poverty” (Spring, 2001, p. 372) and it was stated that schools must play an even larger role in education, starting with preschool-aged children. Today, there are even a number of programs that target birth through age five to provide intervention early and often to reduce risk factors in dysfunctional home environments that negatively impact child development. Educators are interfacing daily with children who are suffering the deleterious effects of trauma, poverty, and poor parenting practices. As a result of this historical educational evolution, educators are struggling daily with a multitude of issues ranging from large class sizes/caseloads to meeting the wide range of educational needs in the classroom to the management of difficult behaviors. No wonder we approach our students exhausted and overwhelmed. To quote Crash Davis in the movie Bull Durham, “We’re dealing with a lot of sh—.”

The Role of Trauma in Teacher Attrition

There are many factors that influence teacher attrition. First are the individual dispositions, skills, and abilities that influence how well educators respond to the school environment, such as the number of students served and diversity of students’ learning needs. Teachers are also affected by the quality of their immediate environment and the variety of interactions that occur each day, including student to teacher, teacher to para-professional, teacher to teacher, and teacher to administrator. Other attrition factors include the availability and quality of administrative and collegial support, teachers’ perceptions of their roles and responsibilities, and opportunities for further training (Miller, Brownell, & Smith, 1999).

A teacher’s work experience is also affected by decision-making that significantly influences a teacher’s day-to-day responsibilities (Miller, Brownell, & Smith, 1999). Often, teachers have little control over important decisions that impact the classroom or the students. This lack of decision-making making control can have drastic effects on the teacher’s perceived efficacy. The more positively a teacher perceives their teaching efficacy, the more likely he or she will demonstrate satisfaction with the profession and display resiliency when facing negative situations (Miller, Brownell, & Smith, 1999).

Decisions made at the state and early childhood organizational levels often involve changes and increases in paperwork (Miller, Brownell, & Smith, 1999). Salary, job benefits, and service delivery systems also influence teacher satisfaction (Miller, Brownell, & Smith, 1999). The socio-economic levels and diversity of the community also influence the teaching environment (Brownell & Smith, 1993). These are manifested in cultural beliefs, school budgetary issues, and school board decisions that affect teachers (Brownell & Smith, 1993).

Educators often experience a number of implicit and explicit demands from their work environment compelling them to act in specific ways (Lazarus, 1995). As a result of the need to “fit in,” or be perceived by co-workers and supervisors as “competent,” some behaviors can interfere with the coping process. For example, an educator with too heavy a caseload may eliminate some of the burden making others perceive him or her as incompetent or ineffective in executing the responsibilities of their job.

All of these factors associated with educator attrition have a direct impact on the educational process occurring within the classroom. When teachers are working in low socio-economic, culturally diverse schools with children frequently immersed in chaos and potentially traumatizing situations, the personal toll can be significant. Teachers face a multitude of sociological factors, including but not limited to a significant rise in single parent households, child abuse, poverty, and diverse systemic needs. For an educator, the management for all of these variables and systems can be quite overwhelming and stressful.

The attrition literature has linked teacher attrition and/or job dissatisfaction to several key areas. Research has found that young, inexperienced special educators are twice as likely to leave the profession as compared to their more experienced colleagues (Singer, 1993; Billingsley, 2004). Older teachers tend to leave the profession as a result of retirement (Billingsley, 2004). Cole’s (1992) research found that personal characteristics have a direct impact on a teacher’s professional practice, the work environment, and the relationships that she develops with colleagues. All of these factors can contribute to whether the teacher will remain in the field or leave it. The notion of burnout is frequently referenced in the attrition literature. It is usually referred to as “emotional exhaustion” or a sense of “depersonalization” in relation to the teacher’s work efficacy.

Beating the Pitfall of Teacher Attrition

Teachers’ positive perceptions of self-efficacy have been shown to be positively connected to whether or not they will stay in the field. Teachers who are self-confident in their abilities believe they make a greater impact on the children they teach, which in turn leads to intrinsic rewards or feelings of compassion satisfaction for doing their job. When questioned during the individual interviews about how they viewed their effectiveness in the classroom, they responded,

I always thought I was a pretty effective teacher … I could see my kids learn … I learned to appreciate the small things, the small gains, rather than the big, huge “Oh my God, I taught them all their letters and numbers” … I think you have to look at the small steps … That was always the exciting part for me, the small steps.

I think so [that I’m a good teacher]. I really think that I’ve seen so many changes in children by the time they leave … I think we feel really good when they leave that we’ve done something for them.

I’m pretty confident in the classroom. The first year teaching, I certainly wasn’t. But with the help of other people to help build your confidence … you feel like you are a better teacher.

Stamm (2002) has found in her research that individuals possess an instinctual ability to self-protect when confronted with trauma material. Resilience enables a person to confront life’s adversities by developing positive patterns of behavioral responses. Resilience is a major component of compassion satisfaction. Colleague and administrative support (Billingsley, 2004; Stamm, 2002) and positive school climate and opportunities for additional training (Billingsley, 2004) all contribute to a teacher’s ability to preserve and develop constructive coping mechanisms when faced with traumatic stressors.

What Do You Do with the Hurt That You Feel?

Teacher training programs focus almost entirely on curriculum and instructional teaching methods, behavior management, and testing and assessment practices. The reality is that once pre-service teachers are in a school setting, they are faced with a different set of roles and responsibilities they have not been prepared to face. Educators must employ a number of coping mechanisms to deal with myriad facets of their job. The pressure of handling various administrative roles and responsibilities—including large caseloads, frequently changing paperwork requirements, standardized test scores often linked to teacher evaluation, and most importantly, meeting the developmental and educational needs of the children in their care—can be overwhelming. Taking some deep, cleansing breaths is in order! Research has demonstrated that personnel with prior training and experience are better able to implement self-care strategies, thereby reducing the risk of burnout and compassion fatigue (Jaycox et al., 2007). Each day educators face mounting pressure to meet learning objectives and demonstrate student progress. Compassion fatigue can affect an individual cognitively, emotionally, behaviorally, and spiritually (Figley, 2002).

This book seeks to de-mystify the concepts surrounding childhood trauma and provide educators with a toolkit to employ when their “load” becomes too great. We will discuss a theoretical framework that explains the impact of trauma and the effect of systems on children and educators. Practical strategies to implement in times of distress will also be presented.

How to Use This Book

We want you to be able to implement authentic, lasting changes to your personal and professional work lives. This book was written to be a user-friendly, interactive, engaging tool to help practitioners learn the signs and symptoms of burnout, compassion fatigue, and compassion satisfaction, in addition to implementing easy strategies that help enable you to reduce your r...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• 1 Introduction
• 2 The Developmental Impact of Trauma
• 3 Risk Factors That Create the Perfect Storm
• 4 Burnout: Death by a Thousand Cuts
• 5 Compassion Fatigue: Sick, Tired, and Depleted
• 6 Compassion Satisfaction: You’re Pretty Darn Awesome!
• 7 Follow the Yellow Brick Road … to Recovery!
• Appendix A - Assessing Risk Factors that Contribute to the Development of Burnout and Compassion Fatigue
• Appendix B - The Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) Survey
• Appendix C - The Four Quadrant Model of Trauma Self-Care
• Appendix D - Mindfulness Exercises
• Appendix E - Narrative Technique
• Appendix F - Self-Care Plan Diagram
• Appendix G - Retelling a Student’s Story: Low-Impact Debriefing Strategies
• Index