Stress and burnout in the teaching profession - coping strategies

In recent years, teaching has become an increasingly challenging career, with fewer and fewer students choosing this path. In my opinion a teacher must be born: to win the love of children, to remain patient in all situations, to manage conflict situations effectively. My professional experience so far tells me that academic framework does not prepare the future teacher for this.

On top of this, as there is a shortage of teachers in some areas, this takes and extra energy for the teacher.

The extra administration, the growing tensions, uncertainties and constant changes in the world are putting more and more pressure on teachers. In addition, the heavy teaching load means that teachers do not have the opportunity to have a deeper conversation with small/large students or to discuss professional issues with colleagues.

Perhaps there is less and less time for further education, not to mention less time for himself and his family, even though he is a human being, not a robot.

What motivated me to help teachers? 

Basically, I think it is everyone's responsibility to stand up for themselves when it comes to material things. However, teachers' pay is an issue that affects our whole society, so it is worth taking a stand together, with social cohesion. But, as I will explain in more detail later, it is not just pay that is a problem in the teaching profession, burnout is also a major factor in teacher drop-out and demotivation.

There are similar wages in other sectors and fields, even in multinationals. If I were a decision-maker in the education sector, I would introduce differentiation in salaries to motivate teachers. Higher salaries would be paid to teachers with whom, on the basis of a questionnaire - anonymously between parents and children - are satisfied. Why are we only grading the children in this two-way relationship?

Under the same roof as the teacher

The main problem I saw with my teacher parents as a child was that their working hours did not end when they finished their lessons. My mother would bring home the bags full of papers, the exercise books that the students filled out.

As a child, I waited for my parents to come home after work, but it was often three hours before they got home. As an aside, I used to go to school to meet them, and I saw decades ago that they were often up until the evening correcting papers and surveys, even though there was not as much administration required then as there is now.

At that time my parents told me to become a teacher, because it was a great job for a mother. I wasn't at the stage of development then to be able to articulate what I can today. I was teaching sooner than I graduated - I was a teacher of Italian and English at the Arany János Language School. I taught adults, such as teachers who were sent from Russian to English retraining, which was compulsory at the change of regime.

It was difficult when I was young, because learning by force, training is never a help to development. At the time, teachers and educators told me that they too had families and did not have the capacity to study at home.

Perhaps the situation is better today, with more time for training and development?

I can see in my mind's eye how my dear colleagues are shaking their heads.

Probably higher up in the hierarchy, they may have noticed what I saw as a child in some of my parents' colleagues: exhaustion, symptoms of burnout.In 2014, the Institute for Research and Development in Education had a grant opportunity for teachers, a 30-hour attendance training course entitled: "Stress and burnout in the teaching profession - coping strategies".

How does a teacher notice the symptoms of burnout?

If you have mastered the technique of introspection, self-analysis, it is easy, if you do not know the method, it is worthwhile and useful to learn it.

In the meantime, a few pointers:

• increased conflicts (at work, with parents, within the family, etc.)
• increased student irritability
• frequent headaches
• weight gain
• difficulty sleeping
• scratching around the throat, pharynx, tics, grinding, etc.
• immune system, decrease in resistance
• fatigue, loss of zest for life
• developing or maintaining addictions or habits
• routines you can't get rid of at will 
• apathy

Some physical symptoms are not exhaustive:

• bladder, kidney
• heartburn
• dry skin
• hair loss
• heart palpitations accompanied by stronger tremors, sadness
• oedema
• tickling cough
• loss of sense of smell, taste
• inflammations, boils
• spongy or skin with large pores
• bile, liver problems
• bloating, digestive problems
• varicose veins
• sunken eyes
• allergies, asthma
• spinal problems
• desire or refusal to move

Another sign may be a craving for or rejection of certain tastes:

• milk, meat, ham, tomato sauce, mustard
• liver or liver paste
• marzipan
• hazelnuts, milk chocolate
• bitter chocolate, bitter flavours
• salty, spicy flavours
• cakes, white bread, pasta, fatty foods, sweets, butter
• millet

Timely recognition and action against burnout

As I have discussed in the introduction, teachers have very little time to take care of themselves, so I would like to introduce you to a simple, gentle tool and method that you can easily use to help yourself, even on your own, with little time, while working and with your family.

For those who know biology, chemistry is very simple, because the rediscovery of biochemistry by the father of biochemistry, Dr W. Schüssler is easy to understand, but those who do not should not mourn, because every teacher is aware that the smallest living unit of living organisms is the cell.

You will have heard from doctors, if nothing else, that when any cell, tissue, organ or organ system is not functioning properly, physical or mental/mood disturbances or changes occur. In ancient times, this was emphasised by Aristotle.

Schüssler's mineral salts are an option that can help in the following areas:

• strengthening physical, mental and spiritual fitness
• prevent physical, mental disorders, illnesses, or existing symptoms gentle healing support 

The Hungarian reality in education today

Let us also note how health education has been reassessed in recent years, even if only in its infancy. The Basic Law of Hungary also states that everyone has the right to physical and mental health. There are schools where this aspiration is already included in the pedagogical programme.

For example, the programme on physical and mental health education says: "Healthy lifestyle education helps you to enjoy a healthy physical and mental state. Teachers should encourage pupils to have a need for good nutrition, exercise, stress management techniques, the ability to maintain mental balance, regulate social behaviour and manage conflict. In cooperation with the family, the school's task is to prepare pupils to be independent, to prevent illness, to follow the rules of transport, to be aware of dangerous conditions and substances, to be able to handle unexpected situations and to respect the rules of hygiene. Teachers motivate and help students to prevent the development of habits that lead to harmful addictions.

"Children and young people spend many years in school. It is during this period that we can have a significant impact on their personal development, which will have a major influence on the habits, ideals and preferences they later develop. School, alongside the family environment, is the socialisation arena in which the skills and patterns of behaviour for a healthier life can be developed and practised" - this is the pedagogical programme of another secondary school

Finding the balance

There is nothing simpler - as Dr Schüssler suggests - than using science and nature. Perhaps it is no coincidence that in this country, too, the research results of many research institutes, such as the Szeged Molecular Biology Group and orthomolecular medicine, certainly agree. If cells do not function properly, physical and psychological changes and imbalances occur in the body, which can lead to disease if not treated in time. The human body, as a complexly organised system, is self-regulating, self-organising, always striving to maintain homeostasis (a state of equilibrium). This ability is called vitality, if it has no energy reserves, the balance is upset, just as a light bulb that does not get enough 'spark' burns only flickeringly, if the current is high enough, it glows beautifully.

Dear fellow educators, start applying what you have learnt to yourselves, re-energise yourselves so that you can live a joyful, energetic life.

I wish you a good day,
Titanilla

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