Training burnout candidates
In the two years that German trainee teachers go through they learn to put the interests of their pupils above everything else. While this is certainly a valid point, I–and many others, too, it seems–think that doing this is like offering yourself to the burnout gods.
Let me explain.
In German teacher-trainings the changed and changing youth is one of the first topics to learn about/cope/deal with in the first month of training. One would expect the trainers to tell the future teachers the important things about basic mental health (and keeping it for the next thirty years).
But, alas, they normally don’t. They show you that children and teenagers have of course changed from the teenagers trainee teachers remember from their youth. At the same time, however, they force you to accept that your pupils’ interests are still paramount to any interests of your own (like being able to teach till your reach the regular pensioning age in good health).
I think this should change and I’m not alone with it. Marie Delaney seems to support me in this. She wrote the book Teaching the Unteachable and right in the first chapter states that being a good teacher (and that includes being a good teacher for pupils that others believe to be unteachable) strongly relates to your feelings as well as emotional and physical state.
Now, can we develop a balanced emotional and physical state while we are neglecting ourselves? I don’t think so!
But this is exactly how our fresh teachers are prepared in the teacher-trainings. They produce burnout candidates and not teachers.
This has to change on both levels. If we as individual teachers are able to keep our emnotinal and physical state in a balance, we will be able to focus our attention on our students’ needs and making them top priority without burning out.
In teacher-trainings the ways to do this should be taught to give trainee teachers the chance to enter the job and flourish in it. Far too many colleagues have entered and withered on the job.
Disclaimer:
Of course I do not think that German teachers aren’t well prepared for their job. They are! At the same time I firmly hold the belief that teacher-trainings do their best to prepare trainee teachers.
However, I strongly believe that a session on finding your balance should be mandatory. In the long run all we educators will benefit from this.
