Tired Teachers: Ten Tips for Dealing with Burnout
By Stefanie Reubell
“Lauren” has been teaching Sunday School for a while. When she first began teaching, she prayed for her students often, happily made time for them in her schedule, and felt passionate about her Bible curriculum. Today, she still cares about her students, but she finds that she prays for them as a group instead of listing their concerns by name, and she pushes her teaching preparation closer and closer to Sunday morning. When a student approached her after church last week to rehash boyfriend troubles, she found herself wishing she could just go home and take a nap. Sometimes she even dreams about sleeping in on Sunday mornings as some of her friends do.
Despite all her earlier zest for teaching, Lauren is suffering from burnout.
A teacher suffering from burnout might not exhibit all Lauren’s characteristics. Consider these symptoms of burnout:
- A formerly dynamic teacher might endure quietly but deliver flat, lifeless lessons.
- A previously long-suffering teacher might seem to lose patience easily with students.
- A formerly faithful teacher might cease helping in other areas around the church.
- A previously organized teacher might have trouble getting to class early or even on time.
- Other teachers will simply give up, turning in their resignation with a feeble excuse and fading into the background of the church.
The truth is, nearly any situation involving burnout can be prevented. Teachers, check out the tips below for avoiding burnout. Administrators, check out the tips below to refresh tired teachers.
Teachers: Avoid Burnout
1) Involve the students in your lessons.
2) Be open with your Administrator about your difficulty or lack of zeal—don’t be ashamed!
3) Find another teacher and make them your accountability partner. Remember to problem solve together rather than complain!
4) Consider team teaching so the responsibilities are shared.
5) Search online for new teaching ideas or helps for your lessons and classroom.
Administrators: Refresh Your Teachers
1) Meet with your teachers so they can share concerns or get advice. Each time you meet, pray with your teachers!
2) Share enjoyable activities with teachers. Give opportunities for teachers to pick out new materials and resources. Remember picking out new school supplies when you were in school? Teachers still enjoy doing that!
3) Allow teachers to switch age-levels or classrooms if they feel they would be more effective somewhere else. If there is already a teacher for those age-levels, make the new teacher a helper or team teacher.
4) Throughout the year, praise teachers for specific contributions. Talk up teachers to members of the church. The “positive gossip” will spread and promote the ministry of teachers in your church.
5) Attend a Sunday School Administrators Conference to get ideas on how to better administrate Sunday School.
