News
Findings of a DCU CREATE study on teacher occupational wellbeing in Ireland indicates burnout is a significant issue across primary and second-level education sectors.
The initial findings of this important DCU CREATE study indicate that a significant proportion of teachers in Ireland are experiencing burnout. 86% of teachers who responded to this study reported moderate to high levels of Personal Burnout, while a similar figure (85%) reported experiencing moderate to high levels of Work-Related Burnout. Teachers were asked to record their self-rated mental health over the past year, 28% of respondents rated their mental health as poor or very poor. When asked if they received any training (pre-service or in-service) on managing their personal wellbeing and mental health 83% of participants indicated they had not. When asked to rate their own mental health, 17% of teachers who reported poor/very poor mental health also feel that this has negatively influenced their ability to engage in teaching and learning with pupils.
Survey results also indicate there are no strong strong correlations between burnout and age, gender, having a child/children or teaching experience. This implies that burnout levels may be influenced by other systemic and organisational factors, such as workload, parental expectations, organisational issues, challenges in working with pupils with special educational needs (SEN), and school expectations and school culture, rather than demographic or experience-related factors.
When asked if they are likely to remain in the profession longterm, 42% indicated they were ‘unlikely’ to stay as teachers. The first-of-its-kind research in Ireland was undertaken by Dr Sabrina Fitzsimons, Dr Pia O’Farrell and Professor Catherine Furlong in DCU’s Centre for Collaborative Research Across Teacher Education (DCU CREATE) with over 1000 teachers participating, making it the largest in-depth study of this topic in Ireland.
This ongoing DCU CREATE research aims to improve teacher wellbeing and retention, by identifying significant causal factors of burnout and poor mental health in teachers.
Dr Sabrina Fitzsimons (DCU CREATE Co-Director) said;
"The research demonstrates the need for a comprehensive policy response to teacher occupational wellbeing. We must take the poor wellbeing of teachers seriously and therefore there should be a coordinated approach to prioritise and address the structural factors contributing to teacher burnout. It is hoped that a shift in mentality from understanding burnout as an individual issue to a systemic issue will arise from the findings of this study.”
Dr Pia O’Farrell noted
“This Irish research is particularly relevant at this time given the persistent concern of teacher supply, policy churn and the evolving curriculum landscape of primary and post-primary education. The new primary curriculum, currently being rolled out, marks a significant shift in teaching and learning approaches. Simultaneously, changes to the Senior Cycle are set to begin implementation from September. These developments are occurring alongside the rapid integration of AI in education, which will significantly impact teachers’ approaches to teaching and assessment in the current Junior Cycle and the upcoming Senior Cycle reforms.”
Further to this, Professor Catherine Furlong (DCU CREATE Co-Director) said
“Teaching in Ireland has a long tradition of being a highly valued profession, a rewarding vocation, and that is evidenced by the continually high numbers entering teacher education courses around the country. However, as concerns about retaining teachers within the profession grow, these initial results highlight the urgent need to acknowledge and address the reality of the occupational wellbeing of teachers. The issues identified in this study demonstrate the impact of the on-going failure to address key systemic issues, such as under-resourcing, growing class size and pupil needs, alongside competing and conflicting demands.”
We look forward to sharing our executive report in September.
Extensive coverage of the study can be accessed below:
National Media - The Irish Times, The Irish Independent, Extra, The Irish Examiner, The Journal, The Mirror, Breaking News, Virgin Media News and regional media including The Dundalk Democrat, The Dublin People and Carlow Live.
It was also carried by local radio across the country, including Spin 103.8, Midlands 103 and Today FM News.
Dr Fitzimons also appeared on RTÉ’s Drivetime. Dr O’Farrell appeared on The Last Word on Today FM and Prof Furlong spoke to East Coast FM and Virgin Media’s Ireland AM.
May 2024
Dr Elaine McDonald and Dr Sabrina Fitzsimons of DCU CREATE shared their experience of Challenge Based Learning at the recent Teaching Enhancement Unit 'Sipping Point Session' (May, 2024)
Challenge-Based Learning within Initial Teacher Education (ITE)
Their talk focused on the pedagogical redesign of a final year Sociology of Education module from a traditional lecture format to a Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) approach.
"The module has a strong focus on inclusion. It examines issues such as the relationship between school and society, educational disadvantage, gender in education, working with parents, and interculturalism. Our aspiration for this module was to embrace significant change in our pedagogy in order to underscore the learners' pivotal role as 'change agents' (Chen, 2005).
In line with CBL approaches, the module includes input from expert stakeholders collaborating with us to design a series of authentic real-life school-based ‘Challenges’. Working in teams, the solution to the challenge is presented in poster and recorded presentation format and culminates in a CBL showcase event. Data on the module's effectiveness was gathered informally and formally through in-class discussions, online surveys, and reflections. In this talk, we look forward to sharing our experiences"
With many thanks to Clare Gormley and the Teaching Enhancement Unit for the opportunity to share our DCU CREATE CBL experience.