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Burning out and and bouncing back
Local teacher's book examines classroom stress
by John Gessner
For Mary McGrath, the realization came in 1988.
Nearing her 10th year of teaching emotionally behaviorally disturbed students in Bloomington, she was being nudged by an administrator toward a less stressful assignment.
Off the job, McGrath was preparing her oral dissertation for a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. And, she'd just gotten married.
"I knew because I was very, very tired," the Burnsville resident says now. "I knew because things got big. The work got too big. The kids were the kind of kids that would throw a chair or swear, be really out of control physically or verbally. I got to the point where I knew I couldn't be subjected to that eight hours a day."
Teacher burnout. And McGrath knew it.
"I made a decision to take care of myself," she said.
McGrath left school mid-year and didn't return until fall, making time to finish her degree and rearrange her thoughts.
Now she's finished a book on teacher stress. Teachers Today: A Guide to Surviving Creatively will be released in September by Corwin Press, a California publisher of books for educators.
Academically, McGrath was well-prepared for the assignment, having earned her Ph.D. in the novel study of burnout among EBD teachers.
But the book is based more on her own experience and those of teachers she's observed since joining the profession in 1969.
"It's not a heavy academic thing," McGrath said. "Before I wrote this I looked at what was on the market. There were worthy works, full of all kinds of references and studies. But if someone is in the classroom, they want something that's very clean, helpful and befriending."
The book opens with anecdotal and technical definitions of teacher stress and a checklist of symptoms.
"It's everywhere, and that is the point," McGrath said. "It used to be that maybe you could go get a job in a very, very small town in North Dakota and you'd have a nice deal. But culture is just different. There are no little corners you can go into."
The book continues with a menu of "self-care" options, from improving one's diet to leaving the profession. McGrath also offers advice on where to seek support - which isn't always easy for those in the "helping professions," she said.
"The challenge is to realize that you also have to address your own situation," McGrath said. "You can look at somebody and see that this teacher is struggling. You know the administrator probably knows. They keep struggling and struggling and struggling. Who's there to help the teacher get past that?"
McGrath also examines personal fulfillment off the job and closes with tips for bringing fresh perspectives to the classroom.
"Stress management is only about half" the book, she said. "Then it goes into thriving. It isn't just surviving."
McGrath said she was "not quite ready, but sort of ready" when she returned from her leave of absence to a new assignment at Ridgeview Elementary School.
"Part of the healing is being there again," she said. "There's a certain amount of what you'd call rest, but there's a point where re-entry is the medicine...That teacher part of me needed to be recognized again."
Used with permission of John Gessner. Permission granted to download as long as newspaper is properly credited as the source of the article.
From Burnsville ThisWeek, July 23, 1996, Vol. 16, No.21
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