In recent conversations with colleagues, we have been talking about how tired we all are after a year of pandemic teaching. Not just physically tired, but really struggling to stay motivated to keep going. This semester has particularly felt like a hard slog. Over the past year, the increased workload has been one issue we have all faced. Moving to online teaching for those of us new to this mode has taken more time and effort than ‘just’ delivering the same course as last year. The past year has been a steep learning curve as we get to grips with new technology and new ways of communicating. But this steep learning curve, and shifting to online – that happened months ago. Why are we still feeling the struggle now? Surely we should all have got to grips with the technology and the new teaching methods by now?
There is of course still much to learn, and our workloads are likely still impacted by the pandemic in many different ways. However, I think there is more going on here than just needing to put more hours in to get the work done. A colleague pointed out how it takes so much more energy to stay engaged and enthusiasic when teaching online where the direct feedback and input from the audience is missing or reduced. Whether you are creating recorded lectures, or delivering live sessions to blank screens, the lack of audience feedback makes the performative aspects of teaching really challenging. This got me thinking – and looking for papers to read – to try to understand more about the emotional aspects of teaching and how the pandemic has impacted those aspects.
In my search came across a recent paper by Myyry et al (2020) which discusses both positive and negative emotions associated with feedback practice. They show how workload, lack of community, and lack of student engagement was associated with frustration; while concerns over student demands or heavy workloads increased teachers’ sense of anxiety. I’m sure we can all recognise some of these aspects in what we are currently experiencing, with frustrations around student demands or lack of engagement being a focus of many conversations these days. The authors also highligh positive emotions; in particular how the opportunity to improve teaching methods are a source of pride and addressing individual student needs an expression of compassion. I wonder whether part of what we are struggling with now is that much of what would normally be a source of positive emotions, and motivation, has become additional sources of stress and anxiety? Compassion for students can be a great motivator for engagement and pride in our work, but when we are faced with increasing numbers of students who are struggling or increasing demands for adjustment perhaps our compassion becomse a source of stress or guilt instead? And if adapting and improving our teaching practices would normally be a source of pride and job satisfaction, what happens when all that hard work is thrown out the window and we are having to start the design from scratch in a new format we are totally unfamiliar with and have little control over? To me it seems that the sources of negative emotions are dominating, and that many of the sources of positive emotions in teaching have also taken a negative turn. No wonder we are all emotionally drained and struggling for motivation – classic signs of burnout!
Exploring this relationship between burnout and motivation, Maricuțoiu & Sulea (2019) suggest that self-efficacy is a personal resouce to draw on in times of stress or challenge which potentially counteracts burnout or drop in engagement. But what if our self-efficacy stores have run dry? If we are pushed too far outside our comfort zone, do we have enough self-efficacy reserves to deal with the new challenge? Although Maricuțoiu & Sulea (2019) are focused on student engagement and self-efficacy, I suspect this relationship migth also hold for teachers. High levels of stress and uncertainty, such as teaching in a pandemic, might mean that we run out of self-efficacy reserves much quicker; that might be why we are struggling with burnout now?
In one of our many conversations over the past year, a colleague asked a really good question: what sustains you as teacher? This prompted some really interesting reflections on the emotional side of teaching, of what replenishes our self-efficacy reserves, and of what motivates us to keep going. A sense of compassion and an emotional connection with our students was certainly high on the list for many of us. This emotional connection was seemingly lost without the body language and live interaction with our students which is very difficult to replicate online. I suspect this might explain our sense of exhaustion and fatigue just as much as the excessive workload. But what do you think? What are your thoughts on emotions and energy in teaching? I’d love to hear your thoughts, and your recommendations for what I should be reading next!
References
Maricuțoiu & Sulea (2019) Evolution of self-efficacy, student engagement and student burnout during a semester. A multilevel structural equation modeling approach. Learning and Individual Differences, 76, doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2019.101785
Myyry et al. (2020) Experienced academics’ emotions related to assessment. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 45, 1-13, doi: 10.1080/02602938.2019.1601158
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