As well as facilitators and guides of their students’ learning, teachers are also often a lifeline for young people facing social and emotional challenges.
Perhaps the starkest example of this was seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, when educators – already overwhelmed with the intense pressures of their job – were also managing a sharp rise in mental health issues among the young people they were teaching.
However, the commitment and resilience demonstrated by Australia’s teachers during this extraordinary once-in-a-century event has come at a big cost.
A 2023 survey of 1,612 Australian teachers by researchers from the University of Queensland investigated how ‘compassion fatigue’ – a condition which involves a reduced ability to empathise with others — can develop when people face ongoing emotional and psychological strain.
Glenys Oberg, a PhD candidate in education and trauma from The University of Queensland, led the study. She says Australian research has highlighted how compassion fatigue, burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) are significant factors pushing teachers out of the profession.
“These issues don’t just impact teachers they also affect students,” Oberg wrote in an article recently published in The Conversation. “When teachers are highly stressed, research shows students are more likely to behave poorly in the classroom and record lower academic performance.”
The study found a staggering 73.9% of respondents had moderate-to-high levels of burnout when compared to the general population, while 71.5% exhibited signs of STS.
“These results align with findings from other research. For example, a 2024 study on Victorian teachers reported similar rates,” Oberg noted.
“While additional research is needed to fully understand the scope of this problem in different types of schools and different locations, these findings suggest compassion fatigue and related issues are affecting a significant proportion of Australian teachers.”
‘Extreme and very real’
Teachers who had compassion fatigue, spoke about how their emotional state was deeply influenced by the emotional needs and behaviours of their students.
One teacher reported: “The students that I am caring for at the moment are a very hard cohort. My compassion fatigue is extreme and very real at the moment. I am exhausted.”
Another teacher noted how they could gauge how the day would go, based on the mood of their students.
“When they’re struggling, I find it hard to keep my own emotions in check,” they said.
One teacher explained the difficulty of managing student behaviour while dealing with emotional exhaustion, saying: “When behaviour blows up, which it does several times a day, I just don’t know if I have the energy to respond compassionately.”
‘It’s frustrating’
Teachers also described a tension between providing emotional support to students and needing to teach the required curriculum and meet administrative responsibilities.
“It’s frustrating knowing what the students need emotionally, but the curriculum and administrative demands don’t leave room for that kind of support,” one teacher said.
Oberg said this also reflects a broader issue for teachers.
“Teachers increasingly note how the pressure to constantly provide data about what they are doing limits their ability to focus on their students in general.”
‘Impossible to switch off’
Because of the intensity of the issues they encounter, teachers find it difficult to leave their work at work, Oberg said.
She recalled how one interviewee revealed: “The emotional load from school often follows me home. I find it hard to stop thinking about my students, even when I’m supposed to be relaxing.”
Some teachers also feel like they should not be relaxing (out-of-hours) when their students need help.
“It’s hard to focus on self-care when I know my students are struggling. I feel guilty taking time for myself when I should be helping them.”
What can be done to help
Oberg’s research found that supporting teachers who experience compassion fatigue requires a combination of trauma-informed training, mental health support, and systemic changes.
- Trauma-informed training: this can equip teachers with strategies to address trauma in their classrooms while also protecting their own mental health. Studies have shown trauma-informed approaches can improve teacher resilience and reduce burnout.
- Mental health support: teachers should have access to counselling services and peer networks where they can share their experiences and receive guidance. Programs like “reflective circles”, which offer structured opportunities to process emotional challenges have been shown to be particularly effective in reducing stress and improving wellbeing for teachers.
- Systemic changes: schools can reduce workloads, offer better administrative support and recognise the emotional labour involved in teaching. Research shows these changes help teachers manage their stress and enhance “compassion satisfaction”. This is the opposite of compassion fatigue and is the rewarding feeling of making a difference in students’ lives.
Oberg said that recognising and mitigating compassion fatigue is vital for preserving the resilience of educators.
“Understanding the toll of compassion fatigue and supporting teachers’ wellbeing ensures they can continue providing essential care and guidance to students.”
‘Education is no longer about literacy and numeracy’
Another recent study, conducted by Dr Adam Fraser and Dr John Molineux from Deakin University, revealed the significant toll of Secondary Traumatic Stress specifically on school staff, with over half experiencing depression and 37% contemplating leaving the profession.
The researchers found 16% of school staff often feel depressed and many documenting distressing experiences that threaten their professional and personal resilience. Unfortunately, such experiences are at crisis level in Australian schools.
A nationwide survey from the Australian Catholic University reveals more than 80% of Australian principals have experienced critical incidents in their schools, including violent security threats, mental health crises, suicide attempts and medical emergencies.
Meanwhile, Australia’s high school teachers are topping the charts in taking sick leave as stress and burnout hits record levels.
Dr Fraser said if the impact of STS on educators is to be alleviated, the first thing systems must do is “acknowledge that it is an actual problem and engage in the narrative.”
"Some systems did not want to engage in the discussion," Dr Fraser told The Educator. "Secondly, systems need to recognise that education has evolved dramatically; it is no longer simply about literacy and numeracy."
For many students, the school is the only stable and functional environment they ever interact with, Dr Fraser noted.
"We can no longer measure the success of a school by NAPLAN or HSC scores. For many schools, these numbers are not an accurate indication of their achievement," he said. "Also, second hand trauma combined with high workloads really drives burnout."
Dr Fraser said systems have to get serious about reducing workloads that take educators away from getting better student outcomes and have systems and processes that streamline workflow.
"Finally, support and encourage principals and staff to focus on practices that help them process and recover from secondary trauma, by giving them training that targets this very serious challenge."