Preservice Teacher Burnout: Secondary Trauma and Self-Care Issues in Teacher Education.

This study examines preservice teacher coursework and interview data related to encountering student trauma, secondary trauma, and the role of self-care during clinical placement experiences. A thematic analysis of the data led to the identification of four main themes: the power of student stories, recognition of the many forms of trauma, preservice teacher burnout, and barriers to integrating self-care. Additionally, our analysis revealed the ways in which preservice teachers experienced secondary trauma as a consequence of forming relationships with students and listening to their stories. Some of the effects of this secondary trauma were mitigated by engaging in self-care, but those preservice teachers who felt they failed at supporting their personal wellness experienced burnout. More troubling, only one preservice teacher recognized self-care’s connection to trauma-informed teaching. Our findings reveal the importance of infusing content on trauma, secondary trauma, and self-care in teacher education coursework and the need to provide professional development on trauma-informed teaching for clinical placement school sites. Kyle Miller is an associate professor in the School of Teaching and Learning of the College of Education and Karen Flint-Stipp is an associate professor in the School of Social Work of the College of Arts and Sciences, both at Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois. Their email addresses are: kemille@ilstu.edu & ksstipp@ilstu.edu © 2019 by Caddo Gap Press Kyle Miller & Karen Flint-Stipp 29 Volume 28, Number 2, Fall 2019 Introduction Trauma is the experience of intense physical or psychological stress in response to one or more adverse event(s) or life circumstance(s) (SAMHSA, 2015). Such events or circumstances can affect an individual’s physical, emotional, social or spiritual well-being (Crosby, 2015). Disconcertingly, the past decade of research has shown that trauma is abundant, and especially prevalent in childhood (Alisic, 2012). Children who have experienced trauma are also K-12 students, and that trauma is carried with them into classrooms. Student trauma might include suffering through natural disasters, loss, abandonment, chronic poverty, fear, or abuse. Based on growing statistics, it is likely there are children in every classroom who have experienced some level of trauma (National Child Traumatic Stress Network [NCTSN], 2016), with disproportionately higher rates in low-income schools (Brunzell, Stokes, & Waters, 2016; Ford, Chapman, Connor, & Cruise, 2012). If we accept that trauma directly affects students’ lives and their abilities in the classroom, we can anticipate that it will have at least indirect effects on teachers (Fowler, 2015). Any teacher who cares for traumatized students is thus susceptible to the burdens of trauma. Admittedly, there are many positive benefits associated with caring for students, such as experiencing feelings of self-fulfillment, competence, and personal growth (Tehrani, 2007). But caring comes at a cost: the risk of secondary trauma (Bride, 2007; Figley, 1995). Identified in the 1990s within the field of counseling psychology, secondary trauma is a consequence of learning about a traumatic event and the duress associated with helping or wanting to help the traumatized individual (Tehrani, 2007). Examples of secondary trauma include learning about the death of a student’s caregiver, familial abuse, or food insecurity. As Fowler (2015) writes, “When children hurt, we the compassionate, competent adults in their lives hurt too—whether or not we are aware of the toll it takes on us” (p. 31). The ‘toll it takes,’ also recognized as secondary trauma, is a product of the teacher-student relationship that serves as the foundation to teaching (Crosby, 2015). Necessary for effective instruction, classroom management, and the promotion of student success (Kearns & Hart, 2017), the teacher-student relationship also carries underlying risks. Specifically, studies suggest that approximately 50% of helping professionals, including teachers, are at high risk of secondary trauma (NCTSN, 2016). Exposure to secondary trauma can lead to a number of physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual consequences, such as expecting the worst, avoiding friends or colleagues, diminished selfPreservice Teacher Burnout 30 Issues in Teacher Education care, difficulty sleeping, and feeling hopeless (Hydon, Wong, Langley, Stein, & Kataoka, 2015). These consequences compromise teachers’ personal health as well as the support they can provide to students in their classrooms (Alisic, 2012). Teachers respond to trauma almost every day in their classrooms (Tehrani, 2007), yet schools have historically placed mental health concerns in the hands of school counselors and social workers for students, without providing commensurate resources for teachers. This general tendency neglects to recognize that teachers are often the first outside of family members to learn about student trauma and feel its effects (Atkins & Rodger, 2016). Since few districts offer programs or supports to help teachers develop the skills needed to manage these complex emotions, rarely do preservice teachers (PSTs) observe or hone these skills in clinical placements (Osher et al., 2008; Sutton, 2007). In turn, little instruction is provided in teacher education programs related to secondary trauma and how PSTs can learn to utilize personal resources and self-care strategies to buffer against the associated stress (Mansfield, Beltman, Broadley, & Weatherby-Fell, 2016; Wolpow, Johnson, Hertel, & Kincaid, 2009). The purpose of this study, therefore, was to gain insights into PST experiences with student trauma, secondary trauma, and selfcare within an elementary education course and clinical experience in a Title I school. Secondary trauma and self-care are understudied at the preservice level, and this study aimed to deepen our understanding of what helps teachers stay resilient in the presence of trauma. Theoretical Perspective This article is founded on the theoretical concept of resiliency. We adopt Brunetti’s (2006) definition that teacher resilience is “a quality that enables teachers to maintain their commitment to teaching and their teaching practices despite challenging conditions and recurring setbacks” (p. 813). Our use of resiliency is based on a combination of personal qualities and environmental characteristics that help teachers thrive despite adversity. Focusing on the context of schools, teacher education programs include clinical experiences that can be especially stressful when PSTs face the realities of teaching (Gu & Day, 2007). An even greater degree of stress is associated with K-12 classrooms affected by trauma and the secondary traumatic stress related to caring for students who have faced adversity, especially when adverse experiences are cumulative (Mansfield et al., 2016; Maschi, 2006). We argue, therefore, that in order to cultivate resilient teachers, the place to start building resilience is in teacher education programs, before PSTs enter Kyle Miller & Karen Flint-Stipp 31 Volume 28, Number 2, Fall 2019 into full-time positions as classroom teachers. Supporting PST development of personal resources and strategies to manage the emotional and physical demands of teaching (Koller & Bertel, 2006), as well as how to recognize the impact of secondary trauma and mitigate some of its effects through self-care, can help promote teacher resilience (Jennings, Snowberg, Coccia, & Greenberg, 2011).