Resilience - The capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.
Teaching requires more emotional resilience than most other professions. Lacking resilience is a common thread that creates burnout and leaving the profession. Resilience is not something we are taught in school, but there are things that we can do to strengthen our resilience.
Don’t isolate yourself in your classroom. Get to know other teachers in your building and your students’ parents. Building relationships with your co-workers and parents can strengthen your resilience. Take care of yourself. If you’re worn out and not feeling well, you are more likely to isolate and avoid others.
What is your resilience level?
One of my favorite books for this Onward.. at a local university they utilized this text as part of their teacher preparation!
While I agree that teaching requires significant emotional resilience, and can be cultivated overtime…the statement "Lacking resilience is a common thread that creates burnout and leaving the profession" is overly simplistic. Burnout is a complex issue influenced by various factors, including systemic challenges, lack of support, and heavy workloads—not just a lack of personal resilience. Teachers shouldn’t be expected to simply withstand these challenges; rather, resilience should be directed toward the meaningful work we do with our students.
