Creativity in the classroom reduces burnout and improves well-being

Key points:

Teacher burnout still permeates nearly every aspect of education

Teachers who integrated creativity into the curricula reported lower levels of burnout and stress for themselves and their students

See related article: This key strategy can help boost teacher well-being immediately

This article originally appeared on Adobe’s blog and is reposted here with permission.

Teacher burnout is, unfortunately, not a new phenomenon. Even 15 years ago, when I was teaching middle and high school, it was always a question of when (not if) my colleagues and I would reach burnout towards the end of the year. On a good year, with ideal conditions, some teachers would make it until around April. But, of course, we always looked out for teachers who showed signs of burnout as early as mid-year.

But since the global pandemic and its total disruption of the education system, burnout is no longer seasonal but an ever-present state for many teachers. And even with the return to in-person learning, we’re still seeing how deeply teacher burnout impacts every aspect of the classroom — from academic outcomes, to teacher and student well-being, to staffing shortages and educators leaving the profession.

But with a new school year starting this fall, how can this year be an improvement from the last? What can we learn from teachers who seemed to fare better last year so that educators and school leaders can deploy the right programs and strategies to increase teacher and student well-being and capacity?

Insights on burnout and well-being from K12 educators

To help us answer these questions, the Adobe for Education team partnered with Advanis to survey K-12 educators about their experience the past school year. We asked about their stress and burnout levels, the key causes, how their students are coping, and what personal or curricular activities most improved their well-being.*

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