Teachers can’t pour from an empty cup: But what keeps emptying it?

By Afrah N. Khan, M.Ed. in Human Development, Learning, and Culture, UBC

We often talk about student well-being in schools. But far less attention is given to the well-being of the people responsible for supporting students: teachers. This gap reflects a deeper problem. Teacher well-being is still treated as an individual responsibility, when in reality it is shaped by the systems teachers work within. If we are serious about supporting students, teacher well-being must become a systemic priority, not a personal burden for teachers to manage alone.

Much of the current conversation assumes that supporting teachers means helping them cope better: through programs such as EASE (Everyday Anxiety Strategies for Educators) and MindUP for Educators, and mindfulness-based stress reduction, as well as broader mindfulness training, resilience workshops, and stress management strategies. These approaches are not unhelpful, but they are incomplete. They focus on how teachers respond to stress, rather than why that stress exists in the first place. (1)

A growing body of research shows that teacher well-being is closely tied to structural working conditions. For example, high workload, long working hours, and increasing job demands are consistently linked to stress, burnout, and reduced job satisfaction. (2,3)

In education, burnout, stress, and emotional exhaustion are often treated as the problems. But they are better understood as outcomes of deeper structural conditions: workload expectations, staffing shortages, limited time, and expanding responsibilities. (4,5) Programs targeting teacher wellness are often addressing symptoms, rather than causes.

This mismatch became especially visible during the COVID-19 pandemic. In my own experience as a teacher, much of our time and energy was directed toward supporting students, checking in on their well-being, adapting lessons, and creating a sense of stability in a period of uncertainty. At the same time, there was little structured space to acknowledge how teachers themselves were coping with the same disruptions. Research from multiple countries reflects a similar pattern: teachers reported significantly increased workloads, emotional strain, and blurred work–life boundaries during the pandemic, often without corresponding institutional support. (6,7) My experience was not unique; it was part of a broader pattern in which systems relied heavily on teachers’ emotional labour without adequately supporting it.

Teacher burnout will not be solved by asking individuals to cope better. It will be reduced when policy, school structures, and working conditions make the profession sustainable.

In response to rising concerns about burnout, many education systems have introduced well-being initiatives for teachers. While these initiatives can provide short-term relief, they largely operate at the level of the individual.

The consequences of this approach are becoming increasingly visible. Teacher burnout is not only a personal health issue but also a system-level risk. When burnout rises, schools lose stability, continuity, and experienced staff. In BC, the warning signs are already clear: in 2025, one in seven teachers reported that their mental health was poor or very poor, while 14% said they were unlikely to remain in teaching over the next two years. (8) This matters because turnover deepens staffing shortages, disrupts student continuity, and increases pressure on the teachers who remain. The burnout can weaken remaining teachers’ ability to build relationships, respond to student needs, and sustain their commitment to the profession over time. (9) Teacher well-being, then, is not separate from school improvement or student success. It is one of the conditions that makes both possible, which is why solutions must target the systems producing the strain, not just the individuals carrying it.

A systemic approach would focus on reducing workload pressures, improving staffing levels, and treating teacher well-being as essential to the functioning of schools. BC has already taken steps through its K–12 Workforce Plan and new mentorship initiatives. (10) But progress will depend on whether these commitments translate into better daily working conditions for teachers. England’s Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy (11) offers one example of how governments can approach teacher well-being as a structural responsibility. Inspired by that approach, the following priorities could help strengthen teacher well-being in BC:

• Clear limits on administrative overload, reporting demands, and implementation pressures. New funding tied to workload is promising, but there is still no consistent province-wide framework protecting teacher time.

• Eliminating unnecessary paperwork, duplicated reporting, and avoidable meetings so teachers can spend more time teaching and less time managing administrative tasks.

• At the early-career level, mentorship programs are a strong start, but every new teacher should have access to mentoring, release time, and practical support, not just those in certain districts.

• For professional growth, specialist career pathways would allow teachers to grow, lead, and be recognized without having to leave the classroom.

Teacher burnout will not be solved by asking individuals to cope better. It will be reduced when policy, school structures, and working conditions make the profession sustainable. That is the shift BC can lead now. Because teachers cannot be expected to pour from an empty cup, and no amount of individual training can compensate for a system that continues to drain them.

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1 Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl, “Social and Emotional Learning and Teachers,” The Future of Children, 27, No. 1, 2017, 137–55: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1145076.pdf

2 Einar M. Skaalvik and Sidsel Skaalvik, “Motivated for Teaching? Associations with School Goal Structure, Teacher Self-Efficacy, Job Satisfaction, and Emotional Exhaustion,” Teaching and Teacher Education, 67, 2017, 152–60: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0742051X16307855

3 OECD, TALIS 2018 Results (Volume II): Teachers and School Leaders as Valued Professionals, Paris, OECD, 2020: www.oecd.org/education/talis-2018-results-volume-ii-19cf08df-en.htm

4 Clare Bambra, Debbie Fox, and Alex Scott-Samuel, “Towards a Politics of Health,” Health Promotion International, 20, No. 2, 2005, 187–93: doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dah608

5 OECD, TALIS 2018 Results, Volume II

6 Lisa E. Kim and Kathryn Asbury, “Like a Rug Had Been Pulled from Under You: The Impact of COVID-19 on Teachers in England during the First Six Weeks of the UK Lockdown,” British Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, No. 4, 2020, 1062–1083: doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12381

7 UNESCO, Education in a Post-COVID World: Nine Ideas for Public Action, 2020: unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373717

8 BCTF, “2024–25 BCTF Membership Survey,” May 2025: bctf.ca/docs/default-source/for-news-and-stories/research-reports/2024-25membershipsurvey_final.pdf

9 Daniel J. Madigan and Lisa E. Kim, “Does Teacher Burnout Affect Students? A Systematic Review of Its Association with Academic Achievement and Student-Reported Outcomes,” International Journal of Educational Research, 105, 2021: Article 101714, doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101714

10 Province of British Columbia, “Strengthening and Supporting B.C.’s K–12 Workforce,” Ministry of Education and Child Care, last modified January 28, 2026: www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/administration/program-management/k-12-workforce-development/k-12-workforce-plan

11 Department for Education, Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, London, UK Government, 2019: www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-recruitment-and-retention-strategy