There's something dark happening with our nation's teachers.

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Gold Coast high school teacher Sally* has a tally on the noticeboard above her desk. It reads: 'Days since I've cried about work'. 

"It started as a joke with my colleagues, but in truth I've averaged at least one big cry per week this term alone," she said.

"Don't get me wrong — I love face-to-face relational teaching with my students, but it's the never-ending to-do list that just keeps having more urgent things piled on top with no sign of finishing that gets me exhausted."

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Sally is one of a growing number of teachers facing significant burnout due to the convergence of staff shortages, increasing behavioural management demands in classrooms and an 'always on' expectation from schools.

In a recent post in a Facebook group, another teacher begged for suggestions on other career options she could pursue. 

She described feeling "broken" and "dead inside", having been a high school teacher for over a decade. She went on to explain that every Friday she is left in tears from sensory overload and the feeling of burnout.

She spoke about the guilt that consumed her about not being able to be present for her own children because she has been "giving everything" to her students. 

Comment after comment from other teachers echoed the same sentiment: "me too."

"I could have written this myself," wrote one teacher.

"Word for word," responded another.

"The system is broken," commented a third. 

Something dark is going on with our nation's teachers. 

A 2022 report found that 35 per cent of the Australian teacher workforce intended to leave the profession before retirement. This is a notable increase from 26 per cent in 2019. Only 31 per cent of teachers planned to remain until retirement.

A 2023 survey by the Black Dog Institute found alarming statistics on teachers' mental health. 70 per cent of teachers reported having unmanageable workloads, 59.7 per cent reported feeling stressed, compared to 11.4 per cent of the general population.

Over half of the respondents reported moderate to severe symptoms of depression, compared to 12.1 per cent in the general population, while 46.2 per cent reported moderate to severe anxiety symptoms, compared with 9 per cent in the general population.

On Wednesday, 50,000 school leaders and teachers took a stand, striking without pay to demand better conditions to combat what has become an epidemic of teacher burnout. 

Queensland Teacher's Union President Cresta Richardson said, despite months of promising meetings, the government has chosen to make an offer that will place members at the bottom end of the Australian pay scale in three years.

"We can't let more teachers and school leaders walk out the door. We have to attract and retain our educators. Today is a day to remind everyone how important our state schools are," said Ms Richardson.

"Our members have voted unanimously to send this government a clear message. We are united and dedicated to turning around the exodus of burned-out teachers and school leaders from our schools. Our students and school communities need the government to do its job."

"Our issues are really statewide, rural and remote and in the city — chronic shortages of teachers, increased workload as a result, soaring occupational violence, and serious issues that require statewide attention," she continues.

The strike comes weeks after the nation's The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results were revealed, showing that one-third of Australian students still aren't meeting literacy and numeracy expectations. 

An unsustainable system damaging teachers' well-being 

"I chose this career because I love kids," reflected Sally, "but also because I wanted the opportunity to spend as much time as possible with my own children as they grow up. Instead, my job has me feeling short and empty when I get home, with little in the tank to give to my family."

Sally says the increase in expectations for out-of-hours work has been incremental and workload creep is a common complaint among her colleagues.

"I spend all day pouring energy into my students, and then I come home and barely have enough patience or energy for my kids," she explained.

"Then I put them to bed, then pick up the work to-do list again. It used to be that the expectation to work long into the night outside of work hours was only during marking season. Then it increased to a couple of nights a week, and now it is every night that I am doing extra work at home until late."

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"If I didn't put in those hours, I'd be seen as not pulling my weight. But that doesn't make it normal," she continued. 

In a world where an increasing number of complex and varied behavioural needs demand huge amounts of teacher focus within classrooms, and where, as a result of these needs, parents are more engaged with teachers in discussions about individual children, the workload has become unsustainable, says Sally. 

"Nothing makes me more mad than when people say 'yeah, but you get paid holidays.' Yeah, alright … but I work over those holidays too," she said.

"If I was to work out how much my per-hour rate was, let's just say I'd very quickly take my cry-count tally back to zero days."

*Names have been changed to protect identities.

Feature Image: Getty