Transforming Empathy-Based Stress to Compassion: Skillful Means to Preventing Teacher Burnout

Abstract

Objectives Teachers play a critical role in preparing our children and adolescents for a successful future. However, despite the large number of students impacted by trauma and adversity, teachers are often not well prepared to provide trauma-sensitive support. Furthermore, while working to support students exposed to trauma and adversity, teachers may experience empathy-based stress exacerbating already high levels of stress among them. This narrative review explores the issue of empathy-based stress within the context of the prosocial classroom model which proposes that teachers' social and emotional competence and well-being are key to their ability to create and maintain supportive learning environments critical to student academic and behavioral outcomes. Methods Recent findings in neuroscience and education research are applied to support teachers' development of these competencies. ResultsWe propose that shifting from empathy-based stress to compassionate responding may be one such competency to help teachers' respond effectively to their students' needs while protecting their own wellbeing. ConclusionWe review research that supports this proposition and explore implications for teacher professional learning, educational policy, and further research.

Psychometric Validation of the Adult Prosocialness Behavior Scale in a Professional Teaching Context

“…This agrees with the recommendations to evaluate the operationalization of the construct in a specific cultural, social, and professional framework [ 56 , 72 , 73 ], particularly one where prosociality becomes a relevant job skill [ 72 , 73 ] and—in the specific case of the context studied—authenticated by regulatory requirements [ 51 , 52 ]. Although possibly comparable in different degrees and forms of operationalization, the actions of helping [ 36 , 37 ], sharing [ 38 ], caring [ 39 , 40 , 41 ], and feeling empathy [ 32 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ] constitute expressions of prosociality in various teaching scenarios, and it is displayed on multiple levels [ 1 ]. One is the micro-intrapersonal, which refers to dispositions and tendencies; another is the meso-intrapersonal, concerning behaviors directed to a person or small groups [ 1 ].…”

“…In addition, it fosters cognitive activation [ 24 ], participation [ 25 ], autonomy [ 26 ], and academic self-efficacy [ 27 ]. On the other hand, its agency can induce collective efficacy to reduce aggression in school [ 7 , 28 , 29 ] and become a vigorous support for students who have suffered adversity [ 30 ], trauma [ 31 ], and addiction problems [ 32 ]. The benefit extends to the teachers themselves since greater prosociality in the classroom is positively associated with greater commitment [ 33 ] and job satisfaction [ 34 ] at a time when conditions of increased job stress pose short- and long-term threats to the supply of teachers [ 35 ].…”

“…At the same time, the dimension of empathy emerges, which is fundamental to prosociality since the person needs, first, to recognize and understand cognitively and emotionally what the other is feeling [ 32 ]. In this sense, empathy is a predictor of prosociality [ 7 ].…”