This study began as an attempt to integrate Fine
Arts into an Inner City classroom, and spontaneously
morphed into something much more powerful...the
daily battle to teach children who were being raised
in homes riddled with drugs, gang violence, death,
and often, imprisoned parents. Is it possible for
educators to teach in this environment, fighting a
neverending battle, without experiencing Burnout? Is
it possible that what the teachers in this study
experienced wasn''t Burnout at all, but something
much more
devastating to a teaching career?
This study reveals the new phenomenon of Teacher
Shutdown. Although closely related to Burnout, the
onset of the Shutdown Phenomenon is almost
immediate. The personal and sometimes painful
stories of five inner city teachers reveal their
greatest contributors of the stressors which led to
Shutdown: the lack of administrative support,
student violence, the lack of contact with other
teachers, and a lack of preparation to deal with
this ever changing population during their pre-
service teaching.
Arts into an Inner City classroom, and spontaneously
morphed into something much more powerful...the
daily battle to teach children who were being raised
in homes riddled with drugs, gang violence, death,
and often, imprisoned parents. Is it possible for
educators to teach in this environment, fighting a
neverending battle, without experiencing Burnout? Is
it possible that what the teachers in this study
experienced wasn''t Burnout at all, but something
much more
devastating to a teaching career?
This study reveals the new phenomenon of Teacher
Shutdown. Although closely related to Burnout, the
onset of the Shutdown Phenomenon is almost
immediate. The personal and sometimes painful
stories of five inner city teachers reveal their
greatest contributors of the stressors which led to
Shutdown: the lack of administrative support,
student violence, the lack of contact with other
teachers, and a lack of preparation to deal with
this ever changing population during their pre-
service teaching.