Tensions as a teacher
That opportunity came with a PhD vacancy at the Radboud Teachers Academy. A PhD not only aligns with his own interests, but also fits with a current issue: the teacher shortage. This problem is so acute that pupils sometimes only attend school four days a week, classrooms are overcrowded, and parents are forced to stand in front of the class. The shortage primarily affects pupils, but also teachers, who are under increasing pressure. Not only is the influx of new teachers stagnating, but the dropout rate is also too high. More than twenty percent of teachers suffer from burnout symptoms, which is significantly higher than in other sectors.
In his research, Ten Brink focuses on a specific type of tension: professional identity tensions. This occurs when you can no longer be the teacher you want to be. Ten Brink measures identity tensions among teachers using self-discrepancy theory. He explains what that means. “The teacher you want to be, based on your values, ideals, and character traits, describes the ideal self. But the school, pupils, and parents also have expectations of you: these form the teacher you should be, the ought self. Finally, there is the actual self, the teacher you are in practice. These three identities should not be too far apart.”
Identity tension comes in many forms. Teachers who become overworked, but also teachers who grow numb. “This is particularly evident among teachers who have been in education for a long time: they still turn up and teach their lessons, but they are no longer inspired.” Ten Brink is interested in the connection with “moral stress”, a specific type of tension that arises from the question ‘can I still do the right thing?’.
“Moral stress has been extensively researched among doctors and nurses, but hardly at all in education, even though teaching, like medicine and nursing, is a moral profession: you are constantly dealing with people who depend on you.” It is a deeper form of stress than ordinary work stress, which arises from administrative pressure or deadlines, among other things. “Moral stress affects the identity and authenticity of the teacher, for example when you feel so hampered by institutional requirements that you no longer get around to what really matters to you in education. If you feel that you cannot give your pupils the right attention, I think the tension is much more profound than when you feel pressure because you still have a lot of tests to mark. Moral stress can really keep you awake at night.”
The work is never done
To gain more insight into the pressure teachers experience, Ten Brink will follow 600 teachers for two years using questionnaires. In addition, Ten Brink will conduct interviews with teachers. And although that research has yet to begin, he already notices how great the need is for more knowledge about working under pressure in education. 'The willingness of teachers and headteachers, but also people in the education regions, to talk to me illustrates how seriously people take this problem.
Thanks to his experience as a teacher, Ten Brink knows the pressure that teaching can bring. “It's difficult to set boundaries for yourself. You want to be there for your students and answer their questions, but that often comes at the expense of your break time. That can make you feel like you're never doing enough.” It's a recurring feeling in Ten Brink's career. “Teacher, entrepreneur, researcher: these are all professions in which the work is never finished. In addition, I am not easily satisfied. At the end of the day, I often think, ‘I could have done more’. On the other hand, especially as an entrepreneur or researcher, you have a lot of freedom in your work.”
