Date

5-2024

Document Type

Capstone Project (Open Access)

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

Department

Human Development & Family Science

Abstract

The focal topic of my capstone project is special education teacher burnout and how self-care techniques can reduce the likelihood of chronic stress and burnout. The challenges of being a special education teacher include but are not limited to, various disabilities and behaviors, lack of classroom and administration support, and overall management. Research conducted by Emery and Vandenberg (2010) stated that special education teachers often experience burnout, which commonly leads to employee attrition. Burnout and the personal stress that comes with it are the biggest contributors to the shortage of qualified special educators throughout the United States. Their challenges involve the overall classroom size, various disabilities, lack of management skills, and overall support from administration, parents, and other teachers. This presents a need for self-care strategies and various services that help special education teachers deal with burnout and stress. To address this issue, I will present a workshop that teaches special education teachers various self-care strategies aimed at reducing job burnout. This one-time workshop will be presented to a group of six special education teachers who work at a nonpublic, individualized educational school; Brite Horizons in Scotts Valley, California. The children at this school have various disabilities. These students have often been expelled from public school due to the SPED programs not being able to handle their behaviors. In my workshop, I will first address why special educators experience burnout. Second, I will analyze the negative effects that special educator burnout has on the school, the children, and the teachers themselves. Third, I will discuss different self-care techniques that aim to decrease job burnout.

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