Teachers with high burnout probability generally fall into one of the following four categories.

Please Like Me

The teachers depend upon student approval and are often willing to ignore misbehavior to continue to feel liked. They apologetically set limits and rarely follow through with consequences when rules are broken. Such teachers prefer to give themselves headaches, back pains, and other forms of physical tension rather than feel guilty for acting "mean" to their students. Disruptive students see these teachers as weak and ineffective and take control of the classroom because the teachers are at their mercy.

Muscle Flexer

Muscle flexers adopt the attitude, "I don't care if they like me or not, but they'd better do as I want or else." They often resort to power-based methods, including open confrontation, that invite resistance, retaliation, and rebellion. These teachers are quick to write referrals and inevitably feel that the administration is too soft. Unless these teachers have a warm and caring support system outside of school, they are likely to receive so few positive strokes on the job that loss of enthusiasm and early burnout result.

Guilt Giver

The attitude of the guilt giver is, "Can't you see how miserable I feel when you misbehave - I wish you would stop," or "Look at all I'm doing for you, and look at how ungrateful you are!" These teachers lack self-confidence and resort to whining and complaining with hopes that students will come to their senses. Such teachers are personally hurt and angry when students misbehave, but they are unable to express this anger. And so limits are set through an appeal to guilt of students, which is thoroughly ineffective with students who feel no guilt. These teachers are often seen with clenched jaws and fists accompanied by a soft, submissive tone of voice. The students hear the message that they have the power to make the teacher angry, and the worst consequence will be complaining and whining. Such teachers are likely to have numerous interpersonal difficulties because of blocked feelings, which lead to high levels of stress and burnout.

Marine Sergeant

This is the tough and fair approach. "Everybody gets treated the same way here, and there are no exception to the rule," is the prevailing attitude. Because of the rigidity inherent in this approach, pride often gets in the teacher's way of dealing with tough-to-reach students who read rigidity as an invitation to act out. these teachers are likely to be victims of fear and anxiety when disruptive students succeed at threatening their control.

Summary

It is our contention that these teacher types represent the most likely candidates for early burnout. They respond to misbehavior ineffectively, which leads to continuation or regression of the student's behavior. Faced with not knowing what to do, the teacher either holds in the tension or yields to explosive outbursts. If pattern continues, teacher burnout occurs.