Beat Burnout & Boost Retention: Can AI keep teachers from leaving the classroom?
Written by Quizizz
Why educators and tech coaches are advocating for AI to help address teacher turnover.
“Hey Siri, solve the national teacher turnover problem.”
If only it were that easy.
But wait, what if we’re onto something here?
With 72.4 percent of Australian educators planning their early departure from the field according to Monash University research, the time to tackle the education burnout crisis is far overdue.
If AI can help perform surgeries, build spaceships, and design office buildings, it’s valid for educators and ICT Integrators to advocate for its ability to keep teachers from leaving the classroom.
One Piece of the Burnout Puzzle: Educators need more time to teach
Although teacher burnout stems from a dozen different issues, a ton of the frustration comes from a lack of time to do the job, and do it well. Again, the Monash University data from 2022 tells us that less than 14% of Australian educators find their workloads manageable!
Based on the data, the top-ranking reason to stay (after ‘more pay’) was ‘spending less hours on non-teaching duties’—many of which tripled following the pandemic.
If burning the midnight oil is burning out our teachers, a fresh time-saving solution may be a necessity for the future of K-12 schools.
In with the New: AI makes more time for what matters
There is no cure-all for teacher burnout, but according to Julian Ridden, an Australian educator who now works with Quizizz, tools to increase workflow can be a start to increase job satisfaction.
“AI has already made life a lot easier for teachers who have chosen to engage with it,” Julian emphasises. “It enables them to take away some of the clerical tasks and minimise the time needed for resource creation and differentiation. It allows educators to put themselves back into the classroom, and the kids get a better teacher each day.”
Enriched with time and eager to innovate, Julain sees teachers who are using AI to bridge the equity gap, hit teaching outcomes easier, increase rigour, and mitigate learning loss.
AI can also be helpful with more productive lesson planning, personalised learning, and data analysis, reports Rachelle Dené Poth, high school Spanish teacher and AI PD presenter from Pennsylvania whose Edutopia article on AI has topped Google for time-saving AI teacher tips.
“AI tools can break down a very tedious task and give you more time back,” Poth claims. “Not just for your own efficiency, but more time for the teacher to spend with the students one-on-one or as a whole group.”
AI & Your Teachers: Will both be here for the long haul?
AI’s potential to battle teacher burnout may be debatable, but its time-saving benefits cannot be overlooked.
When Primary school teacher Shawn Reed’s planning period shrunk due to his school’s staffing shortages, he used AI to help create more engaging lessons, generate vocabulary lists, and give students timely feedback. He trimmed at least two hours from his workload each week.
“By focusing on teacher optimization and using AI to eliminate 50 percent of the mundane tasks from your job,” Reed said, “you can really transform what you're doing in the classroom.”
For some of the quickest and easiest ways to get your teachers started with AI, check out Quizizz.
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