Demoralized: Why Teachers Leave the Profession They Love and How They
Can Stay offers a timely analysis of professional dissatisfaction that
challenges the common explanation of burnout. Featuring the voices of
educators, the book offers concrete lessons for practitioners, school
leaders, and policy makers on how to think more strategically to retain
experienced teachers and make a difference in the lives of students.
Based on ten years of research and interviews with practitioners across
the United States, the book theorizes the existence of a "moral center"
that can be pivotal in guiding teacher actions and expectations on the
job. Education philosopher Doris Santoro argues that demoralization
offers a more precise diagnosis that is born out of ongoing value
conflicts with pedagogical policies, reform mandates, and school
practices. Demoralized reveals that this condition is reversible when
educators are able to tap into authentic professional communities and
shows that individuals can help themselves.
Detailed stories from veteran educators are included to illustrate the
variety of contexts in which demoralization can occur. Based on these
insights, Santoro offers an array of recommendations and promising
strategies for how school leaders, union leaders, teacher groups, and
individual practitioners can enact and support "re-moralization" by
working to change the conditions leading to demoralization.
