Santoro, Doris A. Demoralized: Why Teachers Leave the Profession They Love and How They Can Stay (Cambridge: Harvard Education Press, 2018).

Santoro, Doris A. Demoralized: Why Teachers Leave the Profession They Love and How They Can Stay (Cambridge: Harvard Education Press, 2018).

Santoro, Doris A. Demoralized: Why Teachers Leave the Profession They Love and How They Can Stay (Cambridge: Harvard Education Press, 2018).

Demoralized 

The author draws upon interviews with beginning and experienced teachers to make a crucial distinction between “burnout” and “demoralization.”  When burnout is seen as the reason that teachers leave the profession too early, the problem is framed as a personal/individual failure. Demoralization, on the other hand, points to systemic obstacles that undermine the very purpose of education and teachers’ commitment to effective, ethical practice.  Excerpts from the interviews provide examples of teachers’ struggles to respond to policies and practices that compromise the moral center of  their teaching.  Santoro offers an insightful, multi-focused model for the “re-moralization” of teaching. This very readable book is highly recommended for all teachers regardless of where they are in their career.  For educational administers/leaders, this book should be required reading as they play a pivotal role in contributing to or buffering the forces that contribute to demoralization.