Joniskis District Educational Institution Heads Association from Lithuania are preparing a multiplier event about Teacher Burnout on the 15th of December! .

Activities held at the end of the school year:

1. Methodological activities:

• International creativity workshop with Augstkalnes school students and teachers ‘The day of white tablecloth’;
• Seminar for teachers ‘ICT and digital tools usage in primary education’;
• Methodical day for primary classes of the district ‘Treasure hunt in Žagarė’;
• Seminar for teachers ‘Content of competence-based education’;
• Meetings of methodological groups for the 2023-2025 yr. educational plan

2. Sessions:

• Committee of child welfare meeting;
• Meeting of the teacher certification commission
• Meetings of the methodological council;
• Meetings of the teachers’ council.

3. Events:

Festivals:

• Celebration for graduates of the last bell;
• Children’s Protection Day at the Žagarė Cultural Center;
• Celebration of the school year-end. Certificates delivery for primary education achievement;
• Celebration of the school year-end for the 5th grade and II g. grade students. Celebration for II g. grade students of the last bell.

Events for citizenship public spirit:

• Courses of defence skills and citizenship for I g. grade students;
• A march on ‘Paths of Partisans’ was dedicated to the Day of Mourning and Hope. Relay race of St. Jacob road for young ambassadors of 2023.

Events for health promotion:

• The event ‘Move and Improve’ for children of the 1-4th grade was dedicated to family day with parents;
• Fiesta of wellness for 5-IIg. grade students.

Activities related to projects:

• Creative writing workshop for III – IV g. grade students were held during Fringe Festival;
• District event for preschool with SEN and 1st-grade students ‘Fairy Tale as a Guest’;
• A battle of wits called ‘Labyrinths of Nature’s Codes’ for 7- 8 grade students together with the directorate of the regional park;
• Meetings with future first-year students.

Camp

• 5-day recreational summer camp ‘Hello, Summer!’ for 1-4th grade students;

Educational events for the career

• Trip to the University of Klaipėda;
• Event VDU ŽŪA organized by Intellectual Academy Students;
• Lecture for graduates ‘General admission procedure and requirements for applicants of 2023’;
• Career education event ‘Jump into parents clogs’. During this event, a trip was organized to the fire station, the ambulance station, a meeting in Zokniai, etc.
• A day with Lithuanian army volunteers was dedicated to career possibilities. During this event, we participated in a military relay, got the opportunity to view soldiers’ equipment and taste military porridge.
• A project called Empowering Girls Eglė X of Žagarė gymnasium of Joniškis district.

“Saulė” basic school joins the global community of premature newborns, which celebrates World Premature Newborn Day every year on November 17. On this day, thousands of cities all over the world are lit up in purple color – this is how cities spread the language of support, understanding and hope to the families of premature babies living in them.

On November 6, the “Day of Pies”. The school smelled of cakes since early morning. Everyone who wanted bought, feasted and was served delicacies baked with love by the teachers, their parents and teachers. It was an opportunity not only to taste great delicacies, but also to share kindness. The money donated by the school community will be used to purchase equipment for students’ employment and relaxation.

We are happy with the abundance of cakes, the invention of bakers and the activity of tasters. Thank you all. We wish you as many sweet and warm moments as possible, colored with kindness.

Exams are one of the most important challenges and tests in life, and their results depend not only on preparation, but also on your psychological state, ability to control your emotions and feel good during exams. Stress is usually caused by doubting one’s own strength. Learning how to manage stress increases your self-confidence, as does your ability to overcome challenges more easily.

On October 17, psychologist Evaldas Karmaza met with Joniškis “Aušros” high school students, who reminded them how to distinguish real needs from short-term desires, and drew attention to the importance of daily routine and health-friendly nutrition. After all, sometimes the simplest measures help to focus, overcome excitement and stress. The lecture was interesting, motivating, inspiring to act and search. Thanks!

In Lithuania, as in the whole world, September is celebrated as Dyslexic Awareness Month.

“Saulė” school participates in this initiative and has become a dyslexia-friendly school !

Work significantly affects human life and health. Modernisation, along with advantages, also has disadvantages and its own price. It is accompanied by constantly growing stress in all spheres of life. Long-lasting and strong stress results in professional burnout, destroys working motivation and the sense of happiness and luck in life. In that case, the productivity and the quality of service decrease, which induces a great economic damage.

Today, our society and school are looking for the most effective means of implementing the ever-increasing changes in the education system. Special attention is paid to teacher’s profession and personality and specific requirements for the teacher. This causes permanent emotional tension that can lead to teachers’ burnout at work. The studies show that the employees, the essence and content of work of which are frequent and intensive contacts with other people (medical doctors, pedagogues, social workers, managers, etc.) experience strong psychical load, which eventually manifests in emotional distress, loss of interest in the activities, disruptions in communication and deteriorating physical state.

The work stress of a teacher is determined by the specific circumstances of this position and the corresponding workplace. A teacher’s working day usually does not end after leaving the school and the office. The burden of never-ending work and professional worries is inevitably carried by the teacher into the private environment, on days off and even on a teacher’s holyday. It is often much more difficult for a teacher than for representatives of many other professions to combine professional and family roles.

Burnout is a psychological term for the experience of long- term exhaustion and diminished interest. Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands.

Burn-out is included in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an occupational phenomenon. It is not classified as a medical condition.

It is described in the chapter: ‘Factors influencing health status or contact with health services’ – which includes reasons for which people contact health services but that are not classed as illnesses or health conditions.

Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life (WHO).

In a chart below, you can see the main differences between burnout and stress:

Supriya Jha (2012)

Burnout is a gradual process that occurs over an extended period of time. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it can creep up on you if you’re not paying attention to the warning signals. The signs and symptoms of burnout are subtle at first, but they get worse and worse as time goes on. Think of the early symptoms of burnout as warning signs or red flags that something is wrong that needs to be addressed. If workers pay attention to these early warning signs, they can prevent a major breakdown. If people ignore them, they eventually burn out.

Supriya Jha (2012)

The research disclosed that special education teachers more frequently experience emotional exhaustion. The research also demonstrated that self-oriented perfectionism correlates with all the scales of job burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment). A multivariate regression analysis showed that such variables as self-oriented perfectionism and age predict 60.3 percent of emotional exhaustion variation (Navaitienė; Danilovienė, 2017).

Even when teachers experiencing burnout stay on, students pay a price. Teachers overwhelmed by stress use less effective teacher strategies. This affects the clarity of their instruction and classroom management. It also results in less stimulating classroom environments. A study in the Journal of Educational Psychology found that teachers experiencing burnout at the beginning of the school year had notably worse classroom management by the spring than other teachers. Their classrooms also suffered from significant student disruptions.

Bubelienė, Merkys (2013) in their research names the further directions of relevant research. It focuses a discussion and recommendations: a) to develop focuses on educational environments in higher education, which would allow to form a hobby for future specialists, b) to develop the recreational infrastructure at universities and schools as in socially responsible organizations, c) to give the status of public value to teachers’ leisure organization and to support this activity.

Teachers who have a hobby and are regularly engaged in it have significantly less expressed symptoms of burnout than those who have no hobbies at all or do have but are little involved in it or are engaged in a hobby very rarely (Bubelienė, Merkys, 2013).

The act of teaching is giving opportunities, ideas, knowledge, and guidance to students. But teacher can’t do this effectively if they are running on empty. Teacher should take care of their needs, balance their life for optimum health, and regularly check in on their own mental wellness. That’s the best system for beating burnout—or avoiding it entirely!

Professional BURN OUT prevention
BIBLIOGRAPHY (Lithuania)
Literatūros sąrašas: (List of literature)
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ACTIVITIES OF TEACHERS AND STUDENTS OF MSP (MATAS SLANČIAUSKAS PROGYMNASIUM) AT THE END OF THE 2022-2023 SCHOOL YEAR

The elementary students (grades 1-4) of Joniškis M. Slančiauskas Progymnasium elementary students concluded the academic year with a traditional event called “Let’s Welcome the Morning Together.” This was the fifth anniversary of the event. The students aimed to achieve the prestigious Lithuanian children’s accomplishment of the “Most Decorated Tree with Model Birds” during this event. The 1-4 graders participated in workshops along with their teachers and created unique 2,245 bird decorations from modelling clay which later adorned a hazelnut tree growing in the schoolyard.

The students will dedicate this achievement to the upcoming 45th anniversary of their Progymnasium.

The students of senior classes ended the school year with the Sports Day and the “MSP Never Sleeps” camp. Fun competitions were organised in collaboration with partners such as “Aušra” Gymnasium, Joniškis Sports School, and the Joniškis Public Health Bureau during the Sports Day. The students had to participate in various activities that required accuracy, agility, teamwork, and cooperation and in this way, developed social, emotional, and healthy lifestyle competencies. There were no losers here – all classes were rewarded for their unity and support of the sporting atmosphere.

The 5th to 8th grade students of the Progymnasium welcomed the summer vacation at the “MSP Never Sleeps”camp. The campers had the opportunity to meet renowned hip-hop dancer J. Ašmonas, who talked to the children about moral values, healthy lifestyles, and taught them hip-hop dance steps. Later, the campers participated in fun relay races organised by local firefighters. As the evening progressed, the students enjoyed a variety of activities, education sessions, tasks, challenges, and tests that lasted throughout the night. There was no shortage of experiences: they tried out an original education program at the Joniškis History and Culture Museum with flashlights in the dark synagogue, conquered the night route created by MSP and Walk15 with tasks like “Go with MSP and come to MSP,” learned photography secrets, created watercolour paintings of a single flower blossom, familiarise themselves with self-defence basics, made mats from fabric strips, learned about the peculiarities of Venetian glass while creating beautiful jewellery, tasted and created edible bouquets, nurtured creativity by learning to play traditional instruments, using carving techniques, learned how to create a personal stamp or a suitable bookmark as a gift, explored the possibilities of scrapbooking. And, of course, they had a great time dancing at the disco and listening to songs performed by the campfire. After an active workout and breakfast in the morning, the students left for their summer adventures.

MSP.pptx

Joniškio r. pagrindinės mokyklos Gataučių M. Katiliūtės skyriaus 

LITHUANIA

End of the school year is always exciting both for pupils and teachers. It‘s full of different activities and experience outside the classroom. 

At the beginning of June all students of elemantary classes with their teachers visited the Curonian Spit. There were two educational activities in the Sea Museum: one group was getting knowledge about the penguins while the other group learned how to be safe being in the sea. Afterwards everybody went to the beach – it was a great impression for those seeing the Baltic sea for the first time. 

After a few days the 7th grade had a chance to visit Žemaitija region. The trip took 2 days and with the help of three teachers children had a full variety of activities: a tour in the Oginskis‘palace, interactive exposition of the national park, underground missile base in the forest of Plokštinė, and hike in the capital town of Žemaitija – Telšiai. 

Pupils of the 6th grade together with their teacher were exploring another region of Lithuania – Aukštaitija. Walking on foot, riding a bike, making food on the fire, swimming and enjoying miracles of nature – that was the plan to end the school year.