Avoiding Burnout in Community College Technical Educators - Term Paper Example

The faculty members in community colleges are usually masters-degree holders, middle-aged, experienced, and belong to national professional associations though they may not have published their own works. Since community college educators teach at least five sections every semester, they feel over-extended and stressed in the fulfillment of their professional responsibilities. The number of students particularly in basic subjects is more than a normal class size, and the instructors frequently have very little preparation time to conduct a class effectively.

In most community college campuses there is “a feeling of burnout and fatigue among the institutional staff, and a loss of vitality that weakens the quality of teaching” (Miller et al, 2000, p.23). Additionally, community college instructors, especially those who teach career and technical courses, frequently lack fiscal support essentially required to remain abreast of their dynamic professions. Moreover, many educators feel out of touch and alienated from their professional colleagues in the same fields.

The intellectual environment in their institutions has been rated by most teachers as fair or poor. This factor leads to low effectiveness of teaching, and loss of potential for achieving excellence. Due to these reasons, some two-year colleges are implementing faculty evaluation and developmental programs. However, there appears to be very little improvement in the general conditions in most community colleges. Further, it would be necessary for administrators to offer a hope of improved classroom teaching environment to educators, in order to improve teaching effectiveness, before evaluating teachers who may be frustrated in their attempts at successful teaching processes.