Teachers are often described as the backbone of our education system. But what’s less visible is the emotional load they carry every day, and how that load is quietly shaping whether they stay or leave the profession.

The recent teacher strike in Victoria has brought this into sharper focus. The 35,000-strong strike saw educators walk out to demand improved pay and work conditions. While public conversations often focus on pay or workload, for many teachers it’s the emotional toll that is significant. 

The hidden cost of caring 

Teaching is deeply relational. Educators are often the first to notice when a student is struggling, and they play a critical role in providing support. 

Over time, however, this care can become costly.

Compassion fatigue arises when sustained exposure to others’ needs and distress leads to emotional exhaustion, burnout and secondary traumatic stress. In Australian classrooms, where student needs are increasingly complex, this is becoming more common. 

At the same time, teachers can experience compassion satisfaction through the fulfilment that comes from helping students succeed. These two forces sit in tension, shaping teachers’ professional quality of life.

Our research shows that what determines where teachers land on this spectrum is not just how much they care, but how they care.

Not all empathy is equal 

Empathy is often seen as an essential trait for good teaching – and it is. But our research with Australian teachers shows that different types of empathy can have very different effects:

• Cognitive empathy: Understanding a student’s perspective was linked to higher job satisfaction and lower burnout. 
• Affective empathy: Emotionally absorbing students’ distress was linked to higher burnout and secondary traumatic stress. 

Teachers who feel with students too intensely may be more vulnerable to compassion fatigue, while those who can understand without absorbing may be better-protected. 

This doesn’t mean teachers should care less. It means that how emotional connection is managed matters.

How teachers cope makes a difference 

Our research shows that problem-focused coping, such as seeking support or identifying solutions, is associated with lower fatigue and higher satisfaction, while avoidant coping predicts higher stress and burnout. 

Compassion fatigue is shaped by patterns of coping alongside sustained exposure to emotional demands, as well as the availability of supports that enable teachers to respond to these conditions.

Why this matters for teacher retention

Australia is already facing significant teacher attrition, with many educators leaving within the first few years of practice.

When teachers feel emotionally overwhelmed, unsupported or ineffective, the risk of burnout increases. The recent strike signals that these pressures are widespread enough to mobilise collective action. Pay and conditions matter, but they’re also proxies for something deeper – whether teachers feel valued, supported and able to sustain the emotional demands of their role. 

When teachers experience compassion satisfaction, which stems from feeling effective in their work, supported by their environments and able to make a meaningful difference in students’ lives, they’re more likely to stay in the profession. 

What needs to change? 

If we want to retain teachers, we need to move beyond a narrow focus on individual resilience. What’s needed is system-level change.

This includes:

• Recognising emotional labour as a core part of teaching rather than an invisible expectation.

• Developing “safe empathy” through professional learning that supports both understanding and emotional boundaries.

• Strengthening organisational conditions, including leadership, school culture, workload, and policy settings.

The wave of teacher strikes across Australia makes clear that wellbeing cannot be separated from these structural conditions.

Emerging initiatives such as The CompassionED Lab reflect this shift. Rather than positioning wellbeing as an individual responsibility, this work focuses on redesigning the systems that shape educators’ professional lives.

If we want teachers to stay, we need to move beyond surface-level solutions and address the conditions that underpin their work.

Contact us at thecompassionedlab@monash.edu to discuss opportunities for potential collaborations and partnerships.