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Demoralized: Why Teachers Leave the Profession They Love and How They Can Stay
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.
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.
224 pages, Paperback
Published February 27, 2018
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306 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 9, 2019
I paid a bunch of money for this book because as a 5th year NYC public middle school teacher, I was starting to feel overwhelmed and drained in a way that didn't feel like "burnout." I love teaching. I was inspired to become a teacher because I had amazing teachers growing up who helped me grow not only as a learner, but as a person. Before becoming a teacher, I spent four years working as a teaching assistant in another NYC public elementary school. I hold a couple of leadership roles in my current school, and I thought this book might help me deal with my own feelings of being demoralized, and perhaps provide some advice on how to avoid demoralizing others in the profession. Although I found a few pieces here and there relatable and helpful (ex: the lists at the end of each chapter), I was overall a bit disappointed, and in some places very concerned by the voices elevated in this book.
Don't get me wrong - I have a lot of respect for experienced teachers. I do not mean to come off as knowing more, or being better than, any individual represented in this book. I am opposed to the insane amount of standardized testing students are put through (I don't think standardized tests should exist at all for elementary level students). I did, however, read parts of this book as venting sessions for teachers who have been in the game a long time and are resistant to new ideas (even ones that may ultimately be helpful). This book tried REALLY hard to avoid this interpretation, and yet I couldn't help but see it in this way. So many of the teachers represented felt "demoralized" because they were being told to use assessments and data in their classrooms. In some cases, teachers felt they were testing more than necessary, but others seemed to take issue with the concept of assessment as a whole. The one statement that resonated with me is this one, from a teacher of 16 years (who had a career in business before becoming a teacher):
"Patty's very excited about the depth that she can go into subjects on account of the Common Core. She appreciates the kind of feedback that she receives from the computer-based assessments. 'They're making me a better teacher, it's helped me identify [student needs] better. You have to enter all that data in, so it's a lot of work, but it's very valuable.' She is not sure that all of the scanning she needs to complete in order to submit artifacts for her teacher evaluations is making her a better teacher, however. Patty has yet to see the value in entering all the data for RTI plans and biweekly assessments into the computer, but she believes the targeted instruction helps the students, so she is happy to do it."
Another thing I struggled with is the book's repetition...I get it, being demoralized is different from burning out.
Finally, there is one teacher voice in this book that stands out to me as being particularly problematic. Now, I do not mean to lump all of the teachers together because of this one voice. However, I think choosing to highlight this particular concept without being extremely critical of what's been said taints the rest of the book. If this is the person chosen to be given a platform to speak (seemingly without pushback), how can I trust the rest of the voices selected? The section begins by describing this particular school as being in "an elite suburb of a major city in the Mid-Atlantic...It is easy for Monica to provide a list of the district's privileges, for students and for teachers... However, the district has also been challenged to ensure equity for all students, having been scrutinized as a result of a lawsuit in which families of lower-income black students alleged discrimination in accessing all educational programs." Red flags are popping up for me as I read this, and I'm thinking the teacher may go on to list issues of discrimination she saw in the school. However, the section continues:
Where the program teachers once were able to select interested students, that discretion was removed in the interest of racial and socioeconomic equity. Monica worried that not being able to be selective in enrollment could lead to students who were less invested in the program."
Monica is identified in the book as a white teacher. When I read this, I am hearing the voice of someone who, best case scenario, has not thought critically about her own white privilege. Worried about weeding out kids who are "less invested"???? All kids want to do well. All kids deserve the chance to participate in honors programs. If this teacher feels some kids are "less invested," perhaps she should consider WHY some students, specifically black low-income students, might be less enthusiastic about being in the program. I would be willing to bet issues of feeling excluded, stereotyped, and flat out racist acts contribute to some students being "less invested." The school has already been called out via a lawsuit for being discriminatory, and here we have a teacher pushing back on initiatives taken to better support the school's black students.
It gets worse. The teacher goes on to discuss behavioral issues in one of her classes, specifically when she was called into her principal's office about an accusation that she had physically harmed a student. This student happened to be black, and she recalls this student having a number of behavioral issues in her classroom. She states:
"Oh my God! There was a time in class where I was so frustrated that he was refusing to pay attention and he was such a distraction to everyone else. I put my hand on his chin and I moved his head to be facing in the right direction."
Okay. I 100% understand being frustrated by behavioral issues, and I also understand that sometimes administration is not as supportive as we would like (Monica mentions that earlier in the year she had reached out to her principal about the "toxic" combination of students in her classroom and she received no help). I also admit that I have physically interacted with students when they are not giving their full attention to the assignment - I will often gently tap students on the shoulder to refocus their attention. HOWEVER, I ONLY do this with students I have positive relationships with. I would NEVER touch a student in ANY way (no matter how gently) if I did not have a good relationship with that kid. I would also never touch a student's FACE - even if it was gentle, even if I had a wonderful relationship with them. I can not imagine how disrespected I would feel if someone, especially someone I was not fond of, grabbed my face in an attempt to get me to comply to their rules. This action is totally inappropriate, and I have no sympathy for this teacher who felt "demoralized" because her principal called her out on this behavior. Was her intent to physically hurt a kid? I'm sure it wasn't. Was she in the wrong and deserving of some kind of reprimand? I would say so. I'm also sure there's more that could be said and unpacked about how this teacher seems resistant to racially inclusive initiatives and then highlights a major conflict in her career as being between herself and a black child. That wasn't explored at all in this book.
So, to conclude the longest GoodReads review I have ever written, I overall would not recommend this book. Although I admire the author's dedication to studying this subject (over ten years I believe?), the voices are a bit whiny, repetitive, and problematic. I did find the recommendations/actions steps at the end of each chapter to be useful, especially for chapter six (School Leaders), and I will continue to consider how feeling demoralized might come into play in my own career.
Don't get me wrong - I have a lot of respect for experienced teachers. I do not mean to come off as knowing more, or being better than, any individual represented in this book. I am opposed to the insane amount of standardized testing students are put through (I don't think standardized tests should exist at all for elementary level students). I did, however, read parts of this book as venting sessions for teachers who have been in the game a long time and are resistant to new ideas (even ones that may ultimately be helpful). This book tried REALLY hard to avoid this interpretation, and yet I couldn't help but see it in this way. So many of the teachers represented felt "demoralized" because they were being told to use assessments and data in their classrooms. In some cases, teachers felt they were testing more than necessary, but others seemed to take issue with the concept of assessment as a whole. The one statement that resonated with me is this one, from a teacher of 16 years (who had a career in business before becoming a teacher):
"Patty's very excited about the depth that she can go into subjects on account of the Common Core. She appreciates the kind of feedback that she receives from the computer-based assessments. 'They're making me a better teacher, it's helped me identify [student needs] better. You have to enter all that data in, so it's a lot of work, but it's very valuable.' She is not sure that all of the scanning she needs to complete in order to submit artifacts for her teacher evaluations is making her a better teacher, however. Patty has yet to see the value in entering all the data for RTI plans and biweekly assessments into the computer, but she believes the targeted instruction helps the students, so she is happy to do it."
Another thing I struggled with is the book's repetition...I get it, being demoralized is different from burning out.
Finally, there is one teacher voice in this book that stands out to me as being particularly problematic. Now, I do not mean to lump all of the teachers together because of this one voice. However, I think choosing to highlight this particular concept without being extremely critical of what's been said taints the rest of the book. If this is the person chosen to be given a platform to speak (seemingly without pushback), how can I trust the rest of the voices selected? The section begins by describing this particular school as being in "an elite suburb of a major city in the Mid-Atlantic...It is easy for Monica to provide a list of the district's privileges, for students and for teachers... However, the district has also been challenged to ensure equity for all students, having been scrutinized as a result of a lawsuit in which families of lower-income black students alleged discrimination in accessing all educational programs." Red flags are popping up for me as I read this, and I'm thinking the teacher may go on to list issues of discrimination she saw in the school. However, the section continues:
Where the program teachers once were able to select interested students, that discretion was removed in the interest of racial and socioeconomic equity. Monica worried that not being able to be selective in enrollment could lead to students who were less invested in the program."
Monica is identified in the book as a white teacher. When I read this, I am hearing the voice of someone who, best case scenario, has not thought critically about her own white privilege. Worried about weeding out kids who are "less invested"???? All kids want to do well. All kids deserve the chance to participate in honors programs. If this teacher feels some kids are "less invested," perhaps she should consider WHY some students, specifically black low-income students, might be less enthusiastic about being in the program. I would be willing to bet issues of feeling excluded, stereotyped, and flat out racist acts contribute to some students being "less invested." The school has already been called out via a lawsuit for being discriminatory, and here we have a teacher pushing back on initiatives taken to better support the school's black students.
It gets worse. The teacher goes on to discuss behavioral issues in one of her classes, specifically when she was called into her principal's office about an accusation that she had physically harmed a student. This student happened to be black, and she recalls this student having a number of behavioral issues in her classroom. She states:
"Oh my God! There was a time in class where I was so frustrated that he was refusing to pay attention and he was such a distraction to everyone else. I put my hand on his chin and I moved his head to be facing in the right direction."
Okay. I 100% understand being frustrated by behavioral issues, and I also understand that sometimes administration is not as supportive as we would like (Monica mentions that earlier in the year she had reached out to her principal about the "toxic" combination of students in her classroom and she received no help). I also admit that I have physically interacted with students when they are not giving their full attention to the assignment - I will often gently tap students on the shoulder to refocus their attention. HOWEVER, I ONLY do this with students I have positive relationships with. I would NEVER touch a student in ANY way (no matter how gently) if I did not have a good relationship with that kid. I would also never touch a student's FACE - even if it was gentle, even if I had a wonderful relationship with them. I can not imagine how disrespected I would feel if someone, especially someone I was not fond of, grabbed my face in an attempt to get me to comply to their rules. This action is totally inappropriate, and I have no sympathy for this teacher who felt "demoralized" because her principal called her out on this behavior. Was her intent to physically hurt a kid? I'm sure it wasn't. Was she in the wrong and deserving of some kind of reprimand? I would say so. I'm also sure there's more that could be said and unpacked about how this teacher seems resistant to racially inclusive initiatives and then highlights a major conflict in her career as being between herself and a black child. That wasn't explored at all in this book.
So, to conclude the longest GoodReads review I have ever written, I overall would not recommend this book. Although I admire the author's dedication to studying this subject (over ten years I believe?), the voices are a bit whiny, repetitive, and problematic. I did find the recommendations/actions steps at the end of each chapter to be useful, especially for chapter six (School Leaders), and I will continue to consider how feeling demoralized might come into play in my own career.
September 16, 2025
This qualitative research on teachers’ demoralization presents important perspectives directly from experienced teachers on why they are not individually burned out but systematically demoralized. I wish Santoro had provided more support from other sources for the many times she says “research proves that…,” but her own extensive quoting of the teacher interviews she conducted makes a powerful case. This book provides an important starting point for a discussion about how to improve teacher working conditions in order to create a better environment for student learning.
May 20, 2018
I am going to buy another copy for our assistant superintendent. I think she is the one administrative ally we have in our school right now who might read this and use the information to support the return of professionalism to our school.
August 1, 2018
Exceptional work by Santoro about demoralization within the teaching profession. Most chapters highlight real teacher stories and experiences. The book also provides tangible solutions for keeping teachers in their profession.
December 24, 2024
The information presented in this book is accurate when defining the difference between teacher burnout and demoralization. The voices presented in the book speak on so many levels that I relate to and concur. The book presents a case that should be read by all educational personnel to understand why teachers are leaving the profession. It’s both a systematic ploy and the refusal to admit that education today has put teachers in a lurch with no recognition or value of the human being and those the teacher is teaching. It’s all about the data.
What is most annoying about this book is that it’s repetitive. That’s because it’s a “research essay” in book form. Hence the four stars. I took a hiatus from reading this book because I became weary of the repetition. With four chapters left and Christmas break underway, and cleaning up half-started books, I am glad I took a few hours (and skimmed the repetition) to finish it. I didn’t arrive to this break bone-weariness and dead inside soul because of burnout. The problem doesn’t reside with me. The problem is a systematic failure that asks me to stop being a teacher and teach, rather I have to narrate and prove every move I make. I spend more time trying to prove that a 20 year veteran teacher is still capable of making a difference in students’ education by documenting every single “data point” rather than using that time for students to be creative thinkers. Also, for me to go home at a reasonable time and be a person. To finish this book (finally) is a reminder that I need to re-moralize by getting healthy in 2025. The system isn’t going to change. But I can.
What is most annoying about this book is that it’s repetitive. That’s because it’s a “research essay” in book form. Hence the four stars. I took a hiatus from reading this book because I became weary of the repetition. With four chapters left and Christmas break underway, and cleaning up half-started books, I am glad I took a few hours (and skimmed the repetition) to finish it. I didn’t arrive to this break bone-weariness and dead inside soul because of burnout. The problem doesn’t reside with me. The problem is a systematic failure that asks me to stop being a teacher and teach, rather I have to narrate and prove every move I make. I spend more time trying to prove that a 20 year veteran teacher is still capable of making a difference in students’ education by documenting every single “data point” rather than using that time for students to be creative thinkers. Also, for me to go home at a reasonable time and be a person. To finish this book (finally) is a reminder that I need to re-moralize by getting healthy in 2025. The system isn’t going to change. But I can.
April 30, 2020
I taught for nine years before switching to higher education with secondary education students.
Leaving the classroom felt like someone I loved had died but I was increasingly convinced I would never retire as a teacher.
This book is so profound I want to tell everyone who will stand still to read it. I feel like this author and researcher is the first academic voice to look at the experiences of SO MANY of us and explain what this is.
In my job I hear a lot of explanations for the teacher shortage and this is the only one that rings true. Experienced teachers cannot do their jobs well/morally and many leave. It is not personal burn out; it is conscientious objection to harm.
And these things can and should change which is the end message of this book. I sincerely hope that as many people as possible will read this book and take it to heart. This is a message we need to hear.
Leaving the classroom felt like someone I loved had died but I was increasingly convinced I would never retire as a teacher.
This book is so profound I want to tell everyone who will stand still to read it. I feel like this author and researcher is the first academic voice to look at the experiences of SO MANY of us and explain what this is.
In my job I hear a lot of explanations for the teacher shortage and this is the only one that rings true. Experienced teachers cannot do their jobs well/morally and many leave. It is not personal burn out; it is conscientious objection to harm.
And these things can and should change which is the end message of this book. I sincerely hope that as many people as possible will read this book and take it to heart. This is a message we need to hear.
May 11, 2023
3.5 stars
I thought this book was eye-opening and informative. Although the writing is repetitive and a little dry. And there is one teacher experience that is a little problematic, that others have commented on in their reviews. I appreciated learning the distinction of burnout and demoralization. It helped me to see the demoralizing actions of some in my own story and that although I was mostly burned out, there are things that I should have stood up and fought back on that I didn't. Knowing these things is really guiding me in the decisions I am making about my future in teaching.
I thought this book was eye-opening and informative. Although the writing is repetitive and a little dry. And there is one teacher experience that is a little problematic, that others have commented on in their reviews. I appreciated learning the distinction of burnout and demoralization. It helped me to see the demoralizing actions of some in my own story and that although I was mostly burned out, there are things that I should have stood up and fought back on that I didn't. Knowing these things is really guiding me in the decisions I am making about my future in teaching.
January 1, 2019
This book saved my teaching career. Finally, someone took the time to talk with teachers and shift the thinking on teacher burnout. Demoralization is NOT burnout and that is an important distinction. This book provides practical suggestions for how to cope with and combat demoralization. This is an important read for teachers AND administrators.
May 23, 2018
I liked this book in the sense that I felt less alone and justified for feeling the way I do. But the strongest chapters were the first and last. The writing detracted from the message in many places.
January 31, 2020
This was wonderful.
February 2, 2020
Wow! So informative. I appreciate this research so much and would recommend this book for anyone interested in the sustainability of the teaching career.
March 3, 2024
Really shifted my understanding of teacher attrition! Perspective shifting writing with powerful vignettes of teacher’s own ideas.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews