Danielle Bell had the job she was born to do. She taught high school English and journalism for two decades, most recently in Texas. Then, an unexpected and overwhelming case of burnout took its toll. She and her family moved to Colorado, where Bell is a doctoral student in the University of Northern Colorado's Educational Studies program. Her desire to understand what happened to her and her colleagues across the nation prompted her research on teacher burnout.

"I'm interested in finding strategies for educators to rebuild, rediscover and redevelop their resilience and find joy in the classroom again."

— Danielle Bell

"At 20 years of teaching, I hit the wall full force with burnout, and I couldn't do it anymore. It wasn't my students. Work had become emotionally exhausting. Many veteran teachers hit burnout when they have another 20 working years," Bell said. "I think of research as a jumping off point to action. I hope it opens conversations about how we can best support educators at every level of their careers."

She based two studies on veteran teachers. In one, she employed photo elicitation, a technique in which participants comment on images. A former colleague who had left the field (temporarily, it turned out) after her own case of burnout served as her study participant.

"She'd spent eight months traveling around the U.S. touring and photographing national parks. She selected photos of her experience as a solo camper living in her car. She spoke about how the photography and her experience impacted her mental and emotional health," Bell said.

In another study incorporating short, self-directed actions for processing stress, Bell delved into her burnout experience for an action research paper using a methodology that allowed her to change the scope, style and approach while investigating various interventions.

Bell anticipates graduating in 2026. Her online program includes summer sessions in Loveland, Colorado, allowing her cohort and faculty to meet in person. She works as a graduate assistant for Suzette Youngs, a professor of literary education at UNC's College of Education and Behavioral Sciences' School of Teacher Education. Along with Youngs, she examined the barriers children’s literature book displays can present to inclusivity and diversity. The two presented the research at the American Association for Teaching and Curriculum conference last Fall, and they recently submitted a related manuscript for publication.

"Book displays are not necessarily curated for people of different abilities, races, genders, etc. That was interesting and eye opening," Bell said.

Youngs invited Bell to present at the UNC Future Teacher Conference, which hosts high school and community college students interested in becoming teachers. "Thrive," Bell's presentation about surviving the first year of teaching, quickly became a participant favorite.

"Being Dr. Young's graduate assistant has been life altering for me as a scholar, student, writer and teacher. I've been feverishly taking notes. Her breadth of experience and willingness to share it has been amazing," Bell said.

Youngs described Bell's work as stellar. She said they have a give-and-take relationship and learn from each other.

"Danielle does everything to the nth degree. We have a massive teacher shortage across the nation, so her research is timely. Her absolute passion is working with and nurturing pre-service teachers. So, she's intent on not only preventing teacher burnout, but also in building up and scaffolding teachers as they're coming into the field," Youngs said.

For the past two years, Bell has worked simultaneously as an adjunct instructor of English at Arapahoe Community College and Community College of Denver. This fall, she's headed back to high school, where she'll resume teaching English.

"It is absolutely where I belong and where I feel the best about myself as an educator. I've missed it," she said.