Teaching in the Age of Hustle Culture
Teaching, Society, and Shifting Expectations
Teaching has always trailed behind broader social and industrial trends. While sectors like business and healthcare often adapt quickly to innovation, education tends to shift slowly—bound by tradition, bureaucracy, and the political apparatus of change. Yet, despite the many common critiques, education has been undergoing a significant transformation in recent years, particularly around technology and pedagogy.
COVID-19 was a catalyst that exposed cracks in the educational system and simultaneously forced innovation. Remote learning, digital classrooms, and flexible delivery methods became the new normal almost overnight.
“The COVID-19 pandemic exposed long-standing inequities in education but also created a moment to rethink and redesign education for equity and deeper learning.”
— Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond, Learning Policy Institute (2021)
Educators found themselves navigating not just content delivery but also the social-emotional challenges their students were facing. The classroom became more than a place of learning; it became a space for healing, reconnection, and redefinition.
The Hustle Agenda
What is Hustle Culture?
Hustle Culture is defined as:
A mindset that glorifies working excessively and constantly striving for productivity and ambition, often at the expense of personal well-being. It’s a lifestyle that equates success with the amount of time and effort one puts into work, sometimes to the point of burnout and neglecting self-care.
This mentality, which began in entrepreneurial and corporate spaces, has steadily crept into education. Long before Covid, teachers were already expected to wear many hats—educator, counselor, tech specialist, curriculum developer—and then told they weren’t doing enough.
Edupreneurs and the Rise of the Professional Brand
Educational conferences, once intimate spaces of connection, have transformed into industry-style conferences where brands and networking are the primary focus. Where teachers once shared practical classroom strategies, today’s events often feature “edupreneurs” who market books, programs, and speaking packages.
The shift has commercialized professional development, moving the focus from collaboration to consumption. Check out any major conference and it will be as much about the brands and the products as it is about teaching and learning. The energy necessary to continuously evaluate products and processes has compounded the ever-growing demands of the classroom.
“Teachers are increasingly pressured to improve performance through constant innovation and productivity, leading to a workload intensification that mirrors the corporate world’s hustle culture.”
— Wilkins & Comber, Critical Studies in Education (2021)
The Data-Driven Hustle
What justifies all this additional work?
Data.
Teachers are constantly reminded of falling achievement scores, particularly in reading and math. Data walls, performance tracking, and endless cycles of analysis have become routine—even though the complexity of learning can’t be fully captured in spreadsheets.
- Reading scores – down
- Math scores – down
- Social-emotional wellbeing – increasingly fragile
- Mental health and trauma – on the rise
Each problem adds another layer of responsibility to the teacher’s workload. The solution? Work harder. Hustle more.
After Covid: A Tipping Point
Since 2020, schools have faced immense pressure from all sides. When students returned to in-person learning, the gaps weren’t just academic—they were emotional, behavioral, and psychological.
Teachers were expected to play multiple roles: remedial instructor, trauma-informed practitioner, tech specialist, and emotional support provider—all while returning to “business as usual” academic expectations.
“Teachers returning to in-person learning are not only managing curriculum recovery but also responding to heightened mental health and trauma-related needs—requiring training and support they often don’t have.”
— Hoffman & Miller, Journal of School Health (2022)
This isn’t just an individual issue—it’s a systemic one.
“Provincial policymakers are faced with an important dilemma. Namely, to develop a comprehensive vision of student learning and wellbeing that emphasizes cognitive (i.e. reading, writing, mathematics, science achievement), non-cognitive (i.e. learning habits, self-beliefs, growth mindset), and general wellness in the face of dominant historical and political ideologies that have focused almost exclusively on standards-based education reform.”
— Dr. Louis Volante & Dr. Don A. Klinger, Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy (2022)
It’s clear: the pre-pandemic framework for evaluating and supporting teachers is no longer sufficient.
Reclaiming the Purpose of Teaching
If we’ve learned anything over the past five years, it’s that the teaching profession is unsustainable under the current model. Hustle culture has glamorized exhaustion and made self-sacrifice the gold standard. But burnout doesn’t benefit students—and it drives skilled educators out of the profession. It creates a unsustainable system which doesn’t benefit students, parents, or the larger social community.
Instead of pushing teachers to “do more,” it’s time to support them in doing what matters.
“We must shift the narrative from ‘teacher as performer’ to ‘teacher as professional,’ recognizing the complexity of teaching and the systemic supports required to sustain it.”
— Bangs & Frost, Educational Review (2020)
Teaching must move beyond the hustle. Beyond data walls and public performance. And back to something far more radical and transformative: human connection.
📢 Join the Conversation
Are you a teacher navigating the post-Covid classroom? How has Hustle Culture impacted your work and well-being? Share your experience in the comments or connect with me on social media at @kellywchris on X, @mypdtoday on instagram, or @kellywchris.bsky.social