Teacher occupational burnout remains a pressing global issue with profound implications for educational systems. This review synthesizes existing literature to examine its prevalence, consequences, determinants, and theoretical underpinnings. Findings indicate alarmingly high burnout rates globally, driven by the interplay of personal factors (e.g., emotional regulation deficits), occupational stressors (e.g., excessive workloads), and socio-environmental pressures (e.g., societal expectations). Framed by the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model and Maslach’s tripartite theory, burnout manifests through emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced accomplishment, undermining teacher well-being, teaching quality, and school stability. Consequences extend beyond individual distress to systemic issues like attrition, compromised student outcomes, and institutional dysfunction. By integrating multidisciplinary evidence, this review contributes to burnout scholarship in three ways: (1) mapping the dynamic interplay of burnout drivers across individual-institutional levels, (2) validating its cross-cultural persistence, and (3) reinforcing the urgency of theoretical-practical alignment in education research. Future studies should prioritize longitudinal designs, cross-cultural comparisons, and mechanistic analyses of burnout pathways. Addressing teacher burnout remains critical for sustaining educational ecosystems and safeguarding pedagogical quality globally.