A Study of Burnout in International and Country of Origin Teachers

The study examined the extent to which burnout levels of teachers working in international schools differed from the burnout level of teachers working in their country of origin. All participants of the study were Canadian citizens who were educated in Canada, held Ontario College of Teachers certification and were teaching credit courses in high schools offering the Ontario curriculum under the auspice of the Ontario Ministry of Education. All teachers completed the Burnout Test Form 1 – Revised (Jerabeck, Burnout Test Form 1 – Revised, 2001) online. The study found that international teachers had a statistically lower level of burnout than teachers working in their country of origin.     

The experience of burnout among English language teachers in Iran: self and other determinants

Burnout in teachers is an important concern since it adversely impacts their instruction as well as their psychological, mental, and physical health. The present study examined the levels of burnout (i.e. emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment) experienced by Iranian English language teachers. Specifically, the relationships of participants’ gender, workplace context, grade level taught, and teaching experience to their burnout were investigated. Data were collected from 40 teachers using the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Overall, findings revealed that English teachers (N = 40) were experiencing high levels of reduced personal accomplishment (M = 18.72) and emotional exhaustion (M = 17.80). Results of one-way ANOVA showed significant differences among English language teachers with respect to burnout subscales. Significant correlations were found between burnout, workplace context, and grade level taught. A number of helpful suggestions for programs and individuals involved in relieving stress and burnout among teachers are presented.     

聋校教师的职业倦怠现状与相关因素研究

采用(Maslach)职业倦怠问卷对351名聋校教师进行了职业倦怠状况的测查.结果表明:聋校教师的总体职业倦怠不严重;聋校教师职业倦怠随着整体感觉压力的增大越加严重;是否担任其他职务、每周不同课时数、不同省市、不同教龄、不同职称和不同学历的聋校教师职业倦怠存在显著性差异;不同性别、是否结婚和是否班主任的聋校教师职业倦怠不存在显著性差异.     

商丘市初中教师工作倦怠状况及其社会支持的关系研究

This study surveyed the current situation of teacher burnout in a sample of 400 teachers from urban junior high school in Shangqiu of Henan Province with scales, and examined the relationship between dimensions of teacher burnout and sources and types of social support they received. The results show that Shangqiu urban junior high school teachers’ emotional exhaustion is serious; gender does not affect the score of burnout significantly; teachers with 1 year job experience recorded significantly lower scores of burnout than others, and teachers who have worked for 6–10 years is second; urban junior high school level affects the score of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization significantly, but does not affect reduced personal accomplishment; social support is most important to enhance feelings of the teacher’s personal accomplishment; among all the sources, supervisor and principal support is the most significant predictor of teacher burnout; emotional support is more significant predictor of teacher burnout than practical support; peer support increases the teacher’s emotional exhaustion. __________ Translated from Jiaoshi Jiaoyu Yanjiu 教师教育研究(Teacher Education Research), 2007, 19(3): 65–71     

Mediating stress: Survival of the hardy

The present study explored variation in individual personality characteristics, termed “hardiness,” among female elementary teachers who had differing levels of burnout despite high levels of occupational stress. One hundred thirty-four female elementary teachers completed the Teaching Events Stress Inventory, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, The Allienation Test, and the Internal-External Control Scale. Data also were collected on demographic variables, incidence of stress-related physical and mental illness, and coping activities. Teachers with high stress and low burnout were less alienated than were teachers with high stress and high burnout. The low burnout teachers chose more active types of coping activities than did the high burnout teachers. Incidence of stress-related physical illness was significantly correlated with level of stress, emotional exhaustion (burnout), and alienation. Implications for future research and school district interventions are discussed.     

Stress, Burnout and Workload in Teachers of Children with Special Educational Needs

Whilst stress in teaching has received much attention in recent years, for teachers of children with special educational needs (SEN) specific stress-related research is relatively rare. This study sought to address this issue by investigating stress, burnout and workload in teachers of children with special educational needs. A postal questionnaire was sent to 56 ordinary schools and eight schools for children with moderate learning difficulties (MLD), eight for children with severe learning difficulties (SLD) and eight for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD). The schools were situated in inner city, urban and rural areas in the south-east of England. A total of 221 teachers responded. Results indicated that, whilst generalised claims for burnout may not be justified, within all three special school settings there was evidence of a high level of emotional exhaustion as measured by the education version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). In addition, all groups were subject to long hours of work, and work overload was high for ordinary school SEN teachers and teachers working in MLD and SLD settings. Reference to sources of intense stress indicated some differences according to setting but generally implicated workload and challenging behaviour. The conclusions are that further research into stress and burnout of SEN teachers is required if effective coping and preventative strategies are to be designed.     

Teachers’ views on causes leading to their burnout

Teaching is a challenging profession sometimes leading to teachers’ burnout: a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and reduced personal accomplishment. Burnout effects range from psychological, physical, and behavioural symptoms to increased turnover, which affects students and schools. This study identifies levels of and factors causing Lebanese teachers’ burnout by eliciting their perspectives about the matter. A multiple-case studies design is used; instruments include interviews, researcher’s reflective journal, and questionnaires adapted from the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Educators Survey. Nine teachers who left the profession during the first five years of teaching were interviewed and 92 teachers in service responded to the questionnaire. A cross-case synthesis helped to compare the data between cases in order to discover whether similarities can be found. Triangulation of data is performed through comparing results from each instrument and identifying common categories that are used to address the research questions. Findings show that workload, school environment, coordination/mentoring, classroom environment, and emotional factors are major causes of burnout. This study provided insight on how to identify causes and symptoms of teacher burnout to help prevent the occurrence of the syndrome.     

中小学教师职业倦怠与幽默风格关系的研究

为了探讨中小学教师职业倦怠的现状与其幽默风格之间的关系,对263位中小学教师进行问卷调查。结果表明:中小学教师的高成就感是建立在高情绪衰竭和去个性化基础上的;中小学教师的自强型幽默风格能反向预测职业倦怠,自贬型幽默风格能正向预测职业倦怠。在研究的基础上,对中小学教师心理健康的维护提出培养自强型幽默风格的建议。     

高校教师职业倦怠的调查结果分析

目的：了解高校教师职业倦怠的状况及特点。方法：采用玛勒诗编著的教师职业倦怠量表（MBI）对120名高校教师进行调查。结果：高校教师职业倦怠的三个纬度是递进关系：情感衰竭一人格解体一成就感;不同因素如性别、教龄等对职业倦怠的各个纬度均有影响。结论：高校职业倦怠情况已经比较严重,应引起学校管理者和有关部门的关注与重视,应加强教师保健工作。     

1994年以来中国教师心理健康研究述评

To summarize the widely dispersed literature concerning Chinese teachers’ mental status, the present paper conducted a quantitative research synthesis with a focus on the current situation and development in teachers’ mental disorders. On one hand, the results demonstrated that many critical problems existed in the exploration of this issue, such as the primary application of one uniform research type (i.e., theoretical discussion) and single-scale method (i.e., SCL-90); on the other, the comparison analysis showed that college teachers obtained significantly higher pathological prevalence than the other two (i.e., kindergarteners and teachers of middle or primary schools). And such negative prevalence has increased over the years and became sharper after 2000. Additionally, mental disorders seem more severe in country teachers (relative to those working in town), teachers aged above 40 (relative to those younger), and female teachers (relative to males). It is suggested that urgent attention should be paid to further improve the research level by highlighting the methodological consideration, especially focusing on the in-depth survey investigation, refined experimental study, as well as high-caliber qualitative research, and thus clarify the mechanism of teachers’ psychological disorders. __________ Translated from Jiaoyu Yanjiu 教育研究 (Educational Research), 2008, (1): 48–55     

The Research on Teachers' Burnout of Secondary Vocational Schools

Burnout becomes a common phenomenon in all walks of life.Scholars have begun to focus on the burnout of primary and secondary school teachers,but little attention was given to teachers of secondary vocational schools.This thesis summarized the general status quo of teacher burnout,the major resources and further proposals to cope with teacher burnout.     

Burnout in indian teachers

Burnout is a concept which was born in the mid 1970’s in the USA and with astonishing rapidity has become a catch-word to convey an almost unlimited variety of social and personal problems afflicting workers. It describes a specific dysfunction among helping professionals, believed to be the result of excessive demands made upon their energy, strength and resources. Although a clearly agreed upon definition does not exist, burnout is characterized by the inability to be sufficiently concerned about and involved with service recipients. A burnt out worker tends to withdraw emotionally from the demands of the job. Burnout is reflected in emotional exhaustion and apathy, physical fatigue, lack of energy, psychosomatic illness, increased alcohol and drug consumption, cynicism, inappropriate anger, depression and lack of personal achievements. Now, it is observed that teachers are also showing symptoms of burnout, which directly or indirectly affect their teaching performance. Motivated by these reasons the investigators decided to investigate the status of burnout among secondary school teachers and assess its extent in Indian teachers.     

An analysis of burnout and job satisfaction between Turkish headteachers and teachers

This study attempted to explore Turkish headteachers’ and teachers’ burnout and job satisfaction relating to work status, gender and years work-experiences. The purpose of this study is to find out whether there is difference between headteachers’ and teachers’ burnout and job satisfaction in terms of work status, gender and years work-experiences. In this study, quantitative approach was used. A total of 290 subjects (80 headteachers and 210 teachers) responded to the survey. As research instruments, the Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), were used to measure dimensions of headteachers’ and teachers’ burnout. The study results indicated that headteachers have more job dissatisfaction and depersonalisation than teachers. Males have less emotional exhaustion but higher depersonalisation than their female counterparts. Subjects participated in this study seemed to be different on depersonalisation and personal accomplishment dimensions on the scale in relation to their work years. More experienced subjects have higher depersonalisation and less job satisfaction than their less experienced counterparts. In contrast, more experienced subjects have higher personal accomplishment than the others.     

Feelings of existential fulfilment and burnout among secondary school teachers

Teacher burnout is recognized as a serious problem. In research it has been related to many person-specific variables; one of these, the variable of existential fulfilment, has received very little attention thus far. The present study focuses on the relationship between existential fulfilment and burnout among secondary school teachers in the Netherlands (N = 504). Existential fulfilment was made operational by means of the Existential Fulfilment Scale, which distinguishes between three dimensions: self-acceptance, self-actualization, and self-transcendence. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed a three-dimensional construct with interdependent dimensions. Burnout was measured by the Dutch version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory for teachers. Negative relationships between the existential fulfilment dimensions on the one hand and the burnout dimensions exhaustion and cynicism on the other were hypothesized, as well as positive relationships between the existential fulfilment dimensions and the burnout dimension professional efficacy. The hypotheses were confirmed, except for the relationships between self-transcendence and exhaustion and self-transcendence and cynicism, which appeared not to be significant. The inquiry demonstrated the importance of existential fulfilment for the prevalence and prevention of burnout among teachers. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications for future research.     

An analysis of burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish special school headteachers and teachers,and the factors effecting their burnout and job satisfaction

This study explores issues of burnout and job satisfaction among special school headteachers and teachers in Turkey. The purpose of the study is to determine whether there is a difference between headteachers' and teachers' burnout and job satisfaction in terms of work status, gender and work experiences, and to analyse the factors effecting their burnout and job satisfaction. In this paper, a quantitative approach has been used: 295 subjects (33 special school headteachers and 262 special school teachers) responded to the survey. As the research instruments, the Job Satisfaction Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used to measure job satisfaction and burnout levels in terms of the dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. The study results indicated that special school headteachers felt less personal accomplishment than special school teachers. However, there were no significant differences between headteachers and teachers on two burnout dimensions, namely emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and job satisfaction. In terms of gender, males have less emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment but higher depersonalization than their female counterparts. Females have higher job satisfaction than their male counterparts. In relation to their work experiences, more experienced subjects have higher emotional exhaustion and depersonalization than their less experienced colleagues, and also less job satisfaction than less experienced counterparts. However, more experienced subjects who participated in the study felt higher personal accomplishment than the others.     

A research on the professional moral conducts of teachers in China

Developing a professional ethics is crucial towards amassing the ranks of high-quality teachers, which contributes to the improvement of national education. This study bases its analysis on the survey of humanistic qualities of Chinese citizens. 3348 teachers at three different levels from 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities of China are investigated into their professional moral conducts in terms of sense of responsibility and initiative. The result shows that the professional moral levels differ distinctly among teachers from universities, junior or senior high schools and primary schools. The results suggest that professional ethics is vulnerable to external factors. It is essential for the construction of teachers’ professional ethics to improve their moral culture. Translated from Shanghai Jiaoyu Keyan 上海教育科研 (Shanghai Research on Education), 2006, (4): 4–6     

Beginning teacher burnout in Queensland schools: Associations with Serious Intentions to Leave

In keeping with repeated calls to investigate high early career turnover within the teaching profession, the present study investigated the hypothesis that a significant positive association between burnout and turnover intention would be observed in teachers at the beginning of their careers. A sample of 112 Australian teachers working in their first or second academic year was surveyed in 2004. Respondents were administered the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI: Maslach, Jackson & Leiter 1996) and asked about serious intentions to leave their job and/or profession. Meaningful and significant associations between serious intentions to leave and all three MBI subscales were found. The findings suggest a realistic and straightforward explanation for the alarmingly high early career attrition rates that are now commonly reported for the teaching profession in a number of countries.     

Burnout in Teachers of Young Children

The purpose of thi\s study was to identify variables or combinations of variables that are related to burnout in teachers of young children. The 353 participants were teachers who worked with young children more than 20 hours a week. The Maslach Burnout Inventory, a 22-item semantic differential measuring burnout, and a questionnaire about personal and job characteristics were administered to the subjects. A factor analysis, one-way analyses of variance, and maximum regression were used to analyze data. The factor analysis showed that the Maslach Burnout Inventory measures burnout and competence of teachers. The variables which account for burnout and competence are discussed.     

Cross-cultural perceptions of assessment of selected international science teachers in American high schools

International high school science teachers are crossing international and cultural borders to teach, raising important issues in education. In this article, we describe the cross-cultural assessment challenges that four international science teachers encountered when they migrated to teach in the United States. These included differences in grade expectations for a given quality of work, the weight given to final examinations, the assessment process, and cut-off scores for letter grades. To become proficient in their new teaching contexts, the participating teachers had to modify (or hybridize) their assessment philosophies and practices in order to conform to the expectations of their new schools. This hybridization process ushered them into what is proposed as the pedagogical imaginary; a transitional space between the “purity” of their native educational conventions and that of their American schools. The implications of these findings are discussed in hopes of improving high school science teaching experiences for international science teachers.