A study on teachers’ professional burnout

An increased interest in the person as a subject of work has drawn the attention of researchers to the changes that occur in the person in the process of performing his or her professional activities [1].In recent years, the professional burnout syndrome and burnout risk factors are the subject of numerous studies conducted by Western psychologists. Their works are devoted to the peculiarities of professional burnout of social workers, whose professional activities are largely associated with the daily interaction with people, as well as with psychological and physical difficulties they encounter at work [10].

The study, conducted in Spain, shows that the burnout syndrome has its causes, stages and consequences. Moreover, it entails a variety of preventive and rehabilitation measures that must be taken in order to provide timely assistance to teachers [6]. Another study, conducted in the European part of Istanbul, shows that the personal achievements of teachers differ significantly depending on their gender, work organization and performance [2; 12]. The results of a study confirm that the level of professional burnout of teachers working in special schools is below average. It is noteworthy that it was found that gender and income do not have a significant impact on the level of professional burnout [3].

Teaching belongs to the field of the “man-to-man” profession, i.e., profession characterized by intensity and tension of the psycho-emotional state affected by professional burnout. Currently, this syndrome is awarded a diagnostic status. The modern teacher is designed to solve problems that require a considerable educational effort. The development of new content of educational subjects, new forms and methods of teaching, the search for effective ways of education, the implementation of the humanistic paradigm, the need to take into account the very rapid changes taking place in society and the information field of the subject –all this can be organized only by a creative and professionally competent teacher. After all, the psychological health of students largely depends on the health of the teacher [7; 11]. Numerous emotional factors (both objective and subjective) evoke a growing sense of dissatisfaction, deterioration of health and mood and accumulation of fatigue. These physiological indicators characterize the intensity of work, which leads to professional crises, stress, exhaustion and burnout. The result of these processes is the reduction in efficiency of teachers’ professional activity: they can no longer cope with their responsibilities, losing the creative spirit regarding the subject and the product of their labor, as well as deforming their professional relationships, roles and communication [9].

The burnout syndrome as a scientific concept was discussed in the works of K. Maslach, S. Jackson and A. Pines. The burn-up models developed by them served as a basis for further research of the phenomenon. The very concept of the phenomenon has repeatedly changed. In 1981, K. Maslach and S. Jackson found that burnout is a syndrome of emotional exhaustion and cynicism, which often appears in the staff working with people, and leads to the development of a negative attitude towards their customers [4]. According to K. Maslach, people working in the sphere of services and assistance are forced to spend considerable time on intensive interaction with other people [4].

There are three stages of teachers’ professional burnout. The first stage begins with the muffling of emotions, when positive emotions disappear, and a state of anxiety and dissatisfaction appears. The second stage includes misunderstandings in the relationships with students; at the third stage, teachers lose their life values, become dangerously indifferent to everything, even their own life [5].

The Current Study

The study of personal characteristics is an important feature of the study of professional burnout, as they can affect its features [8] The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the stages of professional burnout of people working in the field of assistance, namely teachers.

Materials and Methods

The study was conducted on the basis of schools in Krasnodar Region (Russia). The study involved 70 teachers (M=40, F=30) aged from 23 to 55 years old, whose work experience is from 12 months to over 20 years. We applied the method of “ Diagnosis of professional burnout ” ( K. Maslach, S. Jackson, 1986; N. E. Vodopianova, 2008 ), which is designed to measure the degree of “burnout” in professions of the “man-to-man” sphere (Table 1).

Table 1. Diagnosis of Professional Burnout Questionnaire

After analyzing the data obtained from the study, we divided the entire sample into three groups according to the stages of the syndrome:

Group 1 – the syndrome is fully formed in at least one of the stages (i.e. the total number of points in one of the phases is greater than or equal to 61);

Group 2– the syndrome is at the stage of at least in one of the stages (i.e. the total number of points in one of the stages is in the range of 37 - 60 points);

Group 3– the syndrome has not formed (i.e. the total number of points in any of the phases does not exceed 36 points).

The pie chart below summarizes the results of the degree of emotional burnout in the participants (Pic. 1). All the subjects were divided by the number of points scored, both in individual stages and in the total number of points scored: the first group included 33 teachers (47.5%); the second group consisted of 22 respondents (32.5%); the third group comprised of 14 people (20%).

Pic. 1. The results of the Survey

Thus, we can see that the most numerous group of teachers with the burnout syndrome was registered in at least one of the phases, whereas the group of teachers without syndrome was the smallest.

Results and Conclusion

The results of the study have shown that almost half of the respondents fully developed the syndrome of professional burnout. Only a small part of the teachers is not included in the risk group of professional burnout. The study confirms that people working in the “man-to-man” sphere, namely in educational institutions, are prone to the development of the syndrome of professional burnout, which has a negative impact not only on teachers themselves, their activities and well-being, but also on those who are close to them.

According to the results obtained, the highest rates of professional burnout is registered in the teachers with the work experience of 10 -15 years. Professional burnout is being formed in 12.5% of the respondents and has already been formed in 87.5% of teachers. The respondents aged 29-39 years old, are the most susceptible to the syndrome of professional burnout. At this age, a person tends to look back, evaluate the past, and reflect on one’s accomplishments, including professional achievements such wages, status, or position. Consciously or not, a person begins to experience emotional discomfort, mental stress and dissatisfaction with work or overwork.

The participants aged 23-29 years old with the work experience of 1-5 years tend to experience the burnout syndrome due to a mismatch of expectations related to their profession and reality. They feel hesitant when faced with situations they are not prepared for.

The educators aged 40-53 years old with work experience of 20+ years, go through all the phases of burnout. However, the number of the respondents with the generated, emerging and not generated syndrome is approximately equal (35.7%, 35.7% and 28.5% respectively). This age period is associated with an identity crisis. If a person successfully solves it, then at the age of 50-55, he or she is experiencing a new upsurge of creative forces. This group of participants included teachers with the syndrome of various stages of development.

The most resistant to professional burnout syndrome is a group of teachers aged 35-41 years old with the work experience of 15 - 20 years. This age period is characterized by the development of parental distance with children, which leads to a renewal of experiences, for instance, a feeling of fullness of life, involvement in all its spheres. Thus, it can be assumed that achieving certain mental harmony and stability, the age brings, serve as the positive factors in the formation of teachers’ resistance to burnout syndrome.