Work and Organizational Psychology: A Presentation on Teacher Burnout

This presentation delves into the critical issue of burnout among teachers from a work and organizational psychology perspective. It begins by defining burnout as a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion often resulting from chronic workplace stress. The presentation reviews relevant research, highlighting symptoms such as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment, and explores factors contributing to teacher demoralization, including low pay, limited creative freedom, and administrative confusion. It addresses current global and national issues related to teacher retention, such as the high cost of teacher replacement and challenges in recruiting expatriate teachers due to cultural and language differences. The presentation also points out the shift from critical educational examination to traditional teaching methods, which can negatively impact the quality of education. Finally, it suggests directions for future research, including the impact of regional and cultural differences on teaching practices, the effects of poverty on school resources, and the lack of awareness regarding educational policies, emphasizing the need for further investigation to address and mitigate teacher burnout effectively. The presentation concludes by reiterating the global concern over teacher burnout and its connection to inadequate administrative support and limited creative interaction with students.

BURNOUT IN TEACHERS
Work and organizational psychology

INTRODUCTION
 Burnout could be referred to a situation where an
individual is overworked or underpaid
 The burnout is mainly characterised by stress
overburden, emotional and physical fatigue.
 As mentioned by Cherniss (2016), workplace burnout
can often make an individual feel isolated or
overworked.

REVIEW OF RELEVANT RESEARCH
 The symptoms of
burnout within a
teacher could be
associated with three
different factors which
are – emotional
exhaustion,
depersonalisation and
personal
accomplishment

CONTD..
 As suggested by Wang et al. (2015), the
sharing of responsibilities and approval
of colleagues matter the most
 Some of the most common reasons which
have been cited for demoralization within
the teachers are low pay, less chances for
the implementation of creative teaching
and learning skills.
 As mentioned by Lindqvist et al. (2018),
one of the major reasons for the
teachers feeling less oriented in their job
roles was due to administrative
confusion.

CONTD…
 As reported by Rojas-Flores et al.
(2015), 40-50% of the teachers leave
their profession at the fifth year of their
service.
 They have cited multiple reasons for
the same which ranges from long
working hours, lack of autonomy, large
size of classes along with inadequate
resources to facilitate learning.
 As reported by Shaheen and Mahmood
(2016), 61% of teachers put extra 13
working hours per week, which is
higher compared to other professions.

CURRENT ISSUES (GLOBAL AND NATIONAL
CONTEXT)
 Some of the strategies which have been employed
within the domestic academic market are signing
high salaries to retain the individuals in teaching.
 As suggested by Al-Asadi et al. (2018), loan
subsidy programs have also been effective in high
recruitment of teachers in countries such as
Australia.
 The total cost of replacing public school teachers
added up to almost $2.2 billion in the year 2001
within the United States (Rojas-Flores et al. 2012).

CONTD…
 One of the challenges which are
faced with regards to the
recruitment of teachers from
expatriate locations is coping up
with culture and language
differences.
 As mentioned by Yorulmaz et al.
(2017), the loss of familiar signs
and symbols along with the change
in parental expectations puts a lot
of pressure on teaching faculties.
 It has been noted that the teachers
trained as per the national
curriculum fail to meet the
international educational guidelines.

CONTD…
 The critical, political and sociological examination of
education has been replaced by the traditional course printed
teaching.
 The methodical approach to teaching and learning often
hampers the quality of education delivered.
 The changing demand of the parents along with little support
from the management leads to the development of fatigue
within the teachers.
 As mentioned by Rodríguez-Mantilla and Fernández-Díaz
(2017), the teachers are seen as individuals who are entrusted
with the responsibilities of completing the curriculum
designed for the students.

DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
 The teaching practices vary as per different regions and
cultures, a few of which have been discussed over here.
 As mentioned by Shaheen and Mahmood (2016), high
rates of absenteeism have been noted within the
African context of education.

CONTD…
 As mentioned by Yorulmaz
et al. (2015), situations of
poverty have also laid to
indiscriminate cost cutting
in schools.
 Additionally, lack of
awareness regarding the
educational policies
implemented by government
and federal government
agencies further affect the
educational practices.

CONCLUSION
 Burnout in teachers has
gathered global attention as
many teachers have been
leaving their jobs owing to
stress.
 It had been found that
inadequate administrative
setup along with limited
infrastructure have delimited
the teachers from interacting
creatively with the students.

REFERENCES
 Al-Asadi, J., Khalaf, S., Al-Waaly, A., Abed, A. and Shami, S., 2018. Burnout among primary school teachers in Iraq:
prevalence and risk factors. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 24(3), pp.262-268.
 Cherniss, C., 2016. Beyond burnout: Helping teachers, nurses, therapists and lawyers recover from stress and
disillusionment. Routledge.
 Colomeischi, A.A., 2015. Teachers Burnout in Relation with Their Emotional Intelligence and Personality
Traits. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 180, pp.1067-1073.
 Lindqvist, H., Weurlander, M., Wernerson, A. and Thornberg, R., 2018. Talk of Teacher Burnout among Student
Teachers. In 2018 Annual Meeting of AERA, New York, USA.
 Rodríguez-Mantilla, J.M. and Fernández-Díaz, M., 2017. The effect of interpersonal relationships on burnout
syndrome in Secondary Education teachers. Psicothema, 29(3).
 Rojas-Flores, L., Herrera, S., Currier, J.M., Foster, J.D., Putman, K.M., Roland, A. and Foy, D.W., 2015. Exposure to
violence, posttraumatic stress, and burnout among teachers in El Salvador: Testing a mediational model. International
Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation, 4(2), p.98.
 Shaheen, F. and Mahmood, N., 2016. Demographic Variables as Determinants of Emotional Burnout among Public
School Teachers. Journal of Research & Reflections in Education (JRRE), 10(1).
 Wang, Y., Ramos, A., Wu, H., Liu, L., Yang, X., Wang, J. and Wang, L., 2015. Relationship between occupational
stress and burnout among Chinese teachers: a cross-sectional survey in Liaoning, China. International archives of
occupational and environmental health, 88(5), pp.589-597.
 Yorulmaz, Y.I., Colak, I. and Altinkurt, Y., 2017. A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Teachers' Job
Satisfaction and Burnout. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 71, pp.175-192.
 Yu, X., Wang, P., Zhai, X., Dai, H. and Yang, Q., 2015. The effect of work stress on job burnout among teachers: The
mediating role of self-efficacy. Social Indicators Research, 122(3), pp.701-708.