The risk of burnout and poor experienced teacher-working environment fit is increased among teachers with persistent turnover intentions. However, positive experiences in the workplace seem to protect against cynicism and exhaustion, according to a new study from Finland.
Teachers’ turnover intentions, burnout symptoms and poor experienced teacher-working environment fit are interlinked, and therefore also likely to occur simultaneously. If a teacher experiences one of the above, the risk of experiencing others increases, too.
The researchers explored experienced burnout and teacher-working environment fit and compared teacher cohorts with or without persistent turnover intentions. The data included 1,064 Finnish basic education teachers (working in grades 1-9, teaching pupils aged 7-16), of whom 344 (32%) reported persistent turnover intentions in a five-year follow-up.
The tendency to experience work-related exhaustion, cynicism and feelings of inadequacy in the teaching profession proved rather permanent. According to the researchers, it seems that more work experience does not protect against the risk of burnout; instead, teachers experience their workload relatively similarly regardless of how long their career is.
“Some teachers seem to feel that they have very little opportunity to influence their workload, and they are mainly just trying to cope with the factors contributing to it. Workload management skills can therefore play an important role in promoting teachers’ coping,” says Doctoral Researcher, lead author Katariina Räsänen of the University of Eastern Finland.
Burnout symptoms are associated with having few positive experiences
Support provided by the professional community is an important factor in preventing the development of burnout.
Source: Read Full Article
