Personal Factors of Professional Burnout among School Feachers

Abstract

<p style="text-align: justify;">The relevance. There is a lack of information in the scientific literature about predictors of professional burnout among schoolteachers. This complicates psychological work to prevent and overcome professional burnout syndrome, which is a consequence of significant physical and psychological overload among modern teachers. The aim. To identify the most significant personal factors of professional burnout among schoolteachers. Study design. The article analyzes the relationship between the professional burnout of schoolteachers and such personal factors as the professional motivation of teachers, their meaningful life orientations, strategies for coping behavior, satisfaction with various aspects of pedagogical activity. Materials and methods. The study involved 409 teachers of secondary schools in Moscow and the Moscow region aged 23 to 65 years. The following questionnaires were used: «Professional Burnout» questionnaire, «Life Orientations Test», «Job Satisfaction Components Questionnaire», «Coping Methods Questionnaire», «Professional Motivation Questionnaire». Data analysis was carried out using correlation and multiple regression analysis. Results. It is shown that the socio-psychological qualities of the individual, necessary for building the pedagogical interaction of the teacher with other participants in educational relations, primarily with the parents of students, are of high importance for reducing the risk of professional burnout. The most significant personal factors that are predictors of professional burnout among schoolteachers with different indicators of burnout have been identified (dissatisfaction with interaction with students’ parents, the predominance of controlled motivation for work, preference for unconstructive strategies for coping with problematic situations, a feeling of unfulfillment and inability to fully manage one’s life). Conclusions. Psychological, advisory and psychotherapeutic assistance to schoolteachers can be expanded by correcting work motivation, using positive reappraisal and non-confrontation to cope with difficult situations, and teaching effective means of communication with other participants in educational relations.</p>