From a press release from the University of Eastern Finland …
The risk of burnout and poor experienced teacher-working environment fit increases 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, likely to occur simultaneously. If a teacher experiences one of the above, the risk of experiencing others increases, too. Findings are published in Research Papers in Education.
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 relatively 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 minimal opportunity to influence their workload and 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 and 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 essential factor in preventing the development of burnout.
“Positive experiences in the workplace, received recognition, and a constructive and enabling work climate seem to protect against cynicism towards, and alienation from, the professional community,” says Räsänen, who also works as a lecturer.
According to Räsänen, getting professional recognition is, somewhat surprisingly, more likely in the early stages of the teaching career.
“Opportunities to get professional encouragement, support, and recognition, which everyone needs, mostly seem to coincide with the early stages of the teaching career,” she says.
Influencing one’s work plays an important role.
The teacher-working environment fit is affected by several individual and work-related factors. The study indicates that school size plays a role in teachers’ perceived well-being at work.
“Smaller schools often have a constructive and enabling work climate that also supports the teacher-working environment fit,” Räsänen says.
According to the results, teachers with leadership tasks had a lower risk of burnout than teachers who did not have an opportunity to influence their work through such tasks. Teachers with leadership tasks also experienced fewer feelings of inadequacy and had a better-experienced teacher-work environment fit. The difference may be explained by better possibilities to influence one’s work.
“This interesting observation shows how teachers’ autonomy, or a lack thereof, is also associated with the development of burnout,” Räsänen says. “It seems that fostering teachers’ autonomy continues to be a key factor in promoting their well-being at work.”
