Effect of Emotional Self-Awareness Coaching on Professional Burnout Among Teachers in Public Secondary Schools in Kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

Teachers play a pivotal role in the education systems of any nation. Their mental and psychological well-being is critical in achieving positive student educational outcomes. However, professional teacher burnout has been on the rise. Self-awareness is essential to helping individuals connect with their emotional state and how it affects their behavior and those they interact with. This study sought to assess the effect of self-awareness coaching on professional teacher burnout among teachers in public secondary schools in Kiambu County, Kenya. Weiner's theory of attribution and Goleman's mixed model of emotional Intelligence informed this study (Goleman, 1995). Quasi experiment Solomon four design with a target population of 3469 teachers from 277 public secondary schools of all categories in the County was used. Krejci and Morgan's table was used to sample 346 teachers, while eight principals and 40 Heads of departments were purposefully selected for the study. Maslach Burnout Inventory and an interview guide were used to collect data for professional teacher burnout. A training manual was used to coach self-awareness. Validity was achieved through expert advice and piloting, while reliability was established through the split-half method. Paired t-tests and ANOVA were used for data analysis to get the effect size of coaching. The results indicated that self-awareness coaching had statistically significant positive effects on professional teacher burnout at t = 15.779 at df=78, >.001, The effect size (Cohen d = 0.958) was high; hence, emotional self-awareness coaching significantly reduced professional teacher burnout. The study recommended that the teacher employer (TSC) develop programs to equip teachers with self-awareness skills to curb professional burnout, thereby increasing their productivity