Experienced burnout and teacher–working environment fit: a comparison of teacher cohorts with or without persistent turnover intentions

Abstract

ABSTRACT This follow-up study compared two teacher cohorts: teachers with and without persistent turnover intentions. Burnout symptoms including exhaustion, cynicism towards the professional community, inadequacy in teacher-student interaction, and perceived teacher–working environment fit in terms of received recognition and constructive work climate were explored. The longitudinal survey data included 1064 teachers from Finnish basic education (grades 1–9, age 7–16), of which 344 (32%) reported persistent turnover intentions in a five-year follow-up. Results showed that teachers with persistent turnover intentions experienced higher levels of burnout symptoms and decreased levels of perceived teacher–working environment fit than teachers with no turnover intentions. Moreover, in a five-year follow-up, a higher level of experienced teacher–working environment fit in the earlier career phase predicted a lower level of experienced cynicism towards the teacher community later in both teacher cohorts. Perceived teacher–working environment fit did not predict experienced exhaustion or inadequacy in teacher-student interaction. The results suggest that the teacher cohorts did not differ in terms of the internal dynamics and interplay between experienced burnout symptoms and perceived teacher–working environment fit. However, teachers with persistent turnover intentions had increased risk of becoming alienated from the professional community and developing burnout.