Abstract
Orientation: Maslach and Leiter (1997) have suggested that burnout constitutes an erosion of the soul. Burnout is a non-discriminatory phenomenon with a pronounced negative impact on the individual employee and the organisation and is particularly prevalent among educators.Research purpose: This study aimed to explore the probable reasons for burnout among secondary educators. Study motivation: Several South African studies have focused on the phenomenon of burnout among educators but the probable reasons for burnout in this population have not yet received adequate attention. This study extended earlier international research that probed this facet.Research design, approach and method: A mixed-methods design with a predominantly qualitative methodology was employed to explore the probable reasons for burnout among 59 educators from three urban secondary schools in Gauteng, South Africa. Data comprised Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey protocols and rich data work descriptions. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with the f ve participants who tested highest on the burnout indicators.Main findings: The results indicated that a negative learner profile and workload were the most frequently cited reasons for potential burnout.Practical/managerial implications: Burnout requires considered attention and aggressive context-specific intervention to contain its negative impact on both the educator and the student learning experience.
Highlights
Main findings: The results indicated that a negative learner profile and workload were the most frequently cited reasons for potential burnout
The relatively high scores recorded for personal efficacy indicated that, on average, neither the males nor the females suffered from burnout at the time that the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was administered
The remainder of the differences among the three schools on the reported levels of exhaustion, personal efficacy, cynicism and depersonalisation were not significant, higher levels of cynicism at School C compared to School A (t[34] = 1.76, p = 0.08, d = 0.55) and School B (t[37] = 1.66, p = 0.10, d = 0.49) were approaching practical meaningfulness
Summary
Main findings: The results indicated that a negative learner profile and workload were the most frequently cited reasons for potential burnout. Practical/managerial implications: Burnout requires considered attention and aggressive contextspecific intervention to contain its negative impact on both the educator and the student learning experience. Burnout is a worldwide phenomenon of substantial significance that has a detrimental impact on employees at all organisational levels and on organisations in their entirety, which translates into substantial human and economic cost (Leiter & Maslach, 2001; Maslach, 2001; Mirvis, Graney & Kilpatrick, 1999; Toppinen-Tanner, Kalimo & Mutanen, 2002). 399), with the former using the term to convey his own experience of depleted emotionality and loss of motivation and the latter observing the prominence of emotional stress and its implications for job behaviour during interviews with human-services workers Pioneering work in the scholarly domain was undertaken by Freudenberger in 1975 and Maslach in 1976 (Maslach et al, 2001, p. 399), with the former using the term to convey his own experience of depleted emotionality and loss of motivation and the latter observing the prominence of emotional stress and its implications for job behaviour during interviews with human-services workers
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