On the relationship between reflective teaching and teachers’ burnout

Abstract

Few studies with a focus on teachers and their characteristics have attempted to shed light on the effects teachers’ dissatisfaction and demotivation can have on their professional development (Ozer & Beycioglu, 2010; Zamani Rad, 2010). Surprisingly, no studies have addressed the relationship between their feelings of dissatisfaction and burnout with reflective teaching. As many as 170 Iranian EFL teachers in different private language teaching institutes participated in the study. Data were collected using Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996) and reflective teaching measurement scale (Behzadpoure, 2007). Correlation analysis indicated that teachers’ reflection was significantly and inversely related to their feeling of burnout (r= -80, p<0.05). The Step-Wise Multiple Regression also showed that the components of burnout i.e. emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment can considerably predict teachers’ reflection. The findings offer some implications for in-service and pre-service teacher preparation programs.