The Relationship of Secondary Special Education Teachers' Roles and Factors That Lead to Professional Burnout

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to extend previous research on teacher burnout by delineating factors which contribute to secondary learning disabilities teachers' feelings of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced sense of personal accomplishment. Data were collected via a survey that employed the use of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1986) and the Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity Questionnaire (Rizzo, House, & Lirtzman, 1970). Overall, findings revealed that secondary learning disabilities teachers (N = 300) were experiencing high levels of emotional exhaustion, specifically those who team teach with a general educator. Following regression analysis, findings concluded that each of the seven variables chosen for this study contributed significantly to burnout, however, the relationship between those variables and the three determinants of burnout changed across teaching positions.