A psychoeducational approach for prevention of burnout among teachers dealing with HIV/AIDS in South Africa

Abstract

Teaching is one of the most stressful occupations, with high stress and burnout levels of teachers necessitating intervention. This is especially relevant for South African teachers tasked with additional responsibilities of dealing with HIV/AIDS issues, as well as attending to normal curricula duties. A burnout prevention intervention, based on Paulo Freire's adult educational approach, using transpersonal psychology techniques, was introduced to HIV/AIDS coordinator teachers (n = 27) at high-risk schools in the Western Cape, South Africa, who attended six three-hour weekly workshops. This paper presents the bottom-up thematic analyses of the group, as well as individual global analysis (n = 10) of the qualitative data, derived from focus group interviews and workshop evaluations after the intervention, providing insights into the experiences of workshop participants and their teaching contexts. The mind map of one participant is illustrated. The findings of the study confirmed that transpersonal practices (TP) presented in psychoeducation workshops were helpful in mediating stress and burnout in the work and personal contexts of teachers dealing with HIV/AIDS. TP offer practical applications of right brain emotional and social intelligence practices that could be incorporated into care and wellness school programmes for teachers vulnerable to stressors related to HIV/AIDS.

Influence of Emotional Intelligence and Burnout Syndrome on Teachers Well-Being: A Systematic Review

“…As the data from the Karakus study (Karakus 2013) show, the feeling of exhaustion in teaching work is increasingly high, becoming a problem, which highlights the need to develop emotional skills in teachers. For this reason, intervention programs have begun to be carried out; those that have been carried out in the Primary Education stage show improvements in terms of the emotional regulation of the participants, as well as the improvement of the institutional climate (Johnson and Naidoo 2017;Ju et al 2015).…”

Can evolutionary insights into the brain’s response to threat suggest different group interventions for perceived stress and burnout of teachers in high-risk schools?

“…Cane is founder of Capacitar International, a worldwide movement using TP practices for emotional wholeness and well-being (Condon & Cane, 2011). These techniques have been used in South African schools with HIV/AIDS coordinators to reduce stress and burnout (Johnson & Naidoo, 2013, 2016a).…”

“…Teacher stress and burnout have been researched internationally (Howard & Johnson, 2004; Steyn & Kamper, 2006; Yavuz, 2009), with practical solutions for prevention and reduction sought in South African schools (Johnson, 2010, 2013, 2015; Johnson & Naidoo, 2013, 2016a, 2016b). Brain theory in relation to stress response has been widely researched (Arbib, 2003; Cannon, 1920; Ganzel, Morris, & Wethington, 2010; McEwen, 1998; Selye, 1956), with this study focusing on evolutionary understandings of brain response to threat to inform the design of stress and burnout interventions.…”

An Explanatory Model of Emotional Intelligence and Its Association with Stress, Burnout Syndrome, and Non-Verbal Communication in the University Teachers

“…Emotional exhaustion in the university environment is caused by an overload of work tasks, increased responsibility of ensuring a quality education capable of forming professionals of the future, continuous participation in research, enactment of management responsibilities, and continuous contact with students and colleagues [13,14,15,16], which invades and alters the individual’s private life. These factors generate growing psychological pressures that reduce empathy and emotional intelligence, and accentuate cynical attitudes, depersonalization, professional inefficacy, low self-esteem, insomnia, and even eating disorders [17,18,19,20].…”