Burnout Prevention With Psychoeducation in Teachers

Abstract

Our research aims at prevention of burnout, which can be a protective factor in preventing career abandonment and can contribute to creating and maintaining a positive workplace climate. It also promotes the mental well-being and resilience of teachers and students. Therefore, burnout of teachers is especially important in Hungary, as the gradually increasing professional and administrative burden, the lack of social esteem, as well as the changed learning-teaching environment and the methodological shortcomings of general teacher training significantly increase the risk of burnout. In our research, the staff of the Somogy County Educational Service Center has been involved, mainly special education teachers. The 116-person sample has been conducted with a version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory developed for educators. In our presentation, the test results are presented. According to our findings, out of the three subscales of the subjects' questionnaire, the highest scores were achieved in the Emotional Exhaustion subscale and the lowest in the Depersonalization subscale. However, the emotional exhaustion subscale did not indicate a high burnout value in the study population. The correlations of burnout risk with age and time spent as a teacher has been also analyzed. Problem-focused and change-oriented psychological counseling models are attracting interest in the international literature today (Egan, 2010). By strengthening resilience and supporting a sense of growth, consultation techniques work to strengthen effective interpersonal communication and help the individual plan constructively for the future (Bonanno, 2004, 2005; Kelley, 2005; Linley & Joseph, 2005; Litz, 2005; Maddi, 2005). All of this are relevant to our research because we plan to provide burnout prevention psychoeducation counseling programs to educators. The literature also mentions the phenomenon of learned helplessness, which has its roots in childhood and is a breeding ground for both depression and burnout (Seligman,1991). Learned inertia can influence members of the helping professions toward passivity (paralysis, loss of control, hopelessness, unresponsiveness) and is therefore particularly burdensome for the individual, along with the challenges of helping professions. Results of our research shed light on the burnout level of special educators, personality traits important for coping and related burnout prevention (e.g., empathy, psychological immune competence) and the applied coping mechanisms that guide burnout prevention psychoeducation as a comprehensive concept.

Examining the Mental Health Status of Hungarian Teachers

“…In addition, thanks to the cooperation in the Cooperative Doctoral Program, the was sent to all the maintained institutions of my employer, the Educational District Center in Kaposvár, which resulted in 107 out of 301 people completing it. The present study and the cooperation with the employer were based on the research presented at the 2021 International Conference on Education and New Developments, which is the study of teacher burnout in the Somogy County Pedagogical Service (Szigeti, 2021).…”