Examination of Work Environment Factors Relating to Burnout Syndrome of Early Childhood Educators in Greece

Abstract

Early childhood education is a profession which requires the professional staff to spend considerable time in intense involvement with other people. The pressure from the demands this profession has can create a sense of physical and emotional exhaustion that often leads to burnout. Thus, previous research has linked perceptions of the work environment to burnout. Despite the fact that burnout was identified as a serious concern in the childcare profession over 20 years ago, limited research has been undertaken into the field of burnout in early childhood educators in Greece. The present study, employing the Maslach Burnout InventoryÁEducators Survey and the Parents and Staff subscale of the Environment Rating Scale Self-assessment Readiness Checklist, aims to examine whether there is correlation between the levels of burnout reported by Greek early childhood educators and the level to which the setting meets their needs. Research data suggest that the subscales predict one another whereas only partial correlations were found among the ''Emotional Exhaustion'' and ''Depersonalization'' subscales and the ratings in the Parents and Staff subscale.Dr Konstantina Rentzou has worked from 2005 onwards as a Casual Lecturer at the Department of Early Childhood Education and Care, TEI of Epirus, Ioannina, as an instructor in post-secondary education institutions, as an auxiliary staff in the University of Ioannina, Greece and as a researcher in a programme funded by the Research Committee of Ioannina University. She has published 17 papers in Scientific journals and four in conference proceedings. Her teaching and research objectives are early childhood education and care. Her research interests are mainly about issues concerning parental involvement in preschools settings and parent caregiver relationships, involvement and recruitment of males in early childhood education, burnout syndrome, the organization of the preschool environment and provision of quality early childhood education. She is reviewer in three scientific magazines and member of the editorial board of one magazine.

Prevalence of burnout syndrome of Greek child care workers and kindergarten teachers

“…Those findings are in accordance with a previous research conducted in Greece (Tsigilis, Zachopoulou, and Grammatikopoulos 2006;Rentzou 2012), concerning early childhood educators, and with other studies conducted in other countries (Manlove 1993;Stremmel, Benson, and Powell 1993;Boyd and Schneider 1997). Yet, in Stremmel, Benson, and Powell (1993) and in Tsigilis, Zachopoulou, and Grammatikopoulos (2006) studies only the emotional exhaustion subscale was used and compared to the other studies, the educators of the present study reported that they maintain lower levels of personal accomplishment.…”

“…Yet, in Stremmel, Benson, and Powell (1993) and in Tsigilis, Zachopoulou, and Grammatikopoulos (2006) studies only the emotional exhaustion subscale was used and compared to the other studies, the educators of the present study reported that they maintain lower levels of personal accomplishment. The results of the present study confirm, however, previous research results from Greece (Koustelios and Kousteliou 2001;Kokkinos 2006), which were conducted with elementary and secondary school teachers and with the study conducted by Rentzou (2012) with early childhood educators.…”

“…On the contrary, to the best of our knowledge, only two researches (Tsigilis, Zachopoulou, and Grammatikopoulos 2006;Rentzou 2012) have been contacted concerning burnout in early childhood educators and no research has compared the levels of burnout reported by childcare workers and kindergarten teachers. This lack of research cannot provide evidence (official or unofficial) about the extent to which Greek early childhood educators are burned-out and whether the burnout syndrome is a problem in Greece.…”

“…(3) the very large number of students; (4) the existence of students with learning disabilities (not sufficient training in order to cope) and students with behavioural problems (not sufficient training in order to cope); (5) the insufficient material substructure; (6) the insufficient pedagogical and visual aids; (7) the poor building substructure and pressure of time; (8) the routine of the school day; (9) the amount of time spent in non-instructional activities; (10) noise; (11) physical work; (12) diminished privacy, or isolation from other adults; (13) the dual role according to which early childhood educators have to serve the developmental needs of children and the work needs of parents (Maslach and Pines 1977;Lambert 1994;Deery-Schmitt and Todd 1995;Kelly and Berthelsen 1995;Tsai, Fung, and Chow 2006;Beck-Chisholm 2007;Sidelinger 2008;Baumgartner et al 2009;Bromer and Henly 2009;Fragoulis and Papadopoulou 2010;Rentzou 2012). As Rehm and Samuel (2002) have maintained child care work incorporates a big range and number of roles, skills and job tasks.…”

“…Furthermore, levels of burnout may be more wise to be correlated both with demographic and organisational factors. Rentzou (2012) has found partial correlations among the 'Emotional Exhaustion' and 'Depersonalisation' subscales and the ratings in the parents and staff subscale.…”