Gazdasági Ismeretek | Humánerőforrás-menedzsment » Yildirim-Örsdemir - Investigating English Language Student-Teacher Burnout

Source: http://www.doksinet Akademik Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, Yıl: 3, Sayı: 18, Aralık 2015, s. 512-520 Rana YILDIRIM 1 Esra ÖRSDEMIR2 INVESTIGATING ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDENT-TEACHERS’ BURNOUT Abstract The aim of this cross-sectional study is to investigate the feeling of burnout among English Language Teaching (ELT) major student-teachers. More specifically, the study focuses on if the nature and level of student-teachers’ burnout change according to their year of study. The data for this research were collected through a standard Burnout Inventory administered to 350 student-teachers in total from 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade ELT majors studying in Turkey. Later, follow-up interviews were carried out with 12 volunteering student-teachers for a deeper understanding of the situation. In order to analyze the data obtained, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. It was found that, in line with the relevant literature, the participant student-teachers feel

different levels of burnout due to personal, professional and social factors. Keywords: Burnout, Teacher Education, Language Teacher Education, PreService Teacher Education, English Language Teaching İNGİLİZCE ÖĞRETMEN ADAYLARININ TÜKENMİŞLİK DÜZEYLERİNİN İNCELENMESİ Özet Bu kesitsel çalışmanın amacı, Türkiye’deki bir İngilizce Öğretmenliği programında öğrenim gören öğretmen adaylarının tükenmişlik düzeylerinin programdaki öğrenim yıllarına göre niceliksel ve niteliksel açıdan araştırmaktır. Bu amaç gözetilerek, ilgili çalışma için veri İngilizce Öğretmenliği programında okuyan birinci, ikinci, üçüncü ve dördüncü sınıf öğrencilerinden olmak üzere toplam 350 öğretmen adayından standart bir Tükenmişlik Ölçeği ile toplanmıştır. Ölçek aracılığı ile elde edilen veriye derinlik kazandırabilmek ve geçerliliğini arttırabilmek amacıyla, 12 gönüllü öğretmen adayı ile görüşmeler

yürütülmüştür. 1 2 Doç. Dr, Çukurova Üniversitesi, İngiliz Dili Eğitimi ABD, ranayil@cuedutr Arş. Gör, Çukurova Üniversitesi, İngiliz Dili Eğitimi ABD, esraorsdemir@cuedutr Source: http://www.doksinet 513 Investigating English Language Student-Teachers’ Burnout Verilerin analizinde nicel ve nitel yöntemler kullanılmış ve elde edilen bulgular neticesinde katılımcı öğretmen adaylarının mesleki yaşamlarının en erken evrelerinde bile kişisel, mesleki ve sosyal faktörler nedeni ile farklı düzeylerde tükenmişlik yaşadığı tespit edilmiştir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Tükenmişlik, Öğretmen Eğitimi, Yabancı Dil Öğretmeni Eğitimi, Hizmet Öncesi Öğretmen Eğitimi, İngiliz Dili Eğitimi 1. INTRODUCTION The concept of burnout has been the subject of much research in various professions since the 1970s and has frequently been investigated as a phenomenon in the field of teaching leading to be recognised as a problematic issue for teachers

globally (Cherniss, 1995; Guglielmi and Tatrow, 1998). In literature, the term was first coined by Freudenberger (1974) as personal failure, exhaustion, and excessive demands on energy, power and resources. Later, Maslach and Jackson (1986) extended this definition to a physical, emotional, and intellectual exhaustion, chronic fatigue, helplessness, hopelessness, negative ego development, and negative attitudes towards occupation, life and other people, stemming from a three dimensional source consisting of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. While the first of these sources refer to feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and entrapment, the second refers to physical exhaustion caused by low energy, chronic fatigue, and weakness, and the final one refers to the development of negative reactions to the work, people, and self. The term burnout is considered to be a crucial issue in teacher education since literature shows that in time such feeling

of helplessness may develop towards a psychosomatic syndrome leading teachers to feel consumed and have nothing left to dedicate to the students’ learning (Sadeghi & Khezrlou, 2014; Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). Since teaching is considered to be one of the most stressful professions, burnout is an expected feeling in the field and it is a crucial issue which merits attention (Coombe, 2008). Related literature shows that there has been a substantial amount of research on burnout among experienced teachers (Schwarzer & Schmitz, 2004; Cephe, 2010), and a scarce number of studies on beginning teachers (Dückers-Klichowski, 2005; Groddard & O’Brien, 2007) and on pre-service teachers (Dückers-Klichowski, 2005). The reason for this gap may be a traditional approach accepted by researchers in regards to seeing burnout as the final stage of exhaustion resulting from work stress (Goddar & O’Brien, 2007). Nonetheless, could not early teacher burnout show its

first signs during pre-service teacher education? Could not it start at a much earlier stage? The limited amount of research reveals that burnout is also existent in this earlier stage (Oren & Turkoglu, 2006; Schorn & Buchwald, 2007; Tumkaya & Cavusoglu, 2010; Koc, 2015). One study on pre-service teacher burnout was carried out by Oren and Turkoglu (2006) with 268 4th grade faculty of education students. In this study, participants showed different levels of burnout in different dimensions such as personal achievement context, desensitization, and emotional exhaustion according to gender. One other study was carried out with 233 4th grade primary school student-teachers, which revealed that while nearly half of the participants were facing a severe burnout danger, more than a quarter of them were experiencing the feeling of burnout (Tumkaya and Cavusoglu, 2010). Also the findings of the study suggested that student-teachers experience burnout stemming from problems related

to mainly to family, private life, and the exam for selection of civil servant (KPSS), which is a required national The Journal of Academic Social Science Yıl: 3, Sayı: 18, Aralık 2015, s. 512-520 Source: http://www.doksinet Rana Yıldırım - Esra Örsdemir 514 selection exam for teacher candidates seeking a position in state schools. Finally, one other study conducted in cross-sectional manner with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade pre-service Turkish teachers showed significant difference in their burnout levels according to gender, grade, and preference of study program. Also, one important finding in this study was the peak level of burnout among participants in 4th grade. However, to the researchers’ knowledge, no study till now has been carried out related to the feeling of burnout among ELT major student-teachers. Therefore, in this study we aim to investigate the existence of burnout among ELT major student-teachers. The study focuses on if the nature and level of

student-teachers’ burnout change according to their year of study. The following questions guided the specific study: 1. What is level of burnout among ELT major student-teachers? 2. Does the level of burnout show any changes in regard to the ELT major student-teachers’ year of study? 3. For what reasons do the ELT major student-teachers experience the feeling of burnout? 2. Materials and Method Data for this cross-sectional study were collected through the burnout measure scale short version (BMS) developed by Pines (2005). The original and extended version of the scale was first developed by Pines and Aronson (1988) and consisted of 21 items which evaluated on 7point likert scales resulting in the assessment of the individual’s physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion levels. However, a short version of the scale consisting of 10 items was utilized in this study. This version was developed in response to researchers’ and practitioners’ need for an easy-to-use instrument

requiring less space and time for administration and scoring (Pines, 2005). In order to calculate the participants’ burnout scores, the ratings of each participant is first summed up and later divided by 10 (Pines, 2005). While a score up to 2,4 indicates a very low level of burnout values between 2,5 and 3,4 indicate danger signs of burnout. In addition, values between 3,5 and 4,4 indicate burnout whereas 4,5 and 5,4 indicate a very serious problem of burnout, and finally, a score of 5,5 and over requires immediate professional help. During the research phase, the BMS was administered to a total of 350 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade ELT major student-teachers in Turkey. Following the analysis of results, semistructured follow-up interviews were carried out with 12 volunteering student-teachers (three from each year) who had a burnout score of 3,5 or more. In order to analyze the data obtained, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. While the quantitative data obtained

via the scale were analyzed by means of one way ANOVA test on SPSS, the qualitative data were first transcribed and then coded in order to discover re-occurring themes. 3. Findings In order to reveal if there was any difference in the level of burnout student-teachers experience according to their year of study, one way ANOVA test was utilized and the standard deviation and mean scores of the groups are presented in the table below: The Journal of Academic Social Science Yıl: 3, Sayı: 18, Aralık 2015, s. 512-520 Source: http://www.doksinet 515 Investigating English Language Student-Teachers’ Burnout Table 1. Mean scores of groups Year of Study N X S 1st 88 2,92 0,99 2nd 88 3,60 1,25 3rd 84 3,02 1,03 4th 90 3,85 1,17 Total 350 3,32 1,15 As it is seen from the above table, while the 1 st year student-teachers indicate danger signs of burnout with a score of 2,92, 2nd year student-teachers can be considered as experiencing burnout (3,60). Later, when

the burnout scores of 3 rd year student-teachers are looked into, it can be seen that the level of burnout decrease to 3,02 indicates again danger signs of but this time not that low. However, in the final year of the program student-teachers level of burnout appears to be 3,85 showing that they are severely experiencing this phenomenon. In order to see if there were any statistically meaningful differences among these values, one way ANOVA test was utilized and the results are presented in Table 2 below: Table 2. ANOVA results regarding burnout scores of STs according to their year of study Sum of df Squares Mean F p Scheffe 15,021 ,000 2>1 Square Between Groups 53,450 3 17,817 Within Groups 410,383 346 1,186 2>3 4>1 4>3 Total 463,833 349 As it is clearly observable from the above results, numbers obtained from BMS showed that there was a meaningful difference between the burnout levels of STs according to their year of study (t₃-₃₄₆=15,021,

p < ,001). In order to reveal the direction of the difference, the Scheffe test was utilized and as the results revealed that while the burnout level of 4th grade STs was statistically higher compared to 1st and 3rd graders, there was no meaningful difference with 2nd graders. On the other hand, the burnout level of 2nd graders was significantly higher compared to 1st and 3rd graders, but revealed no difference when compared to 4th graders. For deepening the research, 12 volunteering student-teachers with a burnout score of 3,5 and over were interviewed in order to find out the underlying reasons for the burnout they experience at an early beginning of their career. The reasons reported by student-teachers are presented in Table 3 below with frequencies of appearance in responses: The Journal of Academic Social Science Yıl: 3, Sayı: 18, Aralık 2015, s. 512-520 Source: http://www.doksinet Rana Yıldırım - Esra Örsdemir 516 Table 3. Burnout reasons reported by STs with

high burnout scores THEMES f % 33 78,56 23 54,76 Dissatisfaction with the degree program 11 26,19 KPSS stress 7 16,67 Lack of time 5 11,90 Societal 10 23,80 Financial problems 5 11,90 Socializing problems 5 11,90 PERSONALITY FACTORS 7 21,44 Emotional exhaustion 6 14,29 Lack of self efficacy 3 7,15 TOTAL 42 100,00 ENVIROMENTAL FACTORS Organizational As seen from Table 3 above, the responses of the student-teachers who participated in the interviews suggest that the source of burnout experienced stem from two main sources which can be classifies as “Environmental Factors” and “Personality Factors”. However, before moving on to the statistical findings related to these themes, it may be wiser to define them. In literature, environmental factors are related to organizational and societal issues in individual’s life (Kucukoglu, 2014). To be more specific, while organizational factors may be relate to issues such as role conflict and ambiguity,

work overload, low salary, poor classroom climate, low decision-making power, and little support from superiors and peers, excessive paper work, lack of time, large classes, etc. (Bryne, 1994; Male & May, 1998); societal factors on the other hand can be related to the social respect and support of teachers, demands for increased productivity at a time when the financial support is deficient (Zhang and Sapp, 2007; Kucukoglu, 2014). However, it must be kept in mind that these definitions are related to in-service teaching since the phenomenon of burnout is mostly associated with experienced teachers in literature. Therefore, in this study the definitions of these concepts have been accommodated to fit preservice practices. So while organizational factors are associated with student-teachers preservice education, societal factors are associated with their social lives during this period On the other hand, personality factors are associated with concepts such as demographic

characteristics, self-esteem, self-confidence, self-efficacy (Kucukoglu, 2014) both in the literature and in this study. Having defined the themes, we can now return to the findings. When each theme is looked into more deeply, different sub-themes emerging are seen. For instance, under “Environmental Factors” (78,56%) there are two sub-themes (Organizational: 54,76%; Societal: 23,80%)with different issues under each. Under organizational factors, the participants stated three issues which lead them to feel burnout. These are Dissatisfaction with the degree program The Journal of Academic Social Science Yıl: 3, Sayı: 18, Aralık 2015, s. 512-520 Source: http://www.doksinet 517 Investigating English Language Student-Teachers’ Burnout (26,19%), KPSS stress (16,67%), and Lack of time (11,90%) respectively. Below are excerpts from student-teachers’ responses regarding the related sub-themes: “Too much unnecessary assignment given at school has become monotonous, and I feel

as though it was no longer contributing to my development.” (Dissatisfaction with the Degree Program) “The KPSS stress really kills me. Due to it, I feel under pressure in every aspect of my life And now there is also ÖABT (Preceptorship Content Knowledge Test) which we need to prepare for.” (KPSS Stress) “I cannot spare any time for myself, hence I feel as though I could not manage my time effectively and this affects me very much.” (Lack of Time) For the Societal sub-theme, we see that the responses of the participants gathered around problems related to Financial problems (11, 90%) and Socializing problems (11, 90%). Below are the responses illustrating these: “The fact that I have to work together with so much to do at school really makes me feel exhausted.” (Economical Issues) “I find it difficult to adapt to my friends. It is very hard for me to socialize with them” (Socializing Problems) In the second main source of burnout which was related to “Personality

Factors” (21,44%) two sub-themes emerged regarding Emotional exhaustion (14,29%) and Lack of self efficacy (7,15%). Below are some excerpts from interview responses of the participants which demonstrate these feelings: “I feel drown and tired these days.” (Emotional Exhaustion) “My self confidence is not high enough. I feel as though I was not at a level which I should be” (Lack of Self Efficacy) 4. Discussion and Conclusion When findings of this study are scrutinized, it can be seen that the state of burnout starts to show its very first symptoms in student-teachers from their 1st year of study and pursues its existence throughout the four years. These findings seem to support those presented by several researchers (Oren & Turkoglu, 2006; Schorn & Buchwald, 2007; Tumkaya & Cavusoglu, 2010; Koc, 2015), yet there are also contradicting results reached by some other researchers. In a study (Goddard & O’Brien, 2007) with 100 beginning teachers suggested that

the teachers who completed a 4 year degree of education build inner-sources required to tackle problems they face in the profession leading to burnout. However, in our study our participants were studentteachers majoring in a four-year degree program but still showed high levels of burnout For instance, while the student-teachers are under a risk of burnout in their first year of study, in the second year, their state of feeling changes to experiencing burnout but then decreases again to a risk level in their 3rd year. This rise of burnout in the 2 nd year may be the result of studentteachers introduction to the field-specific courses, and the following decrease in the 3 rd year may be a result of adaptation. However, one striking finding is that in the 4 th year of their study there is a sudden peak in their burnout levels showing that student-teachers are suffering severely from burnout just before starting their profession in the field. The interview results The Journal of Academic

Social Science Yıl: 3, Sayı: 18, Aralık 2015, s. 512-520 Source: http://www.doksinet Rana Yıldırım - Esra Örsdemir 518 suggest that such an exhaustion just before graduation may be a result of the KPSS exam which all teacher candidates who want to be a teacher in Turkish state schools are required to pass. These findings appear to be in parallelism with other studies carried out with student-teachers majoring in different fields (Tumkaya & Cavusoglu, 2010; Koc, 2015). Koc (2015), for example, states that KPSS exam is one of the reasons which lead teacher candidates in Turkey to develop negative feelings towards the profession at a very early stage. Also, the interview results acquired in our study revealed other underlying reasons for student-teachers’ burnout, namely environmental factors such as dissatisfaction with the degree program, KPSS stress, financial problems, socializing problems, and personality factors such as emotional exhaustion and lack of self

efficacy. These findings seem to be in line with Kucukoglu’s study (2014) which revealed that the feeling of burnout is mainly the result of environmental and personality factors. However, one important finding in our study is that environmental issues were remarkably more influential on student-teacher burnout when compared to personality factors. This finding seems to accord with other earlier research findings suggesting that situational variables are more strongly predictive of burnout than are personal ones (Maslach & Jackson, 1984; Maslach & Goldberg, 1998). The analyses showed remarkable levels of burnout at this early stage of a teacher career which can be associated with environmental and personality factors. Most obviously, these results raise significant issues for universities which provide pre-service education for teacher candidates. Gold (1985) suggests, in order to decrease the feeling of burnout in individuals, one must first be aware of the feeling he/she is

experiencing since that is only when stress management strategies and techniques are effective. Hence, moving on from this perspective, one suggestion is that teacher education programs should focus on providing student-teachers opportunities or courses that can raise awareness in self and enhance their locus of self-control. One other suggestion could be that academic supervisors can be in more close contact with their STs and direct them to counselling if necessary. This issue is also of close concern to regulators and administrators of education since the teaching profession is experiencing early drop-outs globally which may be attributed to the feeling of burnout experienced (Smith & Ingersoll, 2004). Therefore, it is crucial for both the ministry of education and the higher education council to work in coordination to lean on this issue and take necessary precautions. By this means, the stress sources leading teacher candidates to suffer burnout during their education and

recruition process can be taken under control resulting in future teachers with the feeling of professional satisfaction. Nevertheless, before the findings of this study are to be generalised within pre-service teacher education, similar studies are suggested to be carried out with different and larger groups, and the phenomenon to be examined longitudinally. REFERENCES BYRNE, Barbara M., (1994), “Burnout: Testing for the Validity, Replication, and Invariance of Causal Structure across Elementary, Intermediate, and Secondary Teachers”, American Educational Research Journal, 31, 645-673. CEPHE, Paşa Tevfik, (2010), “A Study of the Factors Leading English Teachers to Burnout”, Hacettepe University Journal of Education, 38, 25-34. CHERNISS, Cary, (1995), Beyond Burnout: Helping Teachers, Nurses, Therapists, and Lawyers Recover from Stress and Disillusionment, Routledge. The Journal of Academic Social Science Yıl: 3, Sayı: 18, Aralık 2015, s. 512-520 Source:

http://www.doksinet 519 Investigating English Language Student-Teachers’ Burnout COOMBE, Christine, (2008), “Burnout in ELT: Strategies for Avoidance and Prevention”, TESOL Arabia Perspectives, 15 (3). DÜCKERS-KLICHOWSKI, Silke, (2005). Burnout bei Lehramtsanwärtern im Primarbereich [Burnout in teachers on probation in primary schools], Logos. FREUDENBERGER, Herbert J., (1974), “Staff Burn-Out”, Journal of Social Issues, 30: 159–65. GODDARD, Richard; OBRIEN, Patrick, (2007), “Pre-Service Teacher Education and Beginning Teacher Burnout”, in AARE 2006: Australian Association for Research in Education Annual Conference 2006: Engaging Pedagogies, 27-30 Nov 2006, Adelaide, South Australia. GOLD, Yvonne, (1985), “Does Teacher Burnout Begin with Student Teaching?”, Education, 105: 254-257. GUGLIELMI, Sergio R.; TATROW Kristin, (1998), “Occupational Stress, Burnout, and Health in Teachers: A Methodological and Theoretical Analysis”, Review of Educational Research.

68, (1): 61-91 KOC, Goksu, (2015), “Examining of the Burnout Level of Pre-Service Turkish Teachers (The Sample of Ege University)”, International Journal of Language Academy, 3 (2): 151-158. KUCUKOGLU, Hulya, (2014), “Ways to Cope With Teacher Burnout Factors in ELT Classrooms”, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 116: 2741-2746. MALE, Dawn; MAY Derek, (1998), “Stress and Health, Workload and Burnout in Learning Support Coordinators in Colleges of Further Education”, Support for Learning, 13(3). MASLACH, Christina; JACKSON, Susan E., (1986), The Maslach Burnout Inventory (2nd ed.), Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press MASLACH, Christina; SCHAUFELI, Wilmar B.; LEITER, Michael P, (2001), “Job Burnout”, Annual Review of Psychology, 52: 397–422. OREN, Nihal; TURKOGLU, Hayriye (2006), “Öğretmen Adaylarında Tükenmişlik”, Muğla Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 16. PINES, Ayala Malach, (2005), “The Burnout Measure Short Version

(BMS)”, International Journal of Stress Management, 12: 78–88. PINES, Ayala Malach; ARONSON, Elliot, (1988), Career Burnout: Causes and Cures, New York: Free Press. SADEGHI, Karim; KHEZRLOU, Sima, (2014), “Burnout among English Language Teachers in Iran: Do Socio-demographic Characteristics Matter?”, ProcediaSocial and Behavioral Sciences, 98:1590-1598. SCHORN, Nicola; BUCHWALD, Petra, (2007); “Burnout in Student Teachers”, Electronic Proceedings of the 27th Stress and Anxiety Research Conference 2006, www.star-societyorg The Journal of Academic Social Science Yıl: 3, Sayı: 18, Aralık 2015, s. 512-520 Source: http://www.doksinet Rana Yıldırım - Esra Örsdemir 520 SCHWARZER, Ralf; SCHMITZ, Gerdamarie S., (2004), “Perceived Self-Efficacy and Teacher Burnout: A Longitudinal Study in Ten Schools”, in Marsh, H. W, Baumert, J., Richards, G E, & Trautwein, U (Eds), Proceedings - Self-Concept, Motivation and Identity: Where to from here? University of Western

Sydney, Australia: SELF Research Centre, http://self.uwseduau/Conferences/2004 Schwarzer Schmitzpdf SMITH, Thomas M.; INGERSOLL, Richard M, (2004), “What are the Effects of Induction and Mentoring on Beginning Teacher Turnover?”, American Educational Research Journal, 41 (3): 681–714. TUMKAYA, Songul; CAVUSOGLU, Ilknur, (2010), “Sınıf Öğretmenliği Son Sınıf Öğretmen Adaylarının Tükenmişlik Düzeylerinin İncelenmesi”, Ç.Ü Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 19 (2): 468–481. ZHANG, Qin; SAPP, David Alan, (2007), “A Burning Issue in Teaching: The Impact of Teacher Burnout and Nonverbal Immediacy on Student Motivation and Affective Learning”, presented at the annual meeting of the NCA 93rd Annual Convention, TBA, Chicago, IL Online. The Journal of Academic Social Science Yıl: 3, Sayı: 18, Aralık 2015, s. 512-520