A Study On The Burnout Of High School English Teachers In Shanghai

Teachers' job burnout is an extreme reaction caused by their inability to respond effectively to the pressure at work.It is a common phenomenon in their career.In recent years,more and more scholars have paid attention to this phenomenon,both at home and abroad.Failure to effectively prevent and alleviate teachers'job burnout is not only detrimental to their physical and mental health,but also to the quality of teaching and the maintenance of their ranks.Contemporary China is undergoing profound changes,and Shanghai,as China's 'super-first-tier city',has been committed to developing first-class education that matches the top-notch cities.In this environment,teachers are also faced with unprecedented pressures and challenges,hence their inevitable job burnout.The purpose of this study is to explore the current situation and the influencing factors of job burnout of high school English teachers in Shanghai by means of questionnaire survey and personal interview,and on this basis,put forward countermeasures to prevent and alleviate their job burnout.Based on the classification and geographical location of the schools,English teachers from twelve high schools covering nine administrative districts of Shanghai were selected.One hundred and fifty-two effective questionnaires were collected,and twelve high school English teachers were selected from the above schools for personal in-depth interviews.Through the analysis of the research results,the following conclusions are drawn:1.The overall job burnout of high school English teachers in Shanghai is not severe,but the core dimension of their j ob burnout-the emotional exhaustion is severe.The degree of reduced personal accomplishment is not high,and the level of dehumanization is the lowest.2.Among demographic variables,teacher's age,years of teaching and professional title have a significant effect on the job burnout of high school English teachers in Shanghai.As regard to the age,taking the age of thirty to forty years old as the boundary,the overall job burnout degree of high school English teachers in Shanghai is characterized by a pattern of 'high to low'.Teachers under thirty rank first in terms of dehumanization and reduced personal accomplishment and the overall degree of job burnout is also the highest.Teachers between thirty and forty have the highest degree of emotional exhaustion,as well as the overall job burnout.Teachers over forty have a lower level of job burnout.As regard to the years of teaching,taking the service time of eleven to fifteen years as the boundary,the overall job burnout degree of high school English teachers in Shanghai is characterized by a pattern of 'high to low'.The highest degree of reduced personal accomplishment occurs in teachers within five years' service time.The overall degree of job burnout is high.Teachers who serve between six to ten years have the highest degree of overall job burnout.Teachers with a teaching age of eleven to fifteen years have the highest degree of emotional exhaustion,and the overall degree of job burnout is also at a high level whereas teachers serving over fifteen years have a lower level of job burnout.As regard to the professional title,the dehumanization and reduced personal accomplishment of Level II teachers are significantly higher than those of other titles and the overall degree of job burnout is the most serious.3.Other demographic variables,such as gender,marriage,education background,school types,school location,their monthly income,or whether they are head teachers,have no significant impact on the job burnout of high school English teachers in Shanghai.However,it is worth noting that the overall job burnout of male English teachers in Shanghai is higher than that of female teachers;the overall job burnout degree of the head teacher is higher than that of the non-head teacher;the overall job burnout of unmarried teachers is higher than that of the married ones;teachers with a master's degree or above have a higher burnout degree than teachers with other qualifications;the overall job burnout of teachers in key schools is higher than that of the ordinary school teachers;the overall job burnout of teachers in suburban schools is higher than that of the urban ones;the overall job burnout of teachers with a monthly income of 4001-5000 yuan is higher than that of other teachers.4.In terms of social,organizational and professional factors,the long working hours of Shanghai high school English teachers,heavy workload,poor income and welfare benefits,rapid educational innovation,difficulty in managing students,the chasm between the ideal and the reality,and the imperfect evaluation system of teachers in schools are the main factors affecting the job burnout degree of high school English teachers in Shanghai.Finally,this study puts forward countermeasures on three levels:the society,the school and the individual,to prevent and alleviate the job burnout of high school English teachers in Shanghai.