A Study Of High-School English Teachers' Job Burnout And Contributing Factors

This study,based on Maslach's three dimensional theory and related research results,explores the high-school English teachers' job burnout and contributing factors by investigating 86 high-school English teachers in a moderately developed area in Jiangsu province using questionnaire and interview methods.Based on the data analysis,the two major findings are summarized as follows:Firstly,job-bumout of high-school teachers in this area is not serious on the whole,but has been to some extent a common phenomenon(M=2.82).According to the survey results,among the three dimensions,emotional exhaustion is the most obvious(M=3.30)with tired-out feelings being the most serious(M=4.50).Most interviewees are found suffering heavy weariness and tiredness,some of whom describe themselves as "too tired to speak".Data also indicate the existence of depersonalization(M=3.03).Half of the interviewees reveal negative feelings of "students as products";some even "want to quit".The low sense of accomplishment is not obvious(M=2.12).Some teachers even admit that they have a sense of accomplishment as they enjoy“having students everywhere".Secondly,this group of teachers' job burnout is mainly generated from individual,school and social-related factors.In terms of individual factors,the survey results show that teachers' personality characteristics and coping styles contribute to the teacher burnout.Among them,teachers with the trend of neurotic personality traits and those with negative coping styles are more likely to suffer job burnout.In addition,affective school factors including long working hours,heavy workload,title promotion difficulties,student-related issues and non-humanistic management,generate the teachers' job burnout.Among them,school management mechanism(M=1.01)and title promotion(M=1.36)are the most significant affective factors.Besides,soeial factors,such as examination pressure of college entrance examination,unrealistic educational and teaching policies,negative views of teachers in the society,difficulties in reconciling teaching and family life,also contribute to the teachers' job burnout.Among these factors,examination pressure(M=1.28)and family-related problems(M=1.40)appear the most significant.Interview data basically support the survey results,providing more specific teacher job situations and more insights of the teachers.In light of above findings,the researcher attempted to put forward some suggestions,hoping to help face similar status of high-school English teachers' job burnout.