An Investigation into the Relationship between Turkish EFL Teachers’ Self-Efficacy and Burnout Level

Abstract

The present study investigates if any relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and burnout levels as well as the effect of demographic data such as gender, age, teaching experience, average number of students in classrooms on the three dimensions of teacher burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) and self-efficacy beliefs. 118 Turkish EFL teachers from primary, secondary, high schools and universities in many cities participated in the study. Data came from Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and language teacher self-efficacy beliefs scale (Praver 2014). Findings showed that there was a significant positive relationship between self-efficacy and personal accomplishment and emotional exhaustion. On the other hand, the results showed a negative relationship between emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment and a negative relationship between personal accomplishment and depersonalization. Generally, teachers felt sufficient, had high self-accomplishment and they had low burnout level. In addition, age and experience were also found to play an important role in personal accomplishment and self-efficacy. These findings have been discussed and implications given for further research.

Keywords

• Burnout,Self-Efficacy,EFL Teachers

References

1. Anderson, M. B. G., & Iwanicki, E. F. (1984). Teacher motivation and its relationship to burnout. Educational Administration Quarterly, 20(2), 109-132.
2. Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachaudran (Ed), Encyclopedia of human behavior (Vol. 4, pp.71-81). New York: Academic Press. Reprinted in H. Friedman [Ed.], Encyclopedia of mental health. San Diego: Academic Press.
3. Bauer, J., Stamm, A., Virnich, K., Wissing, K., Müller, U., Wirsching, M., & Schaarschmidt, U. (2006). Correlation between burnout syndrome and psychological and psychosomatic symptoms among teachers. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 79(3), 199-204.
4. Brudnik, M. (2009). Perception of self-efficacy and professional burnout in general education teachers. Human movement, 10(2), 170-175.Bümen, N. T. (2010). The relationship between demographics, self efficacy, and burnout among teachers. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 40, 17-36.
5. Cemaloğlu, N., & Şahin, D. E. (2007). Öğretmenlerin mesleki tükenmişlik düzeylerinin farklı değişkenlere göre incelenmesi. Kastamonu Eğitim Dergisi, 15(2), 465-484.
6. Cephe, P. T. (2010). A study of the factors leading English teachers to burnout. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 38, 25-34.
7. Demirel, E. E., & Cephe, P. T. (2015). Looking into burnout levels among English language instructors. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 11(1), 1-14.
8. Deryakulu, D. (2005). Bilgisayar Öğretmenlerinin Tükenmişlik Düzeylerinin İncelenmesi. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research (EJER), (19).

9. Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford University Press.
10. Evers, W. J., Brouwers, A., & Tomic, W. (2002). Burnout and self‐efficacy: A study on teachers' beliefs when implementing an innovative educational system in the Netherlands. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72(2), 227-243.
11. Friedman, I. A. (1991). High and low-burnout schools: School culture aspects of teacher burnout. The Journal of educational research, 84(6), 325-333.
12. Gavish, B., & Friedman, I. A. (2010). Novice teachers’ experience of teaching: A dynamic aspect of burnout. Social Psychology of Education, 13(2), 141-167.
13. Huang, H. (1988). The effect of social support on teacher stress and teacher burnout (Doctoral Dissertation) (Order No. 8816477). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (303581578). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/303581578?accountid=13654
14. Klassen, R. M., & Chiu, M. M. (2010). Effects on teachers' self-efficacy and job satisfaction: Teacher gender, years of experience, and job stress. Journal of educational Psychology, 102(3), 741.
15. Külekçi, G. (2011). A study on pre-service English teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs depending on some variables. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 3(1), 245-260.
16. Lackritz, J. R. (2004). Exploring burnout among university faculty: incidence, performance, and demographic issues. Teaching and teacher education, 20(7), 713-729.
17. Lau, P. S., Yuen, M. T., Chan, R. M. (2005). Do demographic characteristics make a difference to burnout among Hong Kong secondary school teachers?Social Indicators Research, 71, 491-516. Springer Netherlands.
18. Martin, N. K., Sass, D. A., & Schmitt, T. A. (2012). Teacher efficacy in student engagement, instructional management, student stressors, and burnout: a theoretical model using in-class variables to predict teachers' intent-to-leave. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28(4), 546-559.
19. Maslach, C. (2003). Job burnout new directions in research and intervention. Current directions in psychological science, 12(5), 189-192.
20. Maslach, C., & Jackson, S. E. (1981). The measurement of experienced burnout. Journal of organizational behavior, 2(2), 99-113.
21. Praver, M. (2014). Japanese university English language teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs: A 171 mixed-methods exploration. (Doctoral dissertation, Temple University Libraries). (Doctoral dissertation).
22. Mede, E. (2009). An Analysis of Relations among Personal Variables Perceived Self Efficacy and Social Support on Burnout among Turkish EFL Teachers. Inonu University Journal of the Faculty of Education, 10(2), 39-52.
23. Ortaçtepe, D., & Akyel, A. S. (2015). The effects of a professional development program on English as a foreign language teachers’ efficacy and classroom practice. TESOL Journal, 6(4), 680-706.Ozan, M. B. (2009). A study on primary schoolteacher burnout levels: the northern Cyprus case. Education, 129(4).
24. Ozdemir, Y. (2007). The role of classroom management efficacy in predicting teacher burnout. International Journal of Social Sciences, 2(4), 257-263.
25. Özkanal, Ü., & Arikan, N. (2010). Investigation of burnout among instructors working at ESOGU preparatory school. English Language Teaching, 3(1), 166.
26. Praver, M., Churchill, E., Irie, K., Burrows, L., & Elwood, J. A. (2014). Japanese University English language teachers'self-efficacy beliefs: a mixed-methods exploration. (Doctoral dissertation) (Order No. 3623235). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global (1548984893) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1548984893?accountid=13654
27. Sarıçam, H. & Sakız, H. (2014) Burnout and teacher self-efficacy among teachers working in special education institutions in Turkey. Educational Studies, 40(4), 423-437.
28. Sari, H. (2004) An analysis of burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish special school headteachers and teachers, and the factors effecting their burnout and job satisfaction. Educational Studies, 30(3), 291-306. doi:10.1080/0305569042000224233
29. Shaukat, S., & Iqbal, H. M. (2012). Teacher self-efficacy as a function of student engagement, instructional strategies and classroom management. Pakistan Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 9(3), 82-85.
30. Shohani, S., Azizifar, A., Gowhary, H., & Jamalinesari, A. (2015). The Relationship between Novice and Experienced Teachers’ Self-efficacy for Personal Teaching and External Influences. Procedia - Social And Behavioral Sciences, 185(The Proceedings of 3rd World Conference on Psychology and Sociology), 446-452.
31. Tschannen-Moran, M., & Hoy, A. W. (2007). The differential antecedents of self-efficacy beliefs of novice and experienced teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(6), 944-956.
32. Topkaya, E. Z., & Yavu, A. (2011). Democratic Values and Teacher Self-Efficacy Perceptions: A Case of Pre-Service English Language Teachers in Turkey. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 36(8), 32-49.
33. Unaldi, I., Bardakci, M., Dolas, F., & Arpaci, D. (2013). The relationship between occupational burnout and personality traits of Turkish EFL teachers. Journal of Education and Practice, 4(13), 86-98.
34. Williams, J., & Dikes, C. (2015). The implications of demographic variables as related to burnout among a sample of special education teachers. Education, 135(3), 337-345.