A Profile of the Burnout Construct Amongst Teachers: Evidence from Four Senior Secondary School in Botswana

The burnout construct has attracted the attention of researchers in many countries because of its negative effects on the learning and teaching process. Teachers experiencing burnout are characterized by high levels of emotional exhaustion resulting from intense and consistent pressure from demand stressors in the work place. Persistence of these stressors leads to depersonalization of learners and ultimately reduced personal accomplishments. The current study examined the burnout construct amongst secondary school teachers in Botswana and linked its implications to professional competence of teachers. The study used the Maslach and Jackson three dimension conceptualization of the construct. Findings from the study indicated that teachers were experiencing relatively high levels of emotional exhaustion. There were also signs that some teachers were progressing towards the depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment stages of the construct. A recommendation was tendered to the effect that a large scale study should be conducted to determine the number of teachers who are at risk of developing all three indictors of the syndrome. Key words: Burnout syndrome, depression, factor structure, locus of control, cynicism, self-efficacy. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-30-16 Publication date:October 31st 202