Article Type : Research Article
Authors : Moneva JC and Nunez II GS
Keywords : Burnout; Emotional exhaustion; Depersonalization; Lack of accomplishments; Stress management skill
This study aims to determine the level of burnout and the
competency level of the teachers in managing stress utilizing and adapting both
Maslach’s tool to assess burnout levels in three dimensions and the Stress
Management Competency Tool by Health Services Executive to determine the
teacher’s competency levels to one hundred three teachers from four public high
schools in Mandaue City Division, Mandaue City Philippines, employing the
proportionate random sampling. The years of teaching experience and number of
preparations were determined, then correlated to the specific burnout and
stress management competency levels; eventually treated statistically using Chi
Square Method with Yate’s Correction for cells less than five in the
contingency table.
The results revealed that most teachers are experiencing a
low level of emotional exhaustion and a moderate level of depersonalization and
feelings of lack of accomplishment. The competency levels of the teachers were
found to be reasonable in all the four components of the stress management
skill. The years of teaching is related to some aspects of Maslach’s Dimensions
which may even affect a teacher’s ability to manage stress; A Determinants of
Burnout Model was formulated describing the association between Stress
Management Competency and Burnout and Years of Experience and Burnout are both
inverse.
In the Philippines, teaching is highly regarded
profession. Teachers do too many tasks like making lesson plans, teaching
students, computing grades, making visual aids, checking students’ works, and
filling-out forms required by Department of Education (DepEd) and many others
[1]. Moreover teachers encounter the emotional, psychological and social
aspects which might be the reasons of changing jobs or staying away with
declining quality of work gradually leading the academic future of the country
at stake. Going beyond the borders of the school includes having to deal with
the effects of family problems-separation, economic constraints and many other
problems playing major roles in transferring ill e motions from the students to
the teachers. If emotional resources become drained, then the teachers feel
exhausted, or burned out [1] or else, teachers can also do their part by
drawing on one of their professional skills, namely an ability to engage with
people [2]. It is not something one could choose out of scarcity of choice
knowing it requires a great deal of patience and dedication. Existence of
burnout and a lack of ability to manage stress reducing the interest of the
worker, compromising the quality of its job. Otherwise may not create local
organization conflict and simple personal complexity even to the educational
system in general [3].
Stress and burnout are interrelated but under normal
conditions can be an adaptive response to difficult situations, while burnout
is a behavioural response to stress that is debilitating, costly and
problematic which could make a workplace insecure, lead to higher rate of
turnover, high absenteeism and low productivity [2]. Furthermore, the American
Psychological Association stated that there are no easy way to manage burnout
and stress, but they offered coping strategies to combat these problems as well
as school based programs such as seminars and workshops.
This study shall facilitate teacher strength in the
stress management competencies of the teachers as to addressing the gap between
burnout experience and stress management skills.
The study is anchored on the theory of Maslach called
the Generalized Burnout Theory in 1996 and used the Management Competency
Framework on workplace stress devised by the Health Services Executive in 2009.
The Maslach Burnout Theory shall provide the level of burnout among secondary
teachers in three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and lack
of interest and Stress Management Competency Framework theory on the levels of
stress management competencies among the secondary teachers on four dimensions:
managing emotions, communicating expectations, managing the individual and
managing difficult situations. This profile includes years of teaching
experience, number of hours on stress-related seminars attended and number of
preparations.
This study aimed to assess the relationship between
burnout and stress management competency among the secondary teachers of
Mandaue City Division in the school year 2017-2018. More specifically, it seeks
to answer professional characteristics of the teachers in terms of years of
teaching experience, number of hours on stress-related seminars attended; and
number of preparations; then, the level of teachers’ burnout in terms of
emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishments;
the teachers’ level of competency on stress management in terms of managing
emotions and having integrity, managing and communicating existing and future
work, managing the individuals within the team, and reasoning or managing
difficult situations; finally, the relationship between burnout and
professional characteristics, between stress management competency and
professional characteristics; and, burnout and stress management competency.
Maslach’s theory stated that job burnout is a
prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job comprising an
overwhelming feelings of exhaustion, feelings of cynicism or detachment from
the job, and a sense of ineffectiveness and failure. Herbert Freudenberger
devised the term burn-out as the consequence of severe stress and high ideals
in “helping” professions while it is applied to careerists, celebrities,
overworked employees and homemakers. As a result, it is not clear what it
really means and how it could be diagnosed. This also makes it impossible to
say how common it is [4]. Burnout as a multifaceted phenomenon with symptoms
that are often exhibited in areas like physical, intellectual, social, emotional
and spiritual [5], mitigate physical and mental health problems for too much
teacher responsibilities [4].
Not all people [6] experience the same level of burnout, from mild to serious. In the teaching profession, burnout has a number of severe problems such as absenteeism, low commitment, ailments and health related factors, inappropriate conduct and low job performance. High workload contributes to burnout according to a number of studies like teachers working up to 60 hours per week in British Columbia and Canada [7], engaging much student discipline by 46.7 Arkansas teachers [8], so that, two-thirds of new teachers will leave their field within four years (Byrne, 1998), 20% to 30% after three years [9] (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Relationship between
burnout and stress management.
The burnout is
characterized by a variety symptoms like: (1) exhaustion- feeling drained and
emotionally empty, unable to cope, tired and down and absence of enough energy;
(2) alienation from activities- starts to feel cynical about their working
conditions and their co-workers; (3) reduced performance- feels very negative
about their tasks, find it hard to concentrate and are listless and lacks
creativity. Burnout was associated with personality characteristics and job
stressors the relatively contributed to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization
and reduced personal accomplishment primary teachers [10], both personality and
work-related stressors were associated with burnout dimensions. Managing
student misbehaviour and time constraints were found to systematically predict
dimensions of burnout. As per Beer & Beer in Burnout and Stress, Depression
and Self-Esteem of Teachers, stress profile for teachers and staff indicated
statistically that teaching in regular grade school experienced less burnout,
and stress no sex difference in particular than high school teachers. Anderson
stated that people who are involved in human services and educational
institutions are often demanded to spend a considerable amount of time to spend
with other people with interpersonal interaction centred on transferring
knowledge or are focused on problems which led to emergence of other feelings
such as: anger, embarrassment, fear, or despair which include teaching
professions its fair share of job stress and pressure. Farber, observed in a
study on Stress and burnout in the American Teacher” utilizing 59% of the
teachers who have been teaching for four years, that understanding and
addressing problems of teacher stress and burnout current efforts to
restructure American Education cannot succeed. Coupled with increasing public
criticism and low pay often make the job of teaching untenable and no easy
solutions like workshops. Burn-out and stress took many forms like for a social
worker or as a guidance counsellor. This occurs because the children in the
classrooms may also have problems of an “adult-sized”. Teachers may find
themselves dealing with the drastic effects of parent’s separation, economic
constraints, violence which are something more than a teacher could handle
creating stress and even exhaustion [11] Stress could elicit a holistic
response or a combination of cognitive, emotional, physical and behavioural
responses, a resulting lose health though others may feel more powerful,
resilient and compassionate. A comprehensive stress management strategy is
important protective factor for successful and satisfying work of teachers and
other professions as well. Mindfulness can facilitate the person to replenish
his or her internal resources and increase their psychosocial hardiness and
resilience. When faced with stressful situations in a school, mindfulness helps
us to be aware and be connected with whatever is happening inside and around
us. On the other side, the diverse competencies will give strength to initiate
change when appropriate. Professional burnout is not simply the result of being
paid less or working too much, can be the result of prolonged stress, and
emotional fatigue, feeling isolated and disrespected affecting job performance
which may even result in physical illness and other implications. Any changes
in life may be stressful [12]. Sometimes, stress is useful but at times if
stress is too long, it could bring about bad effects like headache, upset
stomach and back pain [13]. Koustelios revealed that stress, example role
conflict and role ambiguity, were not highly correlated with teacher’s burnout.
Job satisfaction was identified as the only significant predictor for
depersonalization and emotional exhaustion subscales, while satisfaction with
the job itself and satisfaction with promotion were significant predictors for
Personal Accomplishment subscale. Friedman investigated the association between
perceived burnout among teachers and self-efficacy, a three-dimensional
conceptualization: instruction, discipline and consideration which revealed
that self-efficacy was inversely correlated with perceived burnout.
In any teaching and learning setting, both the
teacher and the learner including in the context of education are self-efficacy
and burnout. In a longitudinal study on the effects of perceived school climate
and teacher efficacy in behaviour management on job satisfaction and burnout
among the 642 secondary school teachers [14], positive school climate effect on
job satisfaction, partly mediated by self-efficacy positively and negatively
impacted on burnout [15], though self-efficacy of the participants has a
reverse relationship with their burnout level [16].
Kokkinos described mood instability, ill personality
traits as characteristics of a burned out teacher in the presence of emotional
exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of accomplishments while teachers who
are extroverted, highly conscientious, show a positive outlook in life and have
a stable mood and would likely experience personal satisfaction and lower
chances of burnout. On the other hand, Johns stressed out that burnout is a
negative affective response occurring as a result of chronic work stress. While
the early theories of burnout focused exclusively on work-related stressors,
Omrod on his book Human Learning stated that short periods of intensive work
resulting in success and acknowledgement rarely lead to burnout, chronic
stress, too. It boosts one’s self-worth, diminishes the sense of
accomplishment, and drains up emotional resources. It builds a division between
a teaching profession and the professional environment. It is a vicious circle:
the more serious the burnout, the stronger the isolation becomes.
Burnout is a common reaction to job stress, reduces
the motivation and the effectiveness of many human service providers leading to
organizational burnout in human service settings Cherniss, negative coping
methods, higher level of stress, decreased levels of empathy, and poorer general
mental health were significant predictors of increased burnout [17], lack of
money, caring for family members, aging, and family-work conflicts.
Occupational stressors included documentation requirements, a lack of time to
complete paperwork, and difficulty with clients while personal stress as
Organizational stress included managing relationships with co-workers, adapting
to change, working within a complex management structure, lack of diversity
within management, and experiences associated with racism [18].
On the other hand, burnout solutions and coaching
includes psychotherapy and alleviating stress is through enjoyable activities,
reasonable salary, proper work conditions [19,20].
For several years, burnout has been accepted as an
occupational hazard for many types of profession- human services, education and
health care. The therapeutic relationship that providers give to their
recipients requires an on-going and intense level of personal and emotional
contact which may be rewarding and self-fulfilling but quite stressful.
Occupations more oriented to “high-touch” customer service, the phenomenon of
burnout has become relevant for these jobs as well [21], requires intimate
human to human interaction, rewarding, but, draining, could be detrimental to
both personal and social functioning, quitting jobs if not employing minimal
service and quality of work [22]. Similarly, IT workers in industries including
healthcare, software, education, and manufacturing were affected with
organizational politics and menial tasks interfering at work are most strongly
related to burnout while role ambiguity, and conflict, job security, high
volume of work, having reasonable promotion prospects, having a bossy manager,
and feeling fairly rewarded are all significantly related to burnout [23].
Omrod noted that burnout can occur when passion gave meaning, identity,
inspiration and enthusiasm of committed people at work may become deeply
disillusioned with a job or career , then phased out and unpleasant things
crowd in.
Greenglass and Burke presented their comparison
between Canadian and Dutch teacher’s burnout using Maslach Burnout Inventory.
Scores of Canadians and Dutch teachers were compared and indicated that overall
Canadian teachers have higher scores on emotional exhaustion and
depersonalization than their Dutch peers. Across countries, sex and the type of
school appeared significantly related to burnout. Male rated higher on
Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization than women [23].
In Turkey, Ozkan, and Quant argued that occupational
stress is an important factor in determining the life satisfaction and burnout
levels of accountants particularly a negative impact on life satisfaction and a
positive impact on the three dimensions of burnout [24]. Omrod exhaustion was
assumed to develop ahead of the other dimensions in response to high demands
and overload precipitated towards detachment and negative reactions to people
and the job (depersonalization) which may proceed to feelings of failure or
inadequacy, or a feeling of professional inefficiency. Related to the depersonalization, a burnout syndrome,
a negative feeling manifested towards another person as worthy of personal
troubles, feeling unhappy about themselves, and dissatisfied on the
accomplishments of the job.. Badawy pointed out the serious effects of job
burnout on both the personal life of a person and productivity which include
the characteristic of the work environment and burnout, as assessed using Work
Environment Scale (WES) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). It confirmed
the proposed relationships among the seven components of work environment,
namely: involvement, work cohesion, supervisor’s support, autonomy, work
pressure, physical comfort, and innovation and, stress, and burnout components
[25].
Fimian & Blanton studied classroom stress and
burnout among gifted and talented students and cross-validated Student Stress
Inventory (SSI) with Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) eventually indicated
factorial validity showing that some stress and burnout factors were evident
between stress, burnout, and tedium and, to a degree, quality of school life
variables among gifted and talented students [26].
Studies about burnout and stress have emerged from
various parts of the world utilizing various methods and designs establishing
causes and the effects on the person and on the practice of the profession.
This strengthened the premise that our educational frontrunners are vulnerable
to stress and burnout which adversely affects the quality of the educational
system.
Design,
locus, sampling and respondents
This study utilized a descriptive-survey design. The
researchers intend to gather data regarding the extent of current burnout and
stress management conditions of the teacher [27], to analyse and measure the
association of specific variables in order to predict or explain certain
phenomenon [28]. This research utilizing a quantitative design employed
mathematical models or statistical methods in order to determine their
relationships [29]. To attempt to determine the extent of the relationship
between the burnout level and the stress management competency level of the
secondary teachers in Mandaue City Division, Cebu, Philippines for the School
Year 2016- 1017. The City of Mandaue has twenty seven barangays with twenty
three high school departments but randomly selected to have successfully
involved 47 out of 64 respondents from Don Gerardo Llamera Memorial National
High school, 19 out of 40 from Jagobiao National High school, 13 out of 16 from
Tingub National High school with nineteen (19) high school teachers and 13 out
of 16 from Pagsabungan National High school. The inclusion of the four schools
has no inclusion-exclusion criteria except for being regular- permanent status
of the teacher- respondents in Mandaue City Division and proportionate random
sampling design to have one hundred three (103) high school teachers of the one
hundred thirty nine (139) total high school teachers. The qualified
respondents: a) must be actively teaching, b) a bona fide teacher of the
identified schools c) with provision of an implied consent.
This research recognizes trends and patterns in data.
The variables are not manipulated; rather, they are only identified and are
studied as they occur in a natural setting. A description of the current status
of the teacher’s burnout and stress management competency were made, correlated
burnout level and stress, and management competency of the secondary teachers.
Instruments
The study determined the responses to the research
questions through the utilization of two tools, namely: Maslach’s Burnout
Inventory and the Stress Management Competency Tool. On the first part of the
tool, profiling questions were required which are characteristic of a person’s
professional status: years of teaching experience, number of hours on
stress-related seminars attended and their number of preparations.
Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was validated by the
extensive research that has been conducted in the more than twenty-five years
since its initial publication. Several studies have performed validity tests on
these tools such as the study made in their study entitled Maslach Burnout
Inventory: Factorial validity and Invariance among Romanian Healthcare
Professionals. Also, the US National Library of Medicine conducted a validity
test on the Maslach tool in their study, “Evaluating the Psychometric
Properties of Maslach Tool”.
The Maslach’s Burnout Inventory tool addresses three
general scales: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal
accomplishments. It is composed of three sections with 22 items all in all,
answerable by checking an option coded namely: never (0), a few times per year
(1), once a month(2), a few time per month(2), once a week(4), a few times per
week (5) and every day(6) proceeded with certain guidelines on section A and B
of the tool. A score of 17 or less and 5 or less respectively is considered as
a low level burnout. A score of 18-29 on section A is moderate burnout; beyond
30 is considered high level burnout. For section B, a score of 6-11is moderate
burnout while a score of more than 12 is high burnout. Inversely, on section C,
the score of 33 or less is high level burn-out, 34-39 is moderate burnout,
while obtaining a score of more than 40 is low level burnout.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in United Kingdom
devised the manager’s competency for preventing and reducing stress can be
geared towards identifying the management competencies in preventing and
dealing with work related stress. Moreover, it allows managers to assess
whether they currently possess the behaviours identified as effective for
preventing and reducing stress at work and helps managers reflect on their
behaviour and management styles (Health services Executive, 1996). The Stress
Management Competency Indicator tool comprised four areas, namely: managing
emotions and having integrity, managing and communicating existing and future
work, managing the individual within the team and managing difficult
situations. Each area is composed of twelve to twenty three items depicting a
certain behaviour or competency. To answer the tool, the respondents were
expected to tick a scale of one to five namely strongly disagree (1), disagree
(2), slightly agree(3), agree(4) and strongly agree(5). To interpret the mean
scores, 75% or below is “development need”, 76% to 89% is a reasonable level
and 90% is effective.
The study transmittal letters and consent were
distributed to the respondents, at the same time to the school principals and
the schools division superintendent of Mandaue City Division with questionnaire
and implied consent shall be duly signed by the respondents without further
requirements. The distribution of questionnaires was set on either lunch breaks
from twelve noon to one in the afternoon, at dismissal time after five in the
afternoon or at a time set by the teacher himself or herself ensuring no
interruption of classes with the ensured visibility or connectivity of the
researcher in order to address concerns or questions from the respondents. No
reward or incentives were given in exchange, but the researcher committed to
express gratitude for their participation withheld with utmost confidentiality
and secrecy.
The professional
characteristics of the respondents were tabulated and counted in order to
determine its percentage, tabulated in contingency tables to be treated with
Chi-square with Yate’s Correction when certain cells in the table less than the
frequency of five to remove statistical biases.
Table 1 presents the professional characteristics of the teachers in terms of years of teaching experience, number of hours attended on stress-related seminars and their specific number of preparations.
Table 1: The Professional Characteristics
of the Teachers In Terms of Years of Teaching Experience and their Number of
Preparations.
Professional Characteristics |
Frequency |
Percentage |
|
A. Years of
Teaching Experience |
|||
Less than 1 year to
3 years |
50 |
48% |
|
More than 3 years
to 6 years |
23 |
22% |
|
More than 6 years
to 9 years |
13 |
13% |
|
More than 9 years |
17 |
17% |
|
B. Number of Hours
Attended on Stress-related Seminars |
|||
None to 24 hours |
1 |
1% |
|
More than 24 hours
up to 48 hours |
1 |
1% |
|
C. Number of
Preparations |
|||
2 preparations |
53 |
51% |
|
3 to 4 preparations |
45 |
44% |
|
5 to 6 preparations |
4 |
4% |
|
7 or more
preparations |
1 |
1% |
|
Almost half of respondents or 48% has a teaching
experience of three years or less which is most probably due to the mass hiring
of teachers in the last few years instituted by the Department of Education. In
particular, in the year 2016, 39,002 and in the year 2017, 55,349 positions
were funded in the national budget all throughout the nation. 20% of the
respondents have been serving for more than three years to six years, 27% are
on the profession for more than nine years and 13% represented by teachers
teaching for six to nine years. Jensen reported that new teachers spend more
time than experienced teachers keeping order in the classroom. It was noted as
well that newbies are lower in terms of self-efficacy than experienced teachers
and provide less actual teaching and learning in their classes.
Then it also shows the number of respondents who have
attended seminars in which the topic or content is about stress. Surprisingly,
almost none of the respondents were immersed on any symposia or seminars which
are related to stress management which may have been overlooked by the
administrators of the public education but does not discount the fact that the
teachers may have been exposed to other seminars for purposes of professional
development. In Work life Balance, the low exposure to stress related seminars
implies that teachers are deprived of opportunities to assess their personal
levels of stress, determine its root causes and recognize their own patterns of
stress reaction and discover new ways of dealing with stressful situations,
people and attitudes.
The third part shows the teachers’ number of preparations or subjects taught with most teachers teaching more than one preparation in school. In fact none of them are assigned with only one preparation. A little more than half of the respondents 50% are handling two preparations, 44% are handling three to four, four of the respondents were noted to have been handling five to six, while one was handling seven preparations implying the number of teachers in the system is insufficient despite the massive hiring of teachers knowingly the massive increase in the number of students as well. This magnitude of student population has been seen on the report made by Rappler that some teachers are holding three to four shift classes in order to accommodate the students who wish to enrol resulting to double shift policy in 2004. However, it is observed that teachers teach the same subject at different grade levels. For instance, a math teacher may teach four preparations for Math 7, Math 8, Math 9 and math 10 entails not a real burden the inherent mastery or specialization of the subject. Deped’s objective of specialization matching order upon selection and hiring of teachers has taken effect.
Table 3: The Dominant Burnout
Component Experienced by a Burned out Teacher.
Burnout Component |
Frequency |
Percentage |
Exhaustion |
2 |
2% |
Depersonalization |
21 |
20% |
Lack of Interest |
27 |
26% |
No High Level of Burnout Experienced |
53 |
52% |
Table 3 shows the dominant dimension of burnout that
is experienced by the respondents. Of the 103 respondents, 53 of them have
experienced burnout on at least one of the three dimensions of burnout,
dominantly with lack of interest with 27 out of 53. This implies that when a
teacher is burned out, the most widely affected in the person is her ability to
appreciate the job performance due to tire. Then teachers tend to deviate from
the ideal practice becoming marginal or settling for something less to get job
done with unlikely satisfaction. On particularly instance as observed, mass
promotion allows students to be passed to the next level without
accountability. Based on DepEd Order No. 73 S. 2012, promotion and retention is
made on a per subject basis and not on year level compelling teachers to
promote unequipped students. This practice created a low morale on teachers
which may lead to the leniency of the teachers.
Emotional exhaustion is the least dominant form of
burnout experienced by the teachers. Specifically, 2 % has it as the dominant
component most likely attributed to the presence of support systems available
in the surroundings. When a person becomes upset, being able to vent it out to
peers, to family, friends helped ease the exhaustion out. If a person is
drained emotionally, social support could refill the emptiness and bring back
the person to whole again. Marin & Ramirez stated that the role of three
sources of social support: kin, co-workers, and supervisors were correlated on
the emotional exhaustion of the nursing staff which confirmed the main effect
of kin and the buffering effect of co-workers and supervisors. More immensely,
the innovations employed in the educational system have prevented exhaustion
among teachers. The surge in computerization, institutionalization of required
forms and availability of digital audio visual equipment made teaching job a
little lighter [31].
Table 4: Teachers’ Level of
Competency on Stress Management.
Stress Management Competencies |
Frequency |
Percentage |
Interpretation |
A. Managing
Emotions and Having Integrity |
|||
75 or below% |
27 |
26% |
Development
Need |
76 to 89% |
53 |
52% |
Reasonable |
90% and above |
23 |
22% |
Effective |
B. Managing
and Communicating Future and Existing Work |
|||
75 or below% |
21 |
20% |
Development
Need |
76 to 89% |
56 |
54% |
Reasonable |
90% and above |
26 |
26% |
Effective |
C. Managing
the Individual within the Team |
|||
75 or below% |
21 |
20% |
Development
Need |
76 to 89% |
69 |
67% |
Reasonable |
90% and above |
13 |
13% |
Effective |
D. Reasoning/
Managing Difficult Situations |
|||
75 or below% |
26 |
25% |
Development
Need |
76 to 89% |
48 |
47% |
Reasonable |
90% and above |
29 |
28% |
Effective |
The second part of Table 4 shows the stress management
competency level of the teachers in terms of managing and communicating future
and existing work at a reasonable level which entails proactive work
management, problem solving and an empowering attitude. This cluster in Stress
management is all about managers managing proactively. In the academic
literature, being proactive is referred to as anticipatory, change oriented and
self-initiated in which managers or leaders would have to act in advance of a
future situation to allow them to plan and organize their work and the work of
others, rather than working reactively. 54% of the respondents manifest a
reasonable or fair level of ability to manage their work and the work of others
proactively. These teachers fairly encourage students to participate in class
and fairly deal with problems as soon as they arise. The teacher’s reasonable
level of competence in managing stress specifically on this “communication”
component could be attributed to some practices in the schools where
supervisors or administrators observe teachers and provide them with a pre and
post conference to communicate to them their strengths and inadequacies.
Communicating the lessons to the students is also strengthened through the
advent of multimedia equipment. Laptops or personal computers have evolved to
become a personal necessity among the teachers. In a particular school,
classrooms were installed with projectors to make teachers efficient in
communicating both the objectives and the content of the lessons to the
students. Also, information dissemination has become more efficient. Memoranda,
orders and notices arrive urgently through the advent of internet connection
and technology. In the case of student delinquency, follow-ups are made easy
through cellular or mobile phones messaging, internet connectivity and social
media. This allows teachers to contact parents to communicate anything with
regards to student’s performance efficiently. Furthermore, 20% of the respondents
need more training in order to develop their stress management skills. On the
other hand, 26% of the teachers manifest an effective or high degree of stress
management competency. These effective teachers communicate objectives to
students and develop action plans, monitor the student’s workload on an
on-going basis, encourage students to review organizing work.
The third part of the table shows the stress
management competency level of the teachers in terms of managing an individual
within the team which points to the human side of people management.
Traditional leadership models generally believed that leaders treat their
subordinates as equal, based on the idea that core set of behaviour needed to
be demonstrated to all subordinates. This implies that any behaviour will be
the same or shall be effective for every employee which is contrary to a wide
research base stating that not all employees react the same way to the same
stimulus [33]. This specific component of management comprised teacher’s accessibility,
sociability and empathy.
The table depicts that 6-7% of the respondents, at a
reasonable level of ability to manage the individual members of the team. These
teachers deal fairly when students ask for help and make an effort to find out
what motivates their students. This dominating number of teachers with a
reasonable level of competence could be traced towards those aspects that make
a teacher accessible to students and to parents. The PTA
(Parents-Teachers-Association) has been mobilized nowadays, formed a federation
even at the regional level. Also, connectivity through phones and internet has
made teachers even more accessible to students. Schools, as well, have been
made child-friendly for both elementary and high schools. With this, the child’s
rights become respected and the schools are made to work towards seeking all
children to go to school. This ensures an accessible link between the student
and their parents. Moreover, 13% of them have a high degree of capacity to
avoid inflicting stress among their subordinates. These teachers prefer to
speak to students personally rather than use emails. Teachers can promptly
respond and are readily available follow-up conference, treat the students
fairly, socialize and laugh together at work. On the contrary, 20% of the
respondents need to develop management skills. These teachers do not make any
effort to ask if students are fine, listen to students who ask for help, and
not at all interested in their students’ life outside work.
Finally, Reasoning and Managing Difficult Situations
is the only competency among the four that refers to rare behaviours manifested
teacher or managers during a difficult situation particularly conflict in the
team or through incidents of bullying and harassment. These situations demand
management of behaviour, focus and attention to ensure that situations do not
escalate. The fourth portion of table 4 shows the stress management competency
level of the teachers in terms of reasoning or managing difficult situations
reveals 47% of the respondents belong to the “reasonable category’ to deal with
conflicts heads on objectively and properly. With the implementation of the
Anti-bullying law, teachers become more empowered to address conflicts in class
and reduce the incidences of bullying behaviour through awareness activities
and incorporation of the information into the class discussions. Based on the
DepEd Memorandum 5, S. 2017, the school has the job to address bullying either
off-campus, in campus or cyber bullying. The different preventive programs
created a positive school climate, periodic assessment and monitoring of
student’s perception of bullying, conduct of symposia on how to respond to
bullying and ensure coordination with local government units. Also, conflicts in
schools are reduced through the support of DepEd in its launching of the
declaration of schools as “zones of peace” stressing out importance that
schools and learning centers aid students to learn a range of core competencies
prescribed and to perform with utmost necessity to make schools peaceful and
secure.
The table also depicts that 25% of the teachers needs
to develop their managerial skills in terms of resolving conflicts and in
attending to difficult situations in which a teacher may fail to seek for
medical attention. Furthermore, 28% of the respondents possess a highly
equipped character to resolve difficult situations at the workplace. This type
of teacher addresses bullying and takes ultimate responsibility supporting
students as they go through the experience.
Professional characteristics had long been deemed as a
cause of burnout.
Table 5: Relationship between
professional characteristics and burnout.
Professional Characteristics and Burnout |
X2 |
X2 critical ? =.05 |
Decision |
Interpretation |
A. Years of Teaching Experience |
||||
Emotional exhaustion |
12.77 |
12.59 |
Reject |
Significant |
Depersonalization |
1.02 |
12.59 |
Failed to Reject |
Not Significant |
Lack of interest |
15.01 |
12.59 |
Reject |
Significant |
B. Number of Preparations |
||||
Emotional exhaustion |
2.89 |
9.49 |
Failed to Reject |
Not Significant |
Depersonalization |
2.37 |
9.49 |
Failed to Reject |
Not Significant |
Lack of interest |
0.84 |
9.49 |
Failed to Reject |
Not Significant |
Table 5 shows X2 (12.77) is greater than X2.05,6(12.59),
thus, the null hypothesis is rejected. There is significant relationship
between burnout and the years of teaching experience implying that the years of
teaching experience of teacher has an effect or an association with the level
or degree of emotional burnout. The years that a person gained in the teaching
profession must also be an opportunity to learn and to adopt for methods to
refuel self and prevent being drained. Remembering one’s emotions over time is
at the core of human life experience and all have emotional memories that are
vivid and lasting. After all, experience is the best teacher and best for
experienced teachers to act as mentors to those new in the teaching profession.
Brewer stated the correlation between years of experience and emotional
exhaustion revealed is negative. New teachers need a lot of things to know,
such as what textbooks to use, communicate with parents, deal with students
with behavioural problems, and deal with the colleagues who may also add more
pressure. In some instances, young teachers are left in their classrooms alone
with so much to do with a little support.
On the other hand, lack of interest or sense of
accomplishment and the years of teaching experience revealed that the X2(15.01)
is greater than the X2.05,6(12.59) to mean that the years
in teaching has a bearing on the degree of burnout experienced by the teacher,
more specifically is being satisfied with their work performance. An
experienced teacher is more likely satisfied with his job and the work output
becomes comparably improved over time. On the contrary, a new teacher still
learns how to perfect and to go through a course of experience by mastering the
subject matter knowing that most teachers teach the same subject/s every
another year reducing the preparation time for a certain lesson, improvement in
skills as one repeatedly practices a job, developing maturity and gaining
wisdom. Gesinde & Adejumo studied the effects of age and work experience on
job satisfaction and depersonalization of primary school observed the
significant positive relationship between age and work experience to job
satisfaction.
Among the three components of burnout based on
Maslach’s theory, depersonalization and the number of years of experience has
no bearing since the X2 (1.02) is lesser than the X2.05,6
(12.59). This implies that as one increases his years in the profession, the
depersonalization of a person is not at all affected since this specific
burnout experience is based on the quality of the job and not on the length of
time that one indulges into but not in the length of tenure. Similarly, Gesinde
& Adejumo, depersonalization was not significantly related to the years of
experience.
The second part of the table depicts the relationship
between burnout and the teacher’s number of preparations. All of the computed X2
of the three components, namely, emotional exhaustion X2 (2.89),
depersonalization X2 (2.37), lack of interest X2(0.84)
are lesser than the X2.05,4 (9.488) Though teachers in
the public institutions are mostly given at least two preparations with some up
to six, this does not caused any burnout to the teachers. This is a statistical
proof that burnout, in all its three dimensions are not at all associated with
the number of preparations of the teachers. Jacobs & Dodd in their study
entitled, “Student Burnout as a Function of Personality, Social Support and
Workload revealed that the last aspect of the variable which is workload has a
very little influence over burnout with vocational and academic workloads. Nevertheless,
this coincides with the fact the teachers are assigned to subjects aligned to
their specific field of specializations. Moreover, the continuous hiring and
selection of teacher applicants in the public schools more likely address the
previous mismatched. This method ensures that the students receive learning or
concepts from the best resource persons and these newly hired teachers are
ascertained to teach according to their field specialization. Burnout may not
as well be an issue knowing, these subjects are all Mathematics. At the same
time, the secondary schools in Mandaue City Division are considered medium
sized schools based on student population and teaching faculty so that
distribution of loads become efficient and subjects are more likely to be given
to teachers who specialize the subject.
The capacity or the ability of a person to manage his
job or to manage the stress on his job may be affected by a person’s tenure or
magnitude of loads which is shown in Table 6.
Table 6: Relationship between and
professional characteristics and stress management competencies.
Professional Characteristics and Stress management Competencies |
X2 |
X2cri ? =.05 |
Decision |
Interpretation |
A. Years of
Teaching Experience |
||||
Managing
emotions & having integrity |
12.95 |
12.59 |
Reject |
Significant |
Managing and
communicating existing and future work |
8.35 |
12.59 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing the
individual within the team |
2.71 |
12.59 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing
difficult situations |
8.82 |
12.59 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
B. Number of
Preparations |
||||
Managing
emotions & having integrity |
3.62 |
9.49 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing and communicating
existing and future work |
4.87 |
9.49 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing the
individual within the team |
4.07 |
9.49 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing
difficult situations |
2.17 |
9.49 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
The table on the first rows revealed that the X2
comp (12.95) is greater than the critical value, X2.05,6,
(12.59) There is a significant relationship between years of teaching
experience and managing emotions implying that a person’s emotion matures as
one ages in the practice of his profession and maturity must be a strong
product of experience. Duli (2016) observed that the years of work experience
is an important predictor of burnout and there was a negative correlation
between the two variables. Years of teaching increases, then, emotional
exhaustion is reduced. A teacher becomes proactive as a result of
predictability and cycle of routine activities considering foreseen unwanted
events as threat but rather an opportunity towards promotion and positive
personal growth. In matters of professional integrity, seniority plays a
certain degree of respectability and authority compared to new teachers in the
organization so that oftentimes administrative positions are often designated
to those who have gained much experience on that field, an utmost
consideration.
On the contrary, the number of years that one indulges
in teaching has nothing to do with the teacher’s competency in managing and
communicating future and existing work (X2 = 2.35), ability to
manage individual students within the team or class (X2 = 2.71) and
Managing difficult Situations which are all lesser than the critical value (X2
.05, 4= 12.59). The teacher’s security of tenure is not a guarantee
competence in managing stressful classroom situations. Work Management,
Management of Individual and Conflict Management are definitely aspects of
management that require skills training technically and academically. Unlike
the emotional component of stress management, these three aspects are technical
in nature not merely an effect of tenure. Furthermore, the teacher’s management
needed among the high school students are not as much as those required of
among the learners in the elementary level.
On the other hand, with regard to tenure, the
classroom climate is a minimal opportunity to enhance a teacher’s skill in
conflict management. According to Schneiderman, Ironson & Siegel, the
determinant of stress management skills of workers are not indicated by the
length of experience and by their volume of work but conclusively with
efficiency of the teacher in time management. It was found out that stress
competency is significantly related to time management skills was not
significant towards years of experience [34].
In Part B of the table, Number of preparations, it
reveals that X2comp (3.62; 4.87, 4.07 and 2.17) of
Managing emotions & having integrity, Managing and communicating existing
and future work, Managing the individual within the team and Managing difficult
situations, respectively are all lesser than the critical value X2 .05,4
(9.49) thus, the null hypothesis is “fail to reject”. This means that there is
no evidence of the relationship. The teacher’s ability to manage and avoid
stress in the class is not in any way affected by their teaching loads knowing
that teaching loads are aligned with their fields of mastery plus the
computerization of grade computation. This scraps the myth that teachers are
loaded so much with work. Schneiderman told that the determinants of stress management
skills of workers are neither indicated by the length of experience nor by
their volume of work.
Table 2 presents the level of teacher’s burnout in
terms of the three dimensions of Burnout based on Maslach’s theory. Emotional
exhaustion in which teachers are unmotivated to work and to deal with their
students compared before [30].
Table 2: Level of teacher’s
burnout in terms of the three burnout components.
Burnout Components |
Frequency |
Percentage |
Description |
A. Emotional
Exhaustion |
|||
Total of 17
or less |
49 |
47% |
Low level
burnout |
Total between
18 and 29 |
47 |
46% |
Moderate
burnout |
Total of 30
and over |
7 |
7% |
High level
burnout |
B.
Depersonalization |
|||
Total of 5 or
less |
21 |
20% |
Low level
burnout |
Total between
6 and 11 |
53 |
52% |
Moderate
burnout |
Total of 12
and over |
29 |
28% |
High level
burnout |
C. Lack of
Accomplishments |
|||
Total of 33
or less |
32 |
31% |
High level
burnout |
Total between
34 and 39 |
45 |
44% |
Moderate
burnout |
Total of 40
and over |
26 |
25% |
Low level
burnout |
The table shows that 49% are with a low level burnout
so that the teachers do not seem to feel to work too much for the job and never
finds their job as frustrating. The low level burnout of teachers could be
attributed to some innovative aspects in the field of public education system
like template for lesson are ready to fill out in print or digitally. Also,
institutional forms are now computerized readily available compared to the
traditional manual method employed before. Calculators to compute grades are
replaced with excel- based computation of the equivalent and transmuted grade
automatically. This has been termed as electronic class records in which grades
could be printed immediately and reproduction is rather more convenient on a
manually prepared grade sheets. With teacher workloads significantly lessened,
perhaps resulted to a low level of burnout rating. Teaching- learning process
can be enhanced through the aid of technology. This includes the delivery of
the lessons though Information Communications and Technology. Likewise, from
written to computerized reports, minimized repetition and duplication of
requirements from start such as re-check, check and reproduction of printed
copies.
Moreover, 47% are experiencing a moderate level of
exhaustion which most probably entails the normal attitude and feeling of
anybody else in the organization having bitterness and indifference. Likewise,
7% experiencing a high level of emotional exhaustion from their jobs revealing
that teachers feel emotionally drained as if in the end of the rope which
requires a great deal of effort. Related to Emotional exhaustion, a chronic
state of emotional depletion that results from excessive job or personal
demands and continuous stress is analogous to physical exhaustion. Omrod said
that when a person is working too hard and the work exceeds his physical
strength, he experiences exhaustion and must therefore take a rest in order to
replenish those energy reserves.
Then, 52% experience depersonalization in the burnout
profile of the teachers at a moderate level. Teachers seem to have the tendency
to feel that their students are no longer human beings, but rather they are
viewed as objects as reflected on the responses of the respondents. These
teachers feel moderately tired as they get up in the morning and have to face
another day at work as statistics revealed that teachers in the area are not
totally free from being depersonalized due to the volume of students, deadlines
and paperwork. Social media involved teacher socialization as a neutralizing
action. Toarmina discussed that as several approaches to burnout were proposed,
specifically on lack of sense of accomplishment in which four activities were
correlated to this burnout component namely job training, socialization, co-worker
support and organizational understanding have a strong negative correlation to
burnout- lack of accomplishment.
On the contrary, 29% of the teachers are highly
depersonalized, the second component of burnout according to Maslach and a
psychological withdrawal from relationships and the formation of a negative and
callous attitude. This occurs as an experience where one becomes an observer of
himself or herself and one that has evolved into a different person than what
he initially perceived himself to be. This withdrawal could have been
manifested to social media deviation. According to Bernard, stress can be
reduced with social media. While Friedman reported that social media can
actually make an individual feel less stressed. Greene said Philippines are in
the 90th place in the 2013 Global Innovation. Technological Innovation takes
root in the Philippines. Camus furthered that Philippines is world’s number one
in terms of time spent in social media.
Moreover, 29% of the teachers have low level of depersonalization
implying that a small number of teachers are insensitive and uncaring except to
some of students. Kristensen noted that the depersonalization, exhaustion and
dissatisfaction of teachers were attributed to loss of idealism and unrealistic
deadlines.
The third component, lack of accomplishment refers to
a decrease in the feelings of competence and productivity at work in which 44%
of the respondents were experiencing moderate level of burnout, certainly a
degree of dissatisfaction with accomplishments. Despite the work demands in a
public institution, the levels of burnout were not really elevated which could
be attributed to the school programs and salary and school mitigating
discipline programs. Teachers are compensated particularly with first part of
the three-tranche increase from 2016-2019 as depicted in the Salary
Standardization Law IV. According to Trand(n.d.) in his Stress and Compensation
on Work and Productivity on Family Planning Counselling in Tomonhon, North
Sulawesi, compensation is a dominant variable influencing labor productivity.
School Programs like Child Friendly School System, (UNESCO, 2009), Zone of
Peace (Deped Order No. 44,S. 5), and Anti-bullying act (R.A. 10627) signed by
Benigno Aquino III on September 6, 2013 which requires all elementary and
secondary schools in the country to adopt an anti-bullying policy. Awareness of
the learners of these programs and law should have mitigated bullying and other
undesirable events in school and in the community.
On the other hand, 25 of these respondents are on a
low level of burnout and 31% are experiencing a high level of burnout which is
alarming that is feeling dissatisfied with the job may lead to handle emotional
problems in an undesirable manner, feeling exhausted of energy till to hardly
understand the feelings of students.
Table 3: The Dominant Burnout
Component Experienced by a Burned out Teacher.
Burnout Component |
Frequency |
Percentage |
Exhaustion |
2 |
2% |
Depersonalization |
21 |
20% |
Lack of Interest |
27 |
26% |
No High Level of Burnout Experienced |
53 |
52% |
Table 3 shows the dominant dimension of burnout that
is experienced by the respondents. Of the 103 respondents, 53 of them have
experienced burnout on at least one of the three dimensions of burnout,
dominantly with lack of interest with 27 out of 53. This implies that when a
teacher is burned out, the most widely affected in the person is her ability to
appreciate the job performance due to tire. Then teachers tend to deviate from
the ideal practice becoming marginal or settling for something less to get job
done with unlikely satisfaction. On particularly instance as observed, mass
promotion allows students to be passed to the next level without
accountability. Based on DepEd Order No. 73 S. 2012, promotion and retention is
made on a per subject basis and not on year level compelling teachers to
promote unequipped students. This practice created a low morale on teachers
which may lead to the leniency of the teachers.
Emotional exhaustion is the least dominant form of
burnout experienced by the teachers. Specifically, 2 % has it as the dominant
component most likely attributed to the presence of support systems available
in the surroundings. When a person becomes upset, being able to vent it out to
peers, to family, friends helped ease the exhaustion out. If a person is
drained emotionally, social support could refill the emptiness and bring back
the person to whole again. Marin & Ramirez stated that the role of three
sources of social support: kin, co-workers, and supervisors were correlated on
the emotional exhaustion of the nursing staff which confirmed the main effect
of kin and the buffering effect of co-workers and supervisors. More immensely,
the innovations employed in the educational system have prevented exhaustion
among teachers. The surge in computerization, institutionalization of required
forms and availability of digital audio visual equipment made teaching job a
little lighter [31].
Table 4: Teachers’ Level of
Competency on Stress Management.
Stress Management Competencies |
Frequency |
Percentage |
Interpretation |
A. Managing
Emotions and Having Integrity |
|||
75 or below% |
27 |
26% |
Development
Need |
76 to 89% |
53 |
52% |
Reasonable |
90% and above |
23 |
22% |
Effective |
B. Managing
and Communicating Future and Existing Work |
|||
75 or below% |
21 |
20% |
Development
Need |
76 to 89% |
56 |
54% |
Reasonable |
90% and above |
26 |
26% |
Effective |
C. Managing
the Individual within the Team |
|||
75 or below% |
21 |
20% |
Development
Need |
76 to 89% |
69 |
67% |
Reasonable |
90% and above |
13 |
13% |
Effective |
D. Reasoning/
Managing Difficult Situations |
|||
75 or below% |
26 |
25% |
Development
Need |
76 to 89% |
48 |
47% |
Reasonable |
90% and above |
29 |
28% |
Effective |
The second part of Table 4 shows the stress management
competency level of the teachers in terms of managing and communicating future
and existing work at a reasonable level which entails proactive work
management, problem solving and an empowering attitude. This cluster in Stress
management is all about managers managing proactively. In the academic
literature, being proactive is referred to as anticipatory, change oriented and
self-initiated in which managers or leaders would have to act in advance of a
future situation to allow them to plan and organize their work and the work of
others, rather than working reactively. 54% of the respondents manifest a
reasonable or fair level of ability to manage their work and the work of others
proactively. These teachers fairly encourage students to participate in class
and fairly deal with problems as soon as they arise. The teacher’s reasonable
level of competence in managing stress specifically on this “communication”
component could be attributed to some practices in the schools where
supervisors or administrators observe teachers and provide them with a pre and
post conference to communicate to them their strengths and inadequacies.
Communicating the lessons to the students is also strengthened through the
advent of multimedia equipment. Laptops or personal computers have evolved to
become a personal necessity among the teachers. In a particular school,
classrooms were installed with projectors to make teachers efficient in
communicating both the objectives and the content of the lessons to the
students. Also, information dissemination has become more efficient. Memoranda,
orders and notices arrive urgently through the advent of internet connection
and technology. In the case of student delinquency, follow-ups are made easy
through cellular or mobile phones messaging, internet connectivity and social
media. This allows teachers to contact parents to communicate anything with
regards to student’s performance efficiently. Furthermore, 20% of the respondents
need more training in order to develop their stress management skills. On the
other hand, 26% of the teachers manifest an effective or high degree of stress
management competency. These effective teachers communicate objectives to
students and develop action plans, monitor the student’s workload on an
on-going basis, encourage students to review organizing work.
The third part of the table shows the stress
management competency level of the teachers in terms of managing an individual
within the team which points to the human side of people management.
Traditional leadership models generally believed that leaders treat their
subordinates as equal, based on the idea that core set of behaviour needed to
be demonstrated to all subordinates. This implies that any behaviour will be
the same or shall be effective for every employee which is contrary to a wide
research base stating that not all employees react the same way to the same
stimulus [33]. This specific component of management comprised teacher’s accessibility,
sociability and empathy.
The table depicts that 6-7% of the respondents, at a
reasonable level of ability to manage the individual members of the team. These
teachers deal fairly when students ask for help and make an effort to find out
what motivates their students. This dominating number of teachers with a
reasonable level of competence could be traced towards those aspects that make
a teacher accessible to students and to parents. The PTA
(Parents-Teachers-Association) has been mobilized nowadays, formed a federation
even at the regional level. Also, connectivity through phones and internet has
made teachers even more accessible to students. Schools, as well, have been
made child-friendly for both elementary and high schools. With this, the child’s
rights become respected and the schools are made to work towards seeking all
children to go to school. This ensures an accessible link between the student
and their parents. Moreover, 13% of them have a high degree of capacity to
avoid inflicting stress among their subordinates. These teachers prefer to
speak to students personally rather than use emails. Teachers can promptly
respond and are readily available follow-up conference, treat the students
fairly, socialize and laugh together at work. On the contrary, 20% of the
respondents need to develop management skills. These teachers do not make any
effort to ask if students are fine, listen to students who ask for help, and
not at all interested in their students’ life outside work.
Finally, Reasoning and Managing Difficult Situations
is the only competency among the four that refers to rare behaviours manifested
teacher or managers during a difficult situation particularly conflict in the
team or through incidents of bullying and harassment. These situations demand
management of behaviour, focus and attention to ensure that situations do not
escalate. The fourth portion of table 4 shows the stress management competency
level of the teachers in terms of reasoning or managing difficult situations
reveals 47% of the respondents belong to the “reasonable category’ to deal with
conflicts heads on objectively and properly. With the implementation of the
Anti-bullying law, teachers become more empowered to address conflicts in class
and reduce the incidences of bullying behaviour through awareness activities
and incorporation of the information into the class discussions. Based on the
DepEd Memorandum 5, S. 2017, the school has the job to address bullying either
off-campus, in campus or cyber bullying. The different preventive programs
created a positive school climate, periodic assessment and monitoring of
student’s perception of bullying, conduct of symposia on how to respond to
bullying and ensure coordination with local government units. Also, conflicts in
schools are reduced through the support of DepEd in its launching of the
declaration of schools as “zones of peace” stressing out importance that
schools and learning centers aid students to learn a range of core competencies
prescribed and to perform with utmost necessity to make schools peaceful and
secure.
The table also
depicts that 25% of the teachers needs to develop their managerial skills in
terms of resolving conflicts and in attending to difficult situations in which
a teacher may fail to seek
Professional characteristics had long been deemed as a
cause of burnout.
Table 5: Relationship between
professional characteristics and burnout.
Professional Characteristics and Burnout |
X2 |
X2 critical ? =.05 |
Decision |
Interpretation |
A. Years of Teaching Experience |
||||
Emotional exhaustion |
12.77 |
12.59 |
Reject |
Significant |
Depersonalization |
1.02 |
12.59 |
Failed to Reject |
Not Significant |
Lack of interest |
15.01 |
12.59 |
Reject |
Significant |
B. Number of Preparations |
||||
Emotional exhaustion |
2.89 |
9.49 |
Failed to Reject |
Not Significant |
Depersonalization |
2.37 |
9.49 |
Failed to Reject |
Not Significant |
Lack of interest |
0.84 |
9.49 |
Failed to Reject |
Not Significant |
Table 5 shows X2 (12.77) is greater than X2.05,6(12.59),
thus, the null hypothesis is rejected. There is significant relationship
between burnout and the years of teaching experience implying that the years of
teaching experience of teacher has an effect or an association with the level
or degree of emotional burnout. The years that a person gained in the teaching
profession must also be an opportunity to learn and to adopt for methods to
refuel self and prevent being drained. Remembering one’s emotions over time is
at the core of human life experience and all have emotional memories that are
vivid and lasting. After all, experience is the best teacher and best for
experienced teachers to act as mentors to those new in the teaching profession.
Brewer stated the correlation between years of experience and emotional
exhaustion revealed is negative. New teachers need a lot of things to know,
such as what textbooks to use, communicate with parents, deal with students
with behavioural problems, and deal with the colleagues who may also add more
pressure. In some instances, young teachers are left in their classrooms alone
with so much to do with a little support.
On the other hand, lack of interest or sense of
accomplishment and the years of teaching experience revealed that the X2(15.01)
is greater than the X2.05,6(12.59) to mean that the years
in teaching has a bearing on the degree of burnout experienced by the teacher,
more specifically is being satisfied with their work performance. An
experienced teacher is more likely satisfied with his job and the work output
becomes comparably improved over time. On the contrary, a new teacher still
learns how to perfect and to go through a course of experience by mastering the
subject matter knowing that most teachers teach the same subject/s every
another year reducing the preparation time for a certain lesson, improvement in
skills as one repeatedly practices a job, developing maturity and gaining
wisdom. Gesinde & Adejumo studied the effects of age and work experience on
job satisfaction and depersonalization of primary school observed the
significant positive relationship between age and work experience to job
satisfaction.
Among the three components of burnout based on
Maslach’s theory, depersonalization and the number of years of experience has
no bearing since the X2 (1.02) is lesser than the X2.05,6
(12.59). This implies that as one increases his years in the profession, the
depersonalization of a person is not at all affected since this specific
burnout experience is based on the quality of the job and not on the length of
time that one indulges into but not in the length of tenure. Similarly, Gesinde
& Adejumo, depersonalization was not significantly related to the years of
experience.
The second part of the table depicts the relationship
between burnout and the teacher’s number of preparations. All of the computed X2
of the three components, namely, emotional exhaustion X2 (2.89),
depersonalization X2 (2.37), lack of interest X2(0.84)
are lesser than the X2.05,4 (9.488) Though teachers in
the public institutions are mostly given at least two preparations with some up
to six, this does not caused any burnout to the teachers. This is a statistical
proof that burnout, in all its three dimensions are not at all associated with
the number of preparations of the teachers. Jacobs & Dodd in their study
entitled, “Student Burnout as a Function of Personality, Social Support and
Workload revealed that the last aspect of the variable which is workload has a
very little influence over burnout with vocational and academic workloads. Nevertheless,
this coincides with the fact the teachers are assigned to subjects aligned to
their specific field of specializations. Moreover, the continuous hiring and
selection of teacher applicants in the public schools more likely address the
previous mismatched. This method ensures that the students receive learning or
concepts from the best resource persons and these newly hired teachers are
ascertained to teach according to their field specialization. Burnout may not
as well be an issue knowing, these subjects are all Mathematics. At the same
time, the secondary schools in Mandaue City Division are considered medium
sized schools based on student population and teaching faculty so that
distribution of loads become efficient and subjects are more likely to be given
to teachers who specialize the subject.
The capacity or the ability of a person to manage his
job or to manage the stress on his job may be affected by a person’s tenure or
magnitude of loads which is shown in Table 6.
Table 6: Relationship between and
professional characteristics and stress management competencies.
Professional Characteristics and Stress management Competencies |
X2 |
X2cri ? =.05 |
Decision |
Interpretation |
A. Years of
Teaching Experience |
||||
Managing
emotions & having integrity |
12.95 |
12.59 |
Reject |
Significant |
Managing and
communicating existing and future work |
8.35 |
12.59 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing the
individual within the team |
2.71 |
12.59 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing
difficult situations |
8.82 |
12.59 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
B. Number of
Preparations |
||||
Managing
emotions & having integrity |
3.62 |
9.49 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing and communicating
existing and future work |
4.87 |
9.49 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing the
individual within the team |
4.07 |
9.49 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing
difficult situations |
2.17 |
9.49 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
The table on the first rows revealed that the X2
comp (12.95) is greater than the critical value, X2.05,6,
(12.59) There is a significant relationship between years of teaching
experience and managing emotions implying that a person’s emotion matures as
one ages in the practice of his profession and maturity must be a strong
product of experience. Duli (2016) observed that the years of work experience
is an important predictor of burnout and there was a negative correlation
between the two variables. Years of teaching increases, then, emotional
exhaustion is reduced. A teacher becomes proactive as a result of
predictability and cycle of routine activities considering foreseen unwanted
events as threat but rather an opportunity towards promotion and positive
personal growth. In matters of professional integrity, seniority plays a
certain degree of respectability and authority compared to new teachers in the
organization so that oftentimes administrative positions are often designated
to those who have gained much experience on that field, an utmost
consideration.
On the contrary, the number of years that one indulges
in teaching has nothing to do with the teacher’s competency in managing and
communicating future and existing work (X2 = 2.35), ability to
manage individual students within the team or class (X2 = 2.71) and
Managing difficult Situations which are all lesser than the critical value (X2
.05, 4= 12.59). The teacher’s security of tenure is not a guarantee
competence in managing stressful classroom situations. Work Management,
Management of Individual and Conflict Management are definitely aspects of
management that require skills training technically and academically. Unlike
the emotional component of stress management, these three aspects are technical
in nature not merely an effect of tenure. Furthermore, the teacher’s management
needed among the high school students are not as much as those required of
among the learners in the elementary level.
On the other hand, with regard to tenure, the
classroom climate is a minimal opportunity to enhance a teacher’s skill in
conflict management. According to Schneiderman, Ironson & Siegel, the
determinant of stress management skills of workers are not indicated by the
length of experience and by their volume of work but conclusively with
efficiency of the teacher in time management. It was found out that stress
competency is significantly related to time management skills was not
significant towards years of experience [34].
In Part B of the table, Number of preparations, it
reveals that X2comp (3.62; 4.87, 4.07 and 2.17) of
Managing emotions & having integrity, Managing and communicating existing
and future work, Managing the individual within the team and Managing difficult
situations, respectively are all lesser than the critical value X2 .05,4
(9.49) thus, the null hypothesis is “fail to reject”. This means that there is
no evidence of the relationship. The teacher’s ability to manage and avoid
stress in the class is not in any way affected by their teaching loads knowing
that teaching loads are aligned with their fields of mastery plus the
computerization of grade computation. This scraps the myth that teachers are
loaded so much with work. Schneiderman told that the determinants of stress management
skills of workers are neither indicated by the length of experience nor by
their volume of work.
It has been believed that burnout leads to stress just
as stressors could exhaust a person. The table above describes the relationship
between burnout and stress management competencies. For the component of
burnout, emotional exhaustion with subcomponents namely, Managing emotions
& having integrity (X2= 0.59), Managing and communicating
existing and future work (X2= 1.66), Managing the individual within
the team ( X2= 3.55), Managing difficult situations (X2=
2.17) are all lesser than critical value X2 .05,4, null
hypothesis is “fail to reject” and not significant. One’s ability to manage
stress, in all components of stress management, is not in any way related to
one’s state of emotional exhaustion. The more competent the person is not a
guarantee of being free of exhaustion. Both variables are deemed independent of
each other. Emotional exhaustion proceeds as part of a stressful job,
manageable by an affective or emotional approach and not by stress management
skills. Hobfall & Shirom claimed that burnout and stress management at home
and in the workplace, exhaustion is positively correlated with stress
management on foreseen stressors and a negative correlation on present
stressors so that exhaustion results not on the basis of a person’s competence
to counter a current stress but on a foreseen or upcoming stressor.
The second part of table 6 shows the relationship
between depersonalization and stress management competency. The table shows
that the computed values X2(4.7; 1.55; 3.36) of managing emotions
and depersonalization, managing and communicating future and existing work, and
managing the individual within the team, respectively, are lesser than the
critical value X2 .05, 4= 9.49. Thus the null hypothesis
is “fail to reject. Emotional exhaustion, all the components of Stress
Management Competency is not related to depersonalization and self-change as a
response to burnout is not affected by any level of stress management
competency. The Cleveland Clinic Foundation (2016) reported that
depersonalization is not necessarily to be detached from reality but a
detachment from one’s thoughts, feelings and or disconnection from the
surroundings. In many cases, the problem resolves on its own. The goal of
treatment is to address all stressors associated with it which best depends on
the individual, the nature of triggers and the severity of the symptoms. Therefore,
to manage depersonalization is not on conquering stress, but rather on
identifying and avoiding it.
Table 7: Relationship between
burnout and stress management competencies.
Burnout and Stress Management Competencies |
X2 |
X2 crit ?=.05 |
Decision |
Interpretation |
Emotional
Exhaustion and Stress Management Competencies |
||||
Managing
emotions & having integrity |
0.59 |
9.49 |
Failed To
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing and
communicating existing and future work |
1.66 |
9.49 |
Failed To
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing the
individual within the team |
3.55 |
9.49 |
Failed To
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing
difficult situations |
2.17 |
9.49 |
Failed To
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Depersonalization
And Stress Management Competencies |
||||
Managing
emotions & having integrity |
4.70 |
9.49 |
Failed To
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing and
communicating existing and future work |
1.55 |
9.49 |
Failed To
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing the
individual within the team |
3.36 |
9.49 |
Failed To
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing
difficult situations |
0.71 |
9.49 |
Failed To
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Lack of
Interest And Stress Management Competencies |
||||
Managing
emotions & having integrity |
5.42 |
9.49 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing and
communicating existing and future work |
7.84 |
9.49 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
Managing the
individual within the team |
9.79 |
9.49 |
Reject |
Significant |
Managing
difficult situations |
6.51 |
9.49 |
Failed to
Reject |
Not
Significant |
The third portion of Table 7 shows the relationship between
lack of accomplishments and stress management competency in which managing
emotions and having integrity (X2= 5.42), managing and communicating
existing work (X2= 7.84), and managing difficult situation (X2 =
6.51). Since all computed X2 values are lesser than the tabled value
(X2.05, 4= 9.49, the null hypothesis is rejected.
Competent in managing emotions, managing existing work and managing difficult
situation do not guarantee that a teacher will always be satisfied with job
outputs. Lack of accomplishment and managing the individual with X2
(9.79) is greater than the critical value (X2= 9.49) entails that
there is an association and significant. Cris (2013) revealed that utilizing
the burnout scale and conflict resolution survey tool, job satisfaction is
associated with conflict management in work areas could improve satisfaction in
the workplace.
Seemingly, the three different components are
self-directed and group-oriented in nature, whereas “managing the individual”
pertains to literally one and that competent at the level of managing a single
person as being a unique to learn to appreciate his own uniqueness through
solitary encounter which yields appreciation from the students becoming a
source of a sense of accomplishment and worthiness in the field of work. The
results of this study yielded a similar result to that of Chris Lloyd revealed
that managing people in an institution positively correlates with a person’s
sense of fulfilment in the performance of the jobs, or job satisfaction is
proportional to the level of the worker’s ability to manage stress.
The years of experience of the
teachers positively correlates with Stress Management Competency while burnout
defers. Secondary school teachers in Mandaue City Division are most probably in
the dynamic transformation phase mitigating burnout and stress among teachers.
This transformation phase is the shift the earlier practices, management and
policies which may include adaptation of the new trends particularly in educational
technology, policy making and implementation based of laws of the land,
personal and professional development through annual in-service trainings , and
financial capacitation of the teachers through Salary Grade Standardization
which seemingly proved that Filipino teachers in some parts of the world are
able to perform well when motivated with better salary. Likewise, the
Department of Education shall endlessly support the teachers to be efficient
and effective especially in the empowerment of teachers in terms of technology
which has contributed much to the speed-up facility of teachers in disposing
their responsibilities, a reasonable cause to sustain teacher computer literacy
and instructional materials adequacy. Finally, programs to promulgate classroom
discipline so that teachers can smoothly go through their lessons every day.
Truly, experience is the best teacher.
The Determinants of Burnout Model
depicts that the burnout experience of a person is affected by the number of
years of teaching experience and competency in managing stress. Burnout becomes
preventable for a wise worker as years pass by and as experience broadens The
two dimensions of Maslach’s theory (depersonalization and emotional exhaustion)
were related to teaching years significantly so that Department of Education
must devise programs or a system to reduce the turnover rate of the teaching
profession.
Burnout and Stress Management
Competencies are not completely related, limited only to the feelings of lack
of accomplishment and managing the individual within the team. Appreciation of
the uniqueness of the person as seen on teacher competence on managing the
learner as an individual is a way to appreciate of one’s uniqueness in which
job satisfaction stems accessibility, sociability and empathy which are key
ingredients in being happy and satisfied at work.
The
author has no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with a financial
interest in or financial
with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript
There
is no conflict of interest.