A Phenomenological Study of EFL Teachers' Job Burnout: The Case of Private Language Institutes in Iran
Subject Areas : Research in English Language PedagogyElham Mohammadi 1 , Mansooreh Amiri 2
1 - English Language Department, University of Zanjan, Iran
2 - English Language Department, Lorestan University, Iran
Keywords: phenomenology, EFL teachers, Peer Support Groups, private language institutes, job burnout,
Abstract :
Qualified human resources are valuable capital for the growth and development of organizations. Among the factors influencing the quality of human resources (e.g. teachers) is Job Burnout. This study aimed at probing the underlying layers of job burnout of the teachers practicing in Iranian private language institutes. To do so, a two-phase design was applied including quantitative and phenomenological qualitative methods. The data were collected through the Maslach Burnout Inventory questionnaire and one-by-one semi-structured interviews. The results of the first stage demonstrated that the participants were moderately burned out. Next, 20 (10 males & 10 females) EFL teachers with at least five years of experience were invited to take part in the interview. After confirming the saturation of data, the researcher analyzed the transcriptions and four main themes, and 16 sub-themes emerged. The results encompassed the definition of burnout, its sources, instances and consequences, and possible strategies to cope with the phenomenon. Private language institute administrators and managers can benefit from the implications of this study by taking due measures like social and emotional support and forming peer support groups to reduce burnout among their employees.
Ahola, K., & Hakanen, J. (2007). Job strain, burnout, and depressive symptoms: A prospective study among dentists. Journal of Affective Disorders, 104(1-3), 103-110.
Aloe, A., Amo, L., & Shanahan, M. (2014). Classroom management self-efficacy and burnout: A multivariate meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 26(1), 101-126.
Amini Faskhodi, A., & Siyyari, M. (2018). Dimensions of work engagement and teacher burnout: A study of relations among Iranian EFL teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 43(1), 78-93.
Atmaca, Ç. (2017). A burning issue among English teachers: Reflections of in-service teachers on job satisfaction and burnout. ELT Research Journal, 6(1), 89-115.
Bianchi, R., Schonfeld, I. S., & Laurent, E. (2015). Burnout–depression overlap: A review. Clinical Psychology Review, 36, 28-41.
Chen, J. (2010). Chinese middle school teacher job satisfaction and its relationships with teacher moving. Asia Pacific Education Review, 11(1), 263-272.
Chong, V. K., & Monroe, G. S. (2015). The impact of the antecedents and consequences of job burnout on junior accountants' turnover intentions: A structural equation modeling approach. Accounting & Finance, 55(1), 105-132.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2017). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches. (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Farber, B. A. (1991). Crisis in education: Stress and burnout in the American teacher. Jossey-Bass.
Farshi, S. S., & Omranzadeh, F. (2014). The effect of gender, education level, and marital status on Iranian EFL teachers’ burnout level. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 3(5), 128-133.
Fernet, C., Guay, F., Sene´cal, C., & Austin, S. (2012). Predicting intraindividual changes in teacher burnout: The role of perceived school environment and motivational factors. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28, 514–525.
Ghanizadeh, A., & Ghonsooly, B. (2014). A tripartite model of EFL teacher attributions, burnout, and self-regulation: toward the prospects of effective teaching. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 13(2), 145-166.
Ghanizadeh, A., & Jahedizadeh, S. (2015). Teacher burnout: A review of sources and ramifications. British Journal of Education, Society and Behavioural Science, 6(1), 24-39.
Ghanizadeh, A., & Jahedizadeh, S. (2016). EFL teachers’ teaching style, creativity, and burnout: A path analysis approach. Cogent Education, 3(1), 115-127.
Ghazalbash, N., & Afghari, A. (2015). Relationship between burnout and reflective teaching among EFL teachers. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 3(12), 41-51.
Ghenghesh, P. (2013). Job satisfaction and motivation: what makes teachers tick? British Journal of Education, Society and Behavioral Science, 3(4), 456-66.
Gholami, L. (2015). Teacher self-efficacy and teacher burnout: A study of relations. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 60(16), 83-86.
Grayson, J. L., & Alvarez, H. K. (2008). School climate factors relating to teacher burnout: A mediator model. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(5), 1349-1363.
Gruenert, S., & Whitaker, T. (2015). School culture rewired: How to define, assess, and transform it. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Gürbüz, F. G., & Dede, E. (2018). Relationship between emotional labor, perceived school climate and emotional exhaustion: A study on public school teachers. International Journal of Business and Applied Social Science, 4(3), 1-11. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-56637-7
Hakanen, J. J., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2012). Do burnout and work engagement predict depressive symptoms and life satisfaction? A three-wave seven-year prospective study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 141(2-3), 415-424. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2012.02.043
Javadi, F. (2014). On the relationship between teacher autonomy and feeling of burnout among Iranian EFL teachers. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98, 770-774. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.48
Khajavy, G. H., Ghonsooly, B., & Fatemi, A. H. (2017). Testing a burnout model based on affective-motivational factors among EFL teachers. Current Psychology, 36(2), 339-349.
Khani, R., & Mirzaee, A. (2015). How do self-efficacy, contextual variables, and stressors affect teacher burnout in an EFL context? Educational Psychology, 35(1), 93-109.
Kulavuz-Onal, D., & Tatar, S. (2017). Teacher burnout and participation in professional learning activities: Perspectives from university English language instructors in Turkey. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 13(1), 283-303.
Larrivee, B. (2012). Cultivating teacher renewal: Guarding against stress and burnout. Landham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education Publication.
Maslach, C., Jackson, S. E., Leiter, M. P., Schaufeli, W. B., & Schwab, R. L. (1986). Maslach burnout inventory (Vol. 21, pp. 3463-3464). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
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 (INUJFE), 10(2), 39-52.
Motallebzadeh, K., Ashraf, H., & Yazdi, M. T. (2014). On the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ burnout and self-efficacy. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98, 1255-1262.
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Nadeem, M., Shaheen Rana, M., Hameed Lone, A., Maqboo, S., Naz, K., & Ali, A. (2011). Teacher’s competencies and factors affecting the performance of female teachers in Bahawalpur (Southern Punjab) Pakistan. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(19), 217-222.
Nayernia, A., & Babayan, Z. (2019). EFL teacher burnout and self-assessed language proficiency: Exploring possible relationships. Language Testing in Asia, 9(1), 1-16. doi: 10.1186/s40468-019-0079-6
Perrone, F., Player, D., & Youngs, P. (2019). Administrative climate, early career teacher burnout, and turnover. Journal of School Leadership, 29(3), 191-209. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052684619836823
Pishghadam, R., Adamson, B., Sadafian, S. S., & Kan, F. L. (2014). Conceptions of assessment and teacher burnout. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 21(1), 34-51.
Pressley, T. (2021). Factors contributing to teacher burnout during COVID-19. Educational Researcher. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X211004138
Raciala (Pohaci), A., Rus, M., Sandu, M. L., & Rus, C. V. (2021). Burn-out syndrome and teacher job satisfaction. Technium Social Sciences Journal, 20(1), 600–611. Retrieved from https://techniumscience.com/index.php/socialsciences/article/view/3601
Ratcliff, N. J., Jones, C. R., Costner, R. H., Savage-Davis, E., & Hunt, G. H. (2010). The elephant in the classroom: The impact of misbehavior on classroom climate. Education, 131(2), 306-314.
Roohani, A., & Dayeri, K. (2019). On the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers' burnout and motivation: A mixed-methods study. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 7(1), 77-99.
Rostami, S., Ghanizadeh, A., & Ghonsooly, B. (2015). External factors affecting second language motivation: The role of teacher burnout and family influence. Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 18(2), 165-187.
Salehi, H., & Taghavi, E (2015).Teachers' job satisfaction and their attitude toward their learners in the case of Iranian EFL teachers. JOELL, 2(2), 14-26.
Salvagioni, D. A., Melanda, F. N., Mesas, A. E., Gonza´lez, A. D., Gabani, F. L., & Andrade, S. M. (2017). Physical, psychological and occupational consequences of job burnout: A systematic review of prospective studies. PLoS ONE 12(10), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0185781
Soodmand Afshar, H., & Doosti, M. (2015). An investigation into factors contributing to Iranian secondary school English teachers’ job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Research Papers in Education, 31(3), 274-298.
Takahashi, A. M. (2016). Job stress in Japanese academia: The role of relative income, time allocation by task, and children. Journal of Asian Economics, 43(2), 12-17.
Vaezi, S., & Fallah, N. (2011). The relationship between emotional intelligence and burnout among Iranian EFL teachers. Journal of Language Teaching & Research, 2(5), 1122-1129. doi:10.4304/jltr.2.5.1122-1129
Zhaleh, K., Ghonsooly, B., & Pishghadam, R. (2018). Effects of conceptions of intelligence and ambiguity tolerance on teacher burnout: A case of Iranian EFL teachers. Research in Applied Linguistics, 9(2), 118-140.