The Perceptions of Primary Education Teachers on Their Occupational Burnout and the Contribution of the School Principal to Its Coping

Abstract

Contemporary and very intense pace of life and work has highlighted the importance of studying burnout syndrome that is currently used to describe a wide range of jobs and occupations. The purpose of the research is to examine the perceptions of primary education teachers about the reasons that cause burnout, as well as the measures taken by the principal in order to cope it. The research was carried out between February 2019 and April 2019 with the method of an anonymous self-completing questionnaire. All teachers working in school units, regardless of their specialty, were selected from the schools belonging to the Regional Unit of Kavala in Greece. A number was assigned to each unit, which was then recorded in a statistical table. From this table, 30 numbers were randomly selected representing 30 different schools, irrespective of their location and organisation. The sample of the research consists of 324 Primary Education teachers. The findings revealed that teachers do not feel particularly professionally exhausted or emotionally exhausted due to their profession, but instead they feel creative, believe that their goals are achieved and are willing to carry out their educational work - duty. Furthermore, as far as the feeling of personal achievement and satisfaction that teachers feel is concerned, the attitude of the principal and his/her contribution to the effectiveness of the educational leadership play an important role.