2009 Volume 12 Issue 2 Pages 53-60
The purpose of this questionnaire study was to investigate relations between teacher burnout and other factors in Special Needs Education. Questionnaires were distributed to 206 elementary school teachers in charge of mainstream classrooms. The survey consisted of the following scales: the burnout tendency scale, the job environmental stressor scale, the sense of burden scale in Special Needs Education, and the self-efficacy scale. Other items were presence/absence of handicapped pupils, gender of teacher and teaching experience in years. Results showed that: (a) No difference was seen for teacher's burnout scores according to presence or absence of handicapped pupils in the classroom. But "Isolation" scores were lower for teachers having handicapped students than for those without. (b) An examination by gender showed that male teachers with handicapped pupils had higher scores for "Student guidance" than those without handicapped pupils. (c) An examination for years of teaching experience and presence of handicapped children showed that medium experience/handicapped students present group had lower scores on "Conflict with administrators" than the medium experience/handicapped pupils absent group. The medium experience/handicapped pupils present group scored higher than the medium experience/absent group on "student guidance". (d) the burnout tendency model was examined using an analysis of covariance structures and indicated a significant pass from environmental stressor to burnout and an office environmental stressor via the sense of burden for Special Needs Education. Negative perceptions about the workplace environment may have influenced uneasiness and a feeling of burden regarding Special Needs Education.
