Burnout among French immersion teachers in British Columbia, Canada

This study investigated teacher burnout in 15 French immersion schools in British Columbia, Canada. The specific goals of this study were to examine teacher burnout, depressive symptoms, and coping strategies in a variety of school settings at the elementary levels in French immersion. The Maslach Burnout Inventory -- Educators Survey (MBI-ES), an open-ended questionnaire, and a Likert-Type survey developed by the researcher were the instruments used for this study. During the first phase of the study, the Maslach Burnout Inventory was mailed to 320 randomly selected teachers from the 1800 French immersion teachers working during the 2007/2008 school year. During the second phase of the study, the researcher mailed an open-ended questionnaire to 32 randomly selected French immersion teachers from the original larger population. Change, negative school culture, emotional stress, workload and time, student behavior, lack of social support, lack of recognition and reward, lack of principal support, disillusionment and classroom management were emergent themes discussed by French immersion teachers in this self-report instrument. During the third phase of the study, a Likert-type survey was mailed to the original population and ANOVA (analysis of variance) was performed to compare the mean scores of depressive symptoms and coping strategies. The researcher calculated a Pearson's correlation coefficient on the Likert data between depressive symptoms and a lack of coping strategies amongst French immersion teachers. Triangulation in the data collection strategies contributed to the richness and breadth of the data. Recommendations as a result of this study include: the creation of programs that provide the social and professional support teachers need to stay in the profession, and wellness workshops at the district level in French immersion programs.