A Study On English Teachers’ Burnout At Junior Middle Schools

With the rapid development and progress in economics and society, all the countriescompete with each other more and more severely. As a matter of fact, the competition betweencountries depends on talents in each country. Therefore, talent training is widely focused on allover the world. As an instructor of talents, teachers are required to improve their professionalqualities and teaching skills. Although these requirements motivate teachers’ potential, they bringabout a deal of pressure to teachers at the same time. If teachers suffer more and more pressure,they will be tired of their profession sooner or later. At present, studies on teachers’ pressure andburnout have aroused people’s attention. However, the empirical studies on English teachers’burnout at junior middle schools are so few that it is necessary to investigate the current situationand analyze causes of teachers’ burnout.This study investigates the current situation of English teachers’ burnout at junior middleschools. The participants are118English teachers in the city of Jining. It uses both thequantitative method and the qualitative method to conduct the research. Instruments consist of aquestionnaire and an interview. The purpose of the study is to1）understand the current situationof English teachers’ burnout at junior middle schools,2) find out its causes, and3) analyze itsmajor features.The results show that English teachers at junior middle schools do suffer burnout, and thedegree of burnout is not severe. Less than half of the teachers are unconfident with their workand have a lower sense of achievement. Less than1/3teachers are tired of their work. They areunwilling to teach English. And less than20%teachers have a disharmonious relationship withothers. And they are indifferent to their colleagues and students. Gender, age, the length ofteaching, education background, marriage and reasons of being a teacher are the major variablesthat have a significant influence on teachers’ burnout. From the perspective of gender, maleteachers have more severe exhausted emotion than female ones, while male ones have a highersense of achievement. In respect to age, teachers who are in their thirties suffer the most severeburnout in all the other age-groups. As to the degree of burnout, the sequence of the age-groupsis as follows:21-30,41-50and above51, namely, the younger, the more severe they sufferburnout. In terms of the length of teaching, the process of burnout shows the phased features.Teachers who have taught English for5to14years feel the most severe burnout. And someothers who have more-than-15-year teaching experience feel more serious than ones who havebeen English teachers for less than4years. In the light of marriage condition, the degree ofburnout of married teachers is higher than unmarried ones. From the perspective of educational background, well-educated teachers suffer more burnout, for they have higher expectations.When their expectations conflict with reality, they are bound to suffer burnout. In accordancewith reasons of being a teacher, teachers who earn their living as a teacher have more burnoutthan ones who appreciate teaching.Data analysis indicates that English teachers’ burnout is mainly caused by individual factors,group factors and organization factors. In terms of organization factors,60%teachers are tired oftheir work because of schools’ improper management and indifferent to others. In respect togroup factors, half teachers are under great pressure due to students’ misconduct and unconfidentwith their work. In the light of individual factors, more than30%teachers are not content withtheir salary and benefits.The major features of teachers’ burnout consist of three aspects, namely exhausted emotionto pressure, indifferent attitude to others and unconfident attitude to work. The first aspect refersto teachers’ inability to deal with pressure. Those teachers cannot relieve burnout in proper ways.The second one refers to teachers’ negative attitude to others. They are indifferent to theircolleagues and students. The last one refers to teacher’s unconfident attitude to themselves. Theythink lowly of their ability and knowledge.Suggestions are made based on the results. Education administration should promotegovernment to improve teachers’ social and economic status and provide proper expectations.Schools should help teachers to build a harmonious interpersonal relationship, develop anadvanced management concept, construct a scientific evaluation system and provide professionalassistance for teachers. Teachers should keep a firm faith and improve their comprehensivequalities.