An exploration of burnout and individual and collective teacher efficacy in a Turkish state university

Abstract

The importance of the relationship between burnout and teacher efficacy has been widely known in the literature especially in the last decade. However, the relationship between teacher efficacy and collective teacher efficacy has been the focus of a limited number of studies, and the interrelationship among burnout and individual and collective teacher efficacy has not been specifically investigated in an EFL setting. Taking this gap as an impetus, this study explored the experiences of burnout and perceptions of individual and collective teacher efficacy among EFL teachers. The study also examined the direct interrelationship among burnout and individual and collective teacher efficacy. This study gathered data from 123 EFL teachers in an intensive English language education program at a Turkish state university. The data were collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Later, the data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively by using descriptive statistics and correlation tests.Analysis of the data revealed that the feeling of emotional exhaustion was more frequent than depersonalization and the feeling of personal accomplishment was the most frequent feeling. In the interviews, it was also revealed that workrelated factors, work environment, and administrative issues were the major sources of burnout among the participants. In addition, analysis of the perceptions of teacher efficacy showed that teachers‟ sense of personal teaching efficacy was stronger than general teaching efficacy. The qualitative data from the interviews suggested that work environment and work-related factors were the major sources of efficacy beliefs among the teachers who participated in the study. Moreover, it was seen that the participants‟ sense of collective teacher efficacy was lower than their sense of personal teaching efficacy, but higher than general teaching efficacy. Again, it was revealed that work-related factors, work environment, and administrative issues were the major sources of collective efficacy beliefs among the participants. It was also seen that personal teaching efficacy was positively correlated with personal accomplishment, but negatively with depersonalization. However, it did not correlate with emotional exhaustion. Likewise, general teaching efficacy did not correlate with any dimension of burnout. The findings also showed that individual and collective teacher efficacy were positively correlated. Moreover, collective teacher efficacy correlated positively with personal accomplishment, but negatively with depersonalization and emotional exhaustion. This study implied that in order to cope with burnout and increase teacher effectiveness, teachers‟ working conditions should be improved and specific intervention programs should be designed to meet the needs of the participants. Furthermore, the study also revealed the need for a more carefully planned curriculum renewal workshop by paying more attention to the teachers‟ views and provision of a higher number of academic development and in-service training opportunities to increase the instructional efficacy in the setting of the study.