Professional Burnout of Special Education Teachers in Latvia

Abstract

Professional burnout has been a popular research subject among teachers over the last few years. However, there are not many research studies involving teachers of special education there. The results of the study conducted by the European Trade Union Committee for Education show that the teachers surveyed in Latvia are on the verge of burnout (49%) (Moncada, Llorens, 2013). The aim of the study is to research the levels of professional burnout and the differences in special education teachers whose length of employment in education is 10 and 25 years.

The Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach, Jackson, 1986) was used to study professional burnout. The study sample consisted of 106 special education teachers. The results of the study do not confirm the hypothesis that there are statistically significant differences in the levels of professional burnout between special education teachers whose length of employment in education is 10 years and those whose length of employment in education is 25 years. The results of the study reveal that teachers have high and medium levels of emotional exhaustion.