This article was downloaded by: [Texas State University - San Marcos]

On: 03 May 2013, At: 02:24

Publisher: Routledge
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered
office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Educational Studies
Publication details, including instructions for authors and
subscription information:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ceds20

An analysis of burnout and job

satisfaction among Turkish special
school headteachers and teachers, and
the factors effecting their burnout and
job satisfaction
a
Hakan Sari
a
Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey
Published online: 07 Oct 2010.

To cite this article: Hakan Sari (2004): An analysis of burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish
special school headteachers and teachers, and the factors effecting their burnout and job
satisfaction, Educational Studies, 30:3, 291-306

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0305569042000224233

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-

conditions

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any
substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,
systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation
that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any
instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary
sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings,
demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or
indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
 Educational Studies, Vol. 30, No. 3, September 2004

An analysis of burnout and job

satisfaction among Turkish special school
headteachers and teachers, and the factors
effecting their burnout and job satisfaction
Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

Hakan Sari*
Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey

This study explores issues of burnout and job satisfaction among special school headteachers and
teachers in Turkey. The purpose of the study is to determine whether there is a difference between
headteachers’ and teachers’ burnout and job satisfaction in terms of work status, gender and work
experiences, and to analyse the factors effecting their burnout and job satisfaction. In this paper,
a quantitative approach has been used: 295 subjects (33 special school headteachers and 262
special school teachers) responded to the survey. As the research instruments, the Job Satisfaction
Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used to measure job satisfaction and burnout levels in
terms of the dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplish-
ment. The study results indicated that special school headteachers felt less personal accomplish-
ment than special school teachers. However, there were no significant differences between
headteachers and teachers on two burnout dimensions, namely emotional exhaustion and deper-
sonalization, and job satisfaction. In terms of gender, males have less emotional exhaustion and
personal accomplishment but higher depersonalization than their female counterparts. Females
have higher job satisfaction than their male counterparts. In relation to their work experiences,
more experienced subjects have higher emotional exhaustion and depersonalization than their less
experienced colleagues, and also less job satisfaction than less experienced counterparts. However,
more experienced subjects who participated in the study felt higher personal accomplishment than
the others.

Keywords: Special education; Turkish special school headteachers; Turkish special

school teachers; Burnout; Job Satisfaction; Turkish special education

I. Rationale
The Ministry of National Education Report (2002), in Turkey, indicated that
children with special educational needs (SEN) were having difficulties reaching the
goals and objective behaviours as defined in the Special Curriculum for their special
needs categories. In addition, it was emphasized that headteachers and teachers were

*Special Education Department, Faculty of Education, Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey. Email:
hakansari@selcuk.edu.tr
ISSN 0305-5698 (print)/ISSN 1465-3500 (online)/04/030291-16
 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd
DOI: 10.1080/0305569042000224233
 292 H. Sari

dissatisfied with their jobs and felt under constant pressure in schools and in the
classroom from executive administrators in local education authorities (LEAs) and
the children’s parents. Many attempts to develop and improve special education
provision in Turkey appear to have failed, for a variety of reasons. For instance,
those executive administrators in charge of special education in the Ministry of
National Education and in the LEAs have neglected to consider job satisfaction and
burnout issues among headteachers and teachers who are currently working in the
special schools. Here burnout and job satisfaction are of importance, and the
achievement and development of children with SEN are related to the professional
practice affected by practitioners. According to Ainscow and Tweddle (1988, 1989)
Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

and Blandford (2000), teachers’ job dissatisfaction and burnout can influence their
job performance and, ultimately, the performance of children with SEN, and impact
directly on their social, affective and cognitive development and, ultimately, their
academic achievement (Blandford, 1999). Additionally, job satisfaction and burnout
are pivotal links in the chain of special education reform, particularly in Turkey
where the special education system is in urgent need of improvement. However, the
issue of headteachers’ and teachers’ burnout and job satisfaction in Turkish special
schools has received little research attention. The researcher formulated this study
in order to explore to what extent special school headteachers and teachers experi-
enced burnout and job disc satisfaction in Turkey. This kind of study is urgently
needed to help special education policy-makers and administrators to develop their
curriculum, and the quality of special education, in order to reach those children
with SEN and in the achievement of those targets and goals defined in the National
Curriculum. There is also a need to disseminate the findings in an international
context to help researchers beyond Turkey who may be working with similar
challenges.

Literature review
In general terms, ‘burnout’ is defined as: a negative psychological experience that is a
reaction of people to job-related stress (see Maslach, 1982; Beemsterboer & Baum,
1984; Ratliff, 1988). ‘Burnout’ refers to a cluster of physical, emotional and
interactional symptoms, including the emotional exhaustion, a sense of lacking
personal accomplishment and depersonalization of clients. According to Maslach
and Jackson (1981), burnout comprises three factors: (a) ‘emotional exhaustion’,
which is described as feelings of being emotionally over-extended and exhausted, (b)
‘reduced personal accomplishment’, which is experienced by teachers as decreased
feelings of competence and achievement and a tendency to evaluate oneself nega-
tively with respect to work and (c) ‘depersonalization’ which is the development of
negative feelings and attitudes about the profession. Maslach and Jackson (1981)
describe that burnout is a complex psychological response of individuals involved in
difficult person-to-person relationships as part of their everyday working life.
Pines (1993) and Leung et al. (2000) reported that burnout symptoms include
recurrent bouts of flu, headaches, fatigue, poor self-esteem, difficulty in interper-
sonal relationships, substance abuse, inability to concentrate on a a subject, rigidity
 Burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish teachers 293

and a tendency to blame others for one’s own problems. Two studies (Williams,
1988; Maslanka, 1996) have found that work conditions are significantly correlated
with burnout. Oshagbemi (2000) particularized the sources of headteachers’ and
teachers’ job dissatisfaction and burnout as: forms and content of school cultures,
school leadership and communication, school resources and relationships with
community and parents, school leadership, reputation and the pressure of work. Sari
(2000) reported that institutional and societal factors might also contribute to
burnout, such as low pay; poor training; lack of resources; lack of teaching and
learning materials, including books, journals and papers providing updated infor-
mation in the field; lack of well-designed programme in terms of categorical special
Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

education; and a breakdown of traditional helping systems. Additionally, in some

cultures, women have historically been undervalued for their role in the school
society and their contributions to the maintenance of the family and child education
(Abramovitz, 1988). Although the literature (Ratliff, 1988) discusses gender differ-
ences in response to stress, it does not address the institutionalized oppression of
women, both workers and clients, as a contributor to burnout.
According to Eripek (2001) and Ataman (2001), major sources of stress of
Turkish special school headteachers and teachers are workload, low salary, lack of
self-esteem, lack of in-service training (INSET) opportunities, lack of access to new
information and knowledge about special education, and time pressure which are
perceived as the most stressful aspects of work. As reported in Akcamete (2001),
emotional, mental and physical reactions of headteachers and teachers, in addition
to their work pressure, contribute to stress. Blandford and Grundy (2000) and Sari
(2000) have pointed out that poor working conditions, staff relationships, unsatis-
factory school management and administration, feelings of low status, relationships
with students’ parents and pressure from the school administration, together with
business people, local administrators and criticism from the wider community, also
affect burnout and job satisfaction negatively. In addition, some demographic
variables, such as age, marital status and gender, were found to be related to
burnout and job satisfaction (Maslach, 1982; Poulin & Walter, 1993), although
some researchers have reported that age is not significently associated with burnout
(Calvert et al., 1991).
Job satisfaction is defined as: a positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of
one’s job situation and is linked to the characteristics and demands of one’s work (See
Dressel, 1982; Butler, 1990; Arches, 1991). As explained by Blandford (2000), the
work-related satisfaction can be maintained by helping people, achieving change and
improvement, and by promoting students’ growth which has important implications
for headteachers’ and teachers’ behaviours at work, on their desire to continue at
work and their involvement in the job.
According to Maslach (1982), Ratliff (1988) and Dinham and Scott (2000), the
following are also considerable predictors of burnout and job satisfaction: the level
of interactions with students and colleagues, professional knowledge and challenges,
opportunities for access to new information technology and Internet opportunities
for INSET courses on development and working conditions, including salary and
opportunities for advancement, school structure, administration, size of classrooms,
 294 H. Sari

availability of resources, educational policies and procedures, and job security. Also
associated with the teacher’s work environment are a balanced workload, relations
with co-workers, personal factors, salary and benefits, professionalism; and head-
teachers’ and teachers’ cultural background may affect their job satisfaction (Crane
and Iwanicki, 1986; Arches, 1991; Jones, 1993; Sari, 2000).
In Dressel’s view (1982), job dissatisfaction and burnout are caused by inadequate
work conditions: if teachers are overloaded, with unsatisfactory working conditions,
they may feel that they lack power, are isolated from peers and society and denied
collegical support (Blandford, 2000). Cunningham (1983), in a review of teacher
burnout and job satisfaction, described the importance of quality of working life
Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

programmes as a mean of reducing or eliminating teachers’ burnout and enhancing

job satisfaction. Hart (1994) examined positive and negative experiences of head-
teachers and teachers and found that psychological distress and low morale con-
tributed equally to the overall quality of their working life. Drawing on the findings
of the work discussed briefly above, this study investigated burnout and job satisfac-
tion in terms of teachers’ and headteachers’ work status, gender and their work
experiences in Turkish special schools.

Research method
This section presents the approach and methodology used in the research.

Research approach
In this research, the researcher used the quantitative method because of the
advantages offered by using this method; for example, quantitative instruments,
such as the scales used in this research, took less time and were financially
economical to administer (see Sari, 2000, 2002). The quantitative approach has also
allowed the researcher to reach a larger number of subjects, as recommended in
Cooligan (1996) and Creswell (1994). The quantitative data have allowed us to see
whether there are significant associations between the independent variables (gen-
der, age and job satisfaction) and dependent variables (burnout and its dimensions),
using statistical techniques such as multiple regression because here there were more
than one independent variable involved in our research. Although quantitative
approaches are in wide all over the world, many previous researchers have used the
qualitative approach in these issue in Turkey. It was desired in this study to generate
quantitative data with which associations and relationships among variables could be
described directly, and generalizable conclusions reached through the research
findings (see Sari, 1993 2000).

Sampling
A total 262 teachers and 33 headteachers were selected randomly from 33 special
schools in 14 cities (four different regions) in Turkey, using the systematic random
sampling system with which the researcher selected the subjects from a population
 Burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish teachers 295

list. For example, in each school the headteacher and then every third person from
the 773 teachers on the list were selected with help of research assistants from the
Special Education Department, Selcuk University. Each subject was given the
questionnaire by the researchers directly, together with a set of specific instructions
describing the study, including directions for completing the questionnaire and
returning it to the researchers. The subjects were assured of their anonymity and
confidentiality concerning their responses. The researchers collected the question-
naires and checked that all responses were properly scored. The 295 selected
participants responded to the survey, returning the questionnaire directly to the
researchers (to prevent any possible distortion of responses). The questionnaires
Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

were handed to the respondents in different cities between 1 June 2002 and 16 July
2002, and the final responses handed to the researchers on 16 July 2002. The next
step involved checking the completeness of the responses. It was felt that if any
subject did not answer more than 10% of the questionnaire items, then their
evaluation of job satisfaction and burnout would be incomplete, so their responses
could not be included in the research. However, none of the respondents, question-
naires had missing or incomplete answers, and therefore, none was excluded from
the study.
Of the 295 subjects, 141 (47.8%) were males and 154 (52.2%) were females. The
age range of the sample was 23 to 57 years, with a mean age of 34.67 years. A total
of 262 subjects (88.8%) was reported to have teaching responsibilities, while 33
subjects (11.2%) were reported to have administrative duties.

Research instruments
In this research, two different instruments were used to answer our research
questions: the Job Satisfaction Survey and the Maslach Burnout Inventory.
The Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS), developed by Hackman and Oldham (1974),
was used as the instrument to measure subjects’ job satisfaction level. The instru-
ment consists of 14 items and is designed to measure one dimension of job
satisfaction. The frequency scale ranges from 1 (never satisfied) to 5 (strongly
satisfied), and a high score ⫽ high satisfaction. The JSS has a reported internal
consistency, estimated by Cronbach’s alpha, that ranges from 0.61 to 0.75.
The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), developed by Maslach and Jackson (1986),
was used to measure the dimensions of teachers’ burnout. It consists of 22 items
forming three subscales: Emotional exhaustion, Personal accomplishment and De-
personalization. The frequency scale ranges from 1 (very mild, barely noticeable) to
7 (major, very strong). The Emotional exhaustion subscale consists of nine items
which describe feelings of being emotionally over extended and exhausted by one’s
work. The five items on the Depersonalization subscale describe unfeeling and
impersonal responses to co-workers or recipients of services. The Personal accom-
plishment subscale consists of eight items, describing feelings of competence and
success about one’s achievements. The higher mean scores of the Emotional
exhaustion and Depersonalization subsacles correspond to greater degrees of
burnout.
 296 H. Sari

Table 1. Differences between teachers and headteachers on burnout dimensions and job satisfac-
tion

Headteachers (N ⫽ 33) Teachers (N ⫽ 262)

Burnout dimensions Mean SD Mean SD t p

Emotional exhaustion 15.58 4.65 15.79 5.19 ⫺ 0.23 0.821

Depersonalization 8.33 2.13 9.13 3.29 ⫺ 1.36 0.179
Personal accomplishment 14.91 2.02 16.43 4.12 ⫺ 2.09 0.034*
Job satisfaction 44.67 6.96 41.91 11.02 1.40 0.163

*P ⬍ 0.05.
Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

Internal consistency of the MBI was estimated by Cronbach’s alpha (Cronbach,

1951) for two samples (n ⫽ 1316 for frequency) and (n ⫽ 1789 for intensity). The
reliability coefficients for the subscales were: 0.90 for Emotional exhaustion; 0.79 for
Depersonalization; 0.71 for Personal accomplishment (Maslach & Jackson, 1981).
Data on test–retest reliability (n ⫽ 53) ranged from 0.53 to 0.89 for the six dimen-
sions of the MBI and were significant beyond the 0.001 level (Maslach & Jackson,
1981).

Analysis of data
The data collected for this study were analysed by use of the t test and the variance
analysis (F test). The t test was used to compare the special school headteachers’
and the teachers’ burnout and their job satisfaction. In addition, the female and
male teachers’ job satisfaction were compared by the t test to see whether there was
a significant difference between their responses in terms of their gender and work
status (see Tables 1 and 2). In terms of work status, the scores were compared using
the F test through different variables (see Table 3). The F test was used to find out
whether there were significant differences between the groups in relation to length
of time in their current position (0–12 months, 0–5 years, 6–10 years, 11–15 years,
16–20 years and 21 years and above).

Table 2. Differences between females and males on burnout dimensions and job satisfaction

Female (N ⫽ 154) Male (N ⫽ 141)

Burnout dimensions Mean SD Mean SD t p

Emotional exhaustion 16.33 5.62 15.00 4.28 2.281 0.023*

Personal accomplishment 16.32 3.44 15.53 4.17 1.797 0.073
Depersonalization 8.54 3.28 9.29 2.68 ⫺ 2.15 0.032*
Job satisfaction 43.83 10.29 40.93 10.48 2.37 0.018*

*P ⬍ 0.05.
 Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

Table 3. Differences in length of time in post on burnout dimensions and job satisfaction

20 yrs and
0–12 months 1–5 yrs 6–10 yrs 11–15 yrs 16–20 yrs above
Length of time (N ⫽ 28) (N ⫽ 81) (N ⫽ 85) (N ⫽ 32) (N ⫽ 17) (N ⫽ 52)

Burnout dimensions Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD F P

Emotional exhaustion 15.68 4.67 16.73 6.10 15.29 4.71 14.91 4.03 18.82 3.97 17.36 4.77 2.33 0.049*
Personal accomplishment 15.57 4.08 15.91 3.26 15.60 4.76 15.88 3.07 18.18 4.73 18.15 2.89 3.37 0.006**
Depersonalization 8.21 3.55 8.44 3.30 9.34 2.86 8.06 3.46 10.94 2.99 10.73 4.16 5.107 0.000**
Job satisfaction 41.14 10.38 43.93 11.07 43.66 8.79 41.31 12.59 38.18 9.48 39.76 11.63 1.875 0.099

*P ⬍ 0.05; **P ⬍ 0.01.

Burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish teachers
297
 298 H. Sari

Results
Work status, burnout and job satisfaction
Differences in status according to their roles (special education teachers and head-
teachers) were not significant on the Emotional exhaustion scale (t ⫽ ⫺ 0.22;
p ⬎ 0.05) (see Table 1). In addition, there was no significant difference on the
Depersonalization dimension of headteachers’ and teachers’ burnout (p ⬎ 0.05) (see
Table 1). In terms of the third dimension of burnout (Personal accomplishment),
there was a significant difference as between headteachers and teachers’ scores. The
finding in this study supported Capel (1992), and Davis and Wilson (2000) and
Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

Formanuik (1995), who reported that the level of stress led to burnout among
teachers more than among headteachers, because headteachers seemed to experi-
ence less stress than did teachers and also to have less teaching responsibilities.
However, the teachers appeared to have a greater feeling of personal accomplish-
ment than the headteachers. Job satisfaction also did not differ significantly between
the two groups. This result did not support Friedman (1995), who maintained that
headteachers had less job satisfaction because of their heavy administrative duties
which leads to high stress. However, many of the subjects who had worked in special
schools for less than 16 years had experienced job satisfaction (see Tables 1 and 3).

Gender, burnout and job satisfaction

There were significant differences between the two genders in relation to Emotional
exhaustion (t ⫽ 2.28; p ⬍ 0.05). That is, the female teachers in special schools had
significantly more emotional exhaustion than their male counterparts (see Table 2).
On Depersonalization, significant difference was also found as between males and
females (p ⬍ 0.05; see Table 2). Contrary to Emotional exhaustion, male headteach-
ers and teachers in special schools were significantly more depersonalized than their
female counterparts. The result concurs with Byrne (1998), who emphasized that
the causes leading to burnout affect male teachers more than the female teachers
who have higher motivation. However, there was no significant difference between
the males and females, in terms of their role, in Personal accomplishment (see Table
2). The results related to job satisfaction were also significantly different in terms of
gender. That is, the female participants experienced more job satisfaction than their
male counterparts. However, headteachers and teachers’ gender differences did not
indicate a significant difference on their feelings of personal accomplishment. This
result supported Evans (2001) and Frank and McKenzie (1993), who reported that
teachers’ gender did not have an affect.

Work experience, burnout and job satisfaction

In terms of length of work experience headteachers and teachers indicated
significant difference on Emotional exhaustion (F ⫽ 2.33; p ⬍ 0.05; see Table 3).
However, in Depersonalization among headteachers and teachers significantly dif-
ference was found in relation to work experience (F ⫽ 5.11; p ⬍ 0.001; see Table 3).
 Burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish teachers 299

The headteachers and teachers who stayed in the teaching profession in special
schools longer were more highly depersonalized than the less experienced. The
finding in this study did not concur with Gaziel and Sabbatica (1995) and Guglielmi
and Tatrow (1998), who explained that more experienced teachers had lower
depersonalization than their less experienced colleagues
Moreover, there was significant difference on feelings of Personal accomplish-
ments among the subjects. For example, the 0–12 months group had the lowest
mean for personal accomplishment (mean ⫽ 15.57; see Table 3). That is, more
experienced headteachers and teachers in special schools experienced greater per-
sonal accomplishment than the less experienced (Table 3). However, the more
Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

experienced teachers felt less job satisfaction than the others (Table 3). This result
supported the view of Brunetti (2001) and Wong and Cheuk (1998), who main-
tained that teachers who have more experience experience possibly less job satisfac-
tion because of tiredness and higher stress levels. The 1–5 and 6–10 years
experienced groups felt the highest job satisfaction (Table 3).

Discussion
The researcher in the field has compared burnout and job satisfaction among special
school headteachers and teachers in relation to their role, gender and years of work
experience. The levels of emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment in
relation to burnout are high among experienced headteachers and teachers in
Turkish special schools. These results are in agreement with those of Brouwers and
Tomic (2000), Brunetti (2001) and Dalton (1991), who reported that headteachers
and teachers in schools had high level of emotional exhaustion and personal
accomplishment. It can be deduced from those results that burnout among head-
teachers and teachers is a normal phenomenon in the teaching profession across
different areas of educational specialization.
In comparisons between teachers and headteachers in the special schools, Turkish
headteachers did display high depersonalization, although Capel (1986) reported
that headteachers had low depersonalization because of high stress and burnout.
As discussed in Dean (1996), this may be explained by association with the heavy
bureaucratic aspect of their work and the high pressure placed on them by the
legislation. If they do not conform to, and enforce, the rules, they may be demoted
and appointed to other schools in the role of teacher (Sari, 2002). According
to Mercer (1996), this may be a significant predictor of levels of job satisfaction,
for if subjects feel that they are pressured in their roles from outside, then intrinsic
or personal motivation will be lacking (Gaziel & Sabbatica, 1995; Davis & Wilson,
2000). Oldham and Kulik (1983) have described work conditions in terms
of salary and the opportunities for advancement, school structure, including
classroom size, the administration, resources, educational policies and practices,
job security and provision for staff development. According to Xin and Mac-
Millan (1999), these issues are crucial to promoting and sustaining teachers’
and headteachers’ job satisfaction. As explained by Cheuk and Wong (1995) and
Hart (1994), work environment, workload, cultural background of teachers,
 300 H. Sari

exhaustion at the end of the working day, staff shortages and a sense of poor
quality or the fear of making mistakes also affect job satisfaction. It is interesting
to see that headteachers appeared to have higher job satisfaction than their
teacher colleagues in this study. Sari (2000) maintained that overloaded teachers’
long hours impacted on their job satisfaction. This may contribute, then, to the lack
of teachers’ personal motivation leading to job dissatisfaction which may also arise
from organizational factors, particularly a perceived lack of fairness. According to
Sari (2002), Turkish teachers and headteachers in special schools had many com-
plaints about the promotion policy, which relies heavily on inspection reports.
Teachers in special schools believe that some inspectors do not have enough
Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

knowledge about teaching methods applicable to those children needing special

teaching strategies. As explained in Dean (1992), if inspectors and advisers have
insufficient knowledge regarding the teaching of children with developmental dis-
ability, they may not be in a position to evaluate and assess accurately the teachers’
work in schools, with a consequent effect on teachers’ job satisfaction and burnout.
According to Hallahan and Kauffman (1997), contextual factors, such as pro-
motion, can also affect teachers’ achievement and responsibility, and their job
satisfaction. In addition, Dinham and Scott (2000) have reported the following
factors as having a significant impact on job satisfaction: salary and job security,
working conditions and facilities, the school administration and management, stu-
dent enthusiasm, personal life style and time flexibility in terms of working hours,
and secretarial and technical support. In Ure’s view (1998), such job-related factors
do affect headteachers’ and teachers’ satisfaction negatively, particularly in relation
to the difficulty in gaining promotion and the strict bureaucratic aspects of Turkish
special schools. Kircaali-Iftar (2001) has maintained that they have also a lack of
technical and secretarial backup, and lack access to updated publications or infor-
mation concerning special education because of low salaries compared to other
government employees.
Leung et al. (2000), Evans (2001) and Leyden (1985) maintained that in matters
of time flexibility, including opportunities for teaching students with SEN individu-
ally, or the possibility of early retirement, longer holidays, access to computer
networks and library facilities in stimulating the teaching and learning environment,
together with good physical conditions and the collaboration of colleagues, all affect
headteachers’ and teachers’ job satisfaction positively. However, Sari (2002) has
emphasized that Turkish headteachers and teachers in special schools suffer from
lack of good communication both between themselves and LEAs; he has also
emphasized they suffer from authoritarian management structures, lack of consul-
tation and of communication from the top down and inflexible working hours, in
addition to poor coordination of management, excessive bureaucracy and inad-
equate governmental policy. In accordance with the findings of Sari (2002) regard-
ing headteachers’ and teachers’ job dissatisfaction, the results of this study reveal
that teachers also experience high depersonalization in Turkish special schools (see
Table 1).
Hui and Chan (1996) and Formanuik (1995) have emphasized that in schools
with traditionally rigid and bureaucratic administration, education reforms cannot
 Burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish teachers 301

succeed on implementation. Additionally, this type of school may not use collabora-
tive problem-solving strategies based on an underlying sense of community or
commitment (Postlethwaite & Hackney, 1988; Young & Tye, 1992). The findings
here reflect that high-level job satisfaction among headteachers and teachers is based
on a positive school culture: Xin and McMillan (1999) and Starnaman and Miller
(1992), in this regard, have stressed the need for strong school leadership ac-
companied by high levels of communication, together with adequate resources
including teaching and learning materials and associated publications, and good
relationships with the community. According to Gursel (1997), Sunbul and Yilmaz
(2000) and Farber (1984), headteachers’ and teachers’ stress emerges as an un-
Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

pleasant effect of excessive work pressure. Here, as explained in Ure (2001), major
sources of stress on Turkish special school teachers may arise from a general lack of
guidance in their work and a sense of isolation within their profession. Eripek (2001)
and Kircaali-Iftar (2001) reported that special school teachers in Turkey felt under
pressure from heavy workloads accompanied by inadequate supports from both the
governmental and non-governmental services which are limited in their response to
teachers and parents of children with SEN. Such teachers had high levels of
emotional exhaustion which led ultimately to job dissatisfaction. Reflected here are
the views of Eripek (2001) and Kircaali-Iftar (2001) (see Table 3, and Sari (2002)
has reported that workload and time pressures were perceived to be the most
stressful aspects of the job for all special school teachers and headteachers in Turkey.
The research results also reflect that stress and job satisfaction are in an adverse
relation one to the other, and headteachers’ and teachers’ work pressures contributes
to stress in their teaching. As indicated by Montgomery (1990) and Wolfendale
(1992), this, in turn, may contribute to the poor motivation of students, in addition
to problems for the teachers themselves in role conflict and role ambiguity, poor
working conditions and staff relations; also reported are inadequate school manage-
ment and administration, low status of teachers, poor relationships with students’
parents and with LEAs, together with outside professionals, and criticisms arising
from the wider community and from parents. According to Sari (2002), these issues
exist in all Turkish special schools but people outside the schools are unaware of the
issues and demand extra effort and time from headteachers and teachers.
It is possible, however, for Turkish headteachers and teachers in special schools to
gain satisfaction from their ‘core work’ while being at the same time dissatisfied with
their working conditions. According to Mittler (1990), increased job satisfaction of
teachers in special schools demands an authentic productive partnership, based
upon mutual respect and understanding in order to move special education forward,
upward and outward. For that kind of relationship to exist, some researchers have
pointed out that:

It is not only up to teachers and headteachers to figure out and work for what they hope
for: it is up to parents, students, policy makers, labour and business leaders, politicians
and the media as well. Rebuilding and redefining education and its relationship to the
world ‘out there’ in other words, is a job for citizens and society as a whole.
(Hargreaves and Fullan, 1998, p. 127)
 302 H. Sari

Dissatisfaction of teachers and headteachers may also be caused by lack of a clearly

defined role, poor communication with policy-makers, and high autonomy, as
explained in MacPherson (1985) and Jones (1993). The findings in this study
indicate that headteachers in special schools have higher personal accomplishment
than the teachers. It may be because headteachers are already higher-salaried and
executive members of the professional teaching team, and carry significant organiza-
tional and leadership responsibilities because of heavy Turkish bureaucracy. Teach-
ers feel that their work may be undertaken by other people, including parents and
administrators in the LEAs due to the fact that they do not share with headteachers
such responsibilities; however, as explained in Hyslop-Margison (1999) and Halla-
han and Kauffman (1997), headteachers should be sensitive about mutual respect
Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

and achievement at work and thus should be well-motivated in their roles.

The findings indicate that scores on job satisfaction differ significantly in terms of
years of working experience and gender. The males and females who participated in
this study indicated dissimilar levels of job satisfaction (see Table 2). According to
our findings, female teachers and headteachers had more job satisfaction than their
male counterparts. However, the more working experience they had the less job
satisfaction they experienced. It is surprising that Turkish special school teachers
experience less job satisfaction than do headteachers. The results show similarities
with the view of Templin (1988), who explained that teachers’ and headteachers’
different roles and status have led to increased role conflict. In addition, teachers’
dissatisfaction may be related to the excessive amounts of time devoted to bureau-
cratic procedures and record keeping tasks, in addition to their teaching role as
Huberman (1993) and Lyons (1986) have stressed.
In terms of years of working experience, the results in this study indicate that
more experienced teachers have less job satisfaction in their professional role than do
less experienced colleagues. As Huberman (1993) has stated, this problem requires
urgent consideration by special education policy-makers, and especially by head-
teachers who want to maintain the interest and involvement of experienced teachers
in improving the education of children with SEN.

Conclusion
It is surprising that the study findings reveal that Turkish special school teachers
experience less job satisfaction than the headteachers. It is also surprising that the
levels of emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment in relation to burnout
are high among experienced headteachers and teachers in Turkish special schools.
In addition, Turkish headteachers and teachers display high depersonalization,
because of the heavily bureaucratized and autocratic nature of their work conditions.
The research results reflect that stress and job satisfaction are adversely related to
each other and that headteachers’ and teachers’ work pressures contributes to their
stress experienced in teaching. According to the findings, headteachers in special
schools do not experience higher personal accomplishment than the teachers.
Scores on job satisfaction indicate significant differences in terms of years of
teaching experience and gender. It is perhaps surprising that males and females
participating in this study do not report similar Levels of job satisfaction. Female
 Burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish teachers 303

teachers and headteachers had more job satisfaction than their male counterparts.
However, the more years of working experience, the less is their job satisfaction. In
terms of experience, the results indicate that more experienced teachers experienced
less satisfaction with their professional role than less experienced colleagues. The
findings reflected that the current centralized education system in Turkey may lead
to an ethos of less democratic feeling among teachers than is likely to arise among
teachers who work in a more decentralized education system, as in England, where
teachers and headteachers perhaps feel themselves more comfortable, have sufficient
resources for improving their personal knowledge or experience, and adequate
support from administrators in schools and the LEAs, in addition to that from
Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

colleagues and parents in a more democratic atmosphere (Sari, 2000).

The findings in this study have emphasized that administrators in schools and
LEAs should be mindful of teachers’ burnout and job satisfaction. They should also
endeavour to achieve an improvement in the quality of working life in the schools.
The study results suggest that the administrators in LEAs and in the Ministry of
National Education should be concerned with headteachers’ and teachers’ burnout,
in the face of increasing demands, which adversely affect their well-being, and
consequently, that of their students.

Implications for practice

The results of this research have significant implications for practice in schools
which can be summarized as follows:

• To prevent special school headteachers’ and teachers’ burnout, intervention

programmes can be prepared in cooperation with the school advisers, counsellors
and executive administrators in the Ministry of National Education.
• Job satisfaction can be improved if the governors concentrate on providing better
working conditions, equitable salaries, adequate resources, and more and just
promotions for headteachers and teachers in special schools.
• Headteachers and teachers should attend stress-management interventions to
improve their self-esteem and self-confidence helping themselves, as well as
contributing to the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of others.
• Awareness of the symptoms of burnout can increase headteachers’ and teachers’
job satisfaction, provided that they feel they are highly valued people, particularly
in relation to the work they do (Blandford, 2000).
• As suggested in Mittler (1990), to increase job satisfaction of teachers in special
schools, authentic productive partnership should be based upon mutual respect
and understanding.
• Teachers in special schools should feel that their work is important for the society
they live in and not undertaken by others, including parents and administrators in
LEAs, even if their salary is less than that of headteachers.
• The problem of excessive amounts of time devoted to bureaucratic procedures
and record keeping tasks, in addition to teaching needs to be considered by special
education policy-makers and by headteachers who want to maintain the interest
 304 H. Sari

and involvement of teachers in improving the educational experience of children

with SEN.
• Increased dissatisfactions lead to the erosion overall of headteachers’ and teachers’
job satisfaction. Therefore, this aspect needs to be monitored and handled
successfully by the education authorities, in particular, the Special Education
General Directorate in the Ministry of National Education and in the Depart-
ments of Special Education in the LEAs.

Acknowledgement
Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

The author would like to present his special thanks to Professors S. Blandford, M.
Ulema, S. Eripek and O. Ure for their useful comments in this study.

References
Abramovitz, M. (1988) Regulating the lives of women (Boston, MA, South End Press).
Ainscow, M. & Tweddle, D. A. (1988) Encouraging classroom success (London, David Fulton).
Ainscow, M. & Tweddle, D. A. (1989) Preventing classroom failure (London, David Fulton).
Akcamete, G. (2001) XI. Ulusal Kongre Bildirilerinden Notlar (Konya, Selcuk University), 11–13
Kasim 2001.
Arches, J. (1991) Social structure, burnout, and job satisfaction, Social Work, 36(2), 202–206.
Ataman, A. (2001) XI. Ulusal Kongre Bildirilerinden Notlar (Konya, Selcuk University), 11–13
Kasim 2001.
Beemsterboer, J. & Baum, B. H. (1984). ‘Burnout’: definitions and health care management,
Social Work in Health Care, 10(1), 97–109.
Blandford, S. (1999) Managing discipline in schools (London, Routledge).
Blandford, S. (2000) Managing professional development in schools (London, Routledge).
Blandford, S. & Grundy, W. (2000) Developing a culture for positive behaviour management,
Emotional and behaviour difficulties, 19(1), 21–32.
Brouwers, A. & Tomic, W. (2000) A longitudional study of teacher burnout and perceived
self-efficacy in classroom management, Teaching and Teacher Education, 16(2), 239–253.
Brunetti, G. J. (2001) Why do they teach? A study of job satisfaction among long term high school
teachers, Teacher Education Quarterly, 28(3), 49–74.
Butler, B. B. (1990) Job satisfaction: management’s continuing challenge, Social Work, 35(1),
112–117.
Byrne, J. J. (1998) Teacher as hunger artist: burnout: its causes, effects, and remedies, Contempor-
ary Education, 69(2), 86–91.
Calvert, G. M., Flynn, R., Fraser, P. & Long, J. (1991) Volunteers’ motivation and the Terrence
Higgins Trust, presentation given at British Psychology Society Conference 1991, London.
Capel, S. (1986) Physiological and organisational factors related to burnout in athletic trainers,
Athletic Training, 21(3), 322–327.
Capel, S. A. (1992) Stress and burnbout in teachers, European Journal of Teacher Education, 15(3),
197–211.
Cheuk, W. & Wong, K. S. (1995) Stress, social support, and teacher burnout in Macau, Current
Psychology, 14(1), 42–47.
Cooligan, H. (1996) Introduction to research methods and statistics in psychology (2nd edn) (London,
Hodder & Stoughton).
Crane S. J. & Iwanicki, E. F. (1986) Perceived role conflict, role ambiguity, and burnout among
special education teachers, Remedial and Special Education, 7(2), 24–31.
Creswell, J. W. (1994) Research design: qualitative and quantitative approaches (London, Sage).
 Burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish teachers 305

Cunningham, W. (1983) Teacher burnout—solutions for the 1980s: a review of the literature,
Urban Review, 15(1), 37–51.
Dalton, R. (1991) Parents and professionals, in: C. Tiltstone (Ed.) Teaching pupils with severe
learning difficulties (London, David Fulton).
Davis, J. & Wilson, S. M. (2000) Principals’ efforts to empower teachers: effects on teacher
motivation and job satisfaction and stress, Clearning House, 73(6), 349–353.
Dean, J. (1992) Inspecting and advising: a handbook for inspectors, advisers and advisory teachers
(London, Routledge).
Dean, J. (1996) Managing special needs in primary school (London, Routledge).
Dinham, S. & Scott, C. (2000) Moving into third: outer domain of teacher satisfaction, Journal
of Educational Administration, 38(4), 379–396.
Dressel, P. L. (1982) Policy sources of worker dissatisfaction: the case of human services in
Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

ageing, Social Service Review, 56(4), 406–423.

Eripek, S. (2001) XI. Ulusal Kongre Bildirilerinden Notlar (Konya, Selcuk University), 11–13
Kasim 2001.
Evans, L. (2001) Delving deeper into morale, job satisfaction and motivation among education
professionals: examining the leadership dimension, Educational Management and Administra-
tion, 29(3), 291–306.
Farber, B. A. (1984) Stress and burnout in suburban teachers, Journal of Educational Research,
77(3), 325–331.
Formanuik, T. V. (1995) The emotional burnout syndrome as an indicator of the teachers’
professional disadaptation. Russian Education and Society, 37(9), 78–92.
Frank, A. & Mckenzie, R. (1993) The development of burnout among special educators, Teacher
Education and Special Education, 16(1), 161–170.
Friedman, I. A. (1995) Measuring school principal experience of burnout, Educational and
Psychological Measurement, 55(4), 641–651.
Gaziel, H. H. & Sabbatica, L. (1995) Job burnout and turnover intentions among teachers,
International Journal of Lifelong Education, 14(4), 331–338.
Guglielmi, R. S. & Tatrow, K. (1998) Occupational stress, burnout, and health in teachers: a
methodological and teoretical analysis, Review of Educational Research, 68(1), 61–99.
Gursel, M. (1997) Okul Yonetimi (Konya, Mikro Yayinlari).
Hackman, J. R. & Oldham, G. R. (1974) The Job Diagnostic Survey: an instrument for the
diagnosis of jobs and the evaluation of job redesign project (Ankara, Gazi University
Research Report).
Hallahan, D. P. & Kauffman, J. M. (1997) Exceptional Learners: Introduction to Special Education
(London, Allyn & Bacon).
Hargreaves, A. & Fullan, M. (1998) What’s worth fighting for out there? (Ontario, Teachers College
Press).
Hart, P. (1994) The quality of work life: integrating work experiences, psychological distress and
morale, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 67(1), 109–132.
Huberman, M. (1993) Burnout in teaching careers, European Education, 25(3), 47–69.
Hui, E. & Chan, D. (1996) Teacher stress and guidance work in Hong Kong secondary school
teachers, British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 24(2), 199–211.
Hyslop-Margison, E. J. (1999) The employability skills discourse: a conceptual analysis of the career
and personal planning curriculum (British Columbia, Career and Personal Planning Reports).
Jones, M. L. (1993) Role conflict: cause of burnout or energizer? Social Work, 38(1), 136–141.
Kircaali-Iftar, G. (2001) XI. Ulusal Kongre Bildirilerinden Notlar (Konya, Selcuk University),
11–13, Kasim 2001.
Leung, T., Siu, O. & Spector P. E. (2000) Faculty stressors, job satisfaction, and psychological
distress among university teachers in Hong Kong: the role of locus of control, International
Journal of Stress Management, 7(2), 121–138.
Leyden, S. (1985) Helping the child of exceptional ability (London, Croom Helm).
Lyons, W. (1986) Integrating the handicapped in ordinary schools (London, Croom Helm).
 306 H. Sari

MacPherson, M. A. (1985) Burnout and the school principal. Canadian Administrator, 25(1), 1–4.
Maslach, C. (1982) Burnout: the cost of caring (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice-Hall).
Maslach, C. & Jackson, S. E. (1981) The measurement of experienced burnout, Journal of
Occupational Behavior, 2(1), 99–113.
Maslach, C. & Jackson, S. E. (1986) Maslach Burnout Inventory (2nd edn) (Palo Alto, CA,
Consulting Psychologists Press).
Maslanka, H. (1996) Burnout, social support and AIDS volunteers, AIDS Care%, 8, 195–206.
Mercer, D. (1996) The secondary headteacher and time-in-post: a study of job satisfaction,
Journal of Educational Administration, 35(3), 268–281.
Ministry of National Education (2002) Report of teachers’ performance evaluation (Ankara, Ministry
of National Education Publications).
Mittler, P. (1990) Foreword: Towards education for all, in: D. Montgomery (Ed.) Special needs
Downloaded by [Texas State University - San Marcos] at 02:24 03 May 2013

in ordinary schools: children with learning difficulties (London, Cassell).

Montgomery, D. (1990) Special needs in ordinary school: children with learning difficulties (London,
Cassell).
Oldham, G. R. & Kulik, C. T. (1983) Motivation enhancement through work redesign, Review
of Higher Education, 6(4), 323–42.
Oshagbemi, T. (2000) How satisfied are academics with their primary tasks of teaching research
and administration and management? International Journal of Sustainable Higher Education,
1(2), 124–136.
Pines, A. (1993) Burnout: an existential perspective, in: W. B. Schaufeli, D. Maslach & T. Marek
(Eds) Professional burnout: recent developments in theory and research (Washington, DC, Taylor
& Francis).
Postlethwaite, K. & Hackney, A. (1988) Organising a school response: special needs in mainstream
schools (London, Macmillan).
Poulin, J. & Walter, C. (1993) Social workers’ burnout: a longitudinal study, Social Work Research
& Abstracts, 29(4), 5–11.
Ratliff, N. (1988) Stress and burnout in the helping professions, Social Casework, 69(1), 147–154.
Sari, H. (1993) Social and emotional problems of deaf adolescents in Turkey. MA thesis,
University of Warwick.
Sari, H. (2000) An analysis of the policies and provision for children with SEN in England and
Turkey. Doctoral thesis, Oxford Brookes University.
Sari, H. (2002) Strategies for teaching children with special educational needs (Ankara, PEGEMA
Yayinlari).
Starnaman, S. M. & Miller, K. I. (1992) A test of causal model of communication and burnout
in the teaching profession, Communication Education, 41(1), 40–50.
Sunbul, M. & Yilmaz, H. (2000) Ogretimde Planlama ve Degerlendirme (Konya, Mikro Yayincilik).
Templin, T. J. (1988) Teacher isolation: a concern for the collegial development of physical
educators. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 7(2), 197–205.
Ure, O. (1998) Seminar on the politics of teacher education. Unpublished lecture notes, Selcuk
University, Konya, Turkey.
Ure, O. (2001) XI. Ulusal Kongre Bildirilerinden Notlar (Konya, Selcuk University), 11–13 Kasim
2001.
Williams, M. J. (1988) Gay men as ‘buddies’ to persons living with AIDS and ARC, Smith’s
College Studies in Social Work, 59(1), 38–51.
Wolfendale, S. (Ed.) (1992) Primary schools and special needs: policy, planning and provision
(London, Cassell Educational).
Wong, K. & Cheuk, W. (1998) Beginning teachers’ experience of being spurned, coping style,
stress preparation, and burnout, Chinese University Education Journal, 26(1), 117–129.
Xin, M. & MacMillan, R. (1999) Influences of workplace conditions on teachers’ job satisfaction,
Journal of Educational Research, 93(1), 39–47.
Young, P. & Tye, C. (1992) Gifted or able? Realizing children’s potential (Milton Keynes, Open
University Press).