Teaching Emotions, Stress, and Burnout among Teachers in Secondary Education

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the emotions and stressful events experienced by secondary education teachers. A number of 132 teachers in lower and upper secondary education were sampled following a convenience procedure. A mixed and transversal design blending both qualitative and quantitative research was preferred for the present study. During the last month of the school year, seven focus groups were conducted with teachers in secondary education. The focus groups aimed to identify a corpus of events and experiences considered to be stressful. A number of 43 events were identified. The second stage of the study consisted of applying the instruments to assess job-related stress, burnout, and teaching emotions. To measure teaching emotions, the TES questionnaire (Frenzel, Pekrun, Goetz, Daniels, Durksen, Becker-Kurz, and Klassen, 2016) was applied. To measure burnout among teachers in secondary education, the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Educators Survey (Maslach & Jackson, 1981) was administered. The paper reveals the presence of negative emotions associated with teaching. In addition, the level of distress and burnout are described and discussed. To conclude, the article reflects on the effects of teachers’ emotions on their performance, students’ motivation, and learning outcomes.