Psycho-emotional burnout of a teacher of a higher educational instiotution in the educational process

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Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University

PSYCHO-EMOTIONAL BURNOUT OF A TEACHER OF A HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS

Liashevych A.M. Candidate of Biological Sciences, Senior

Lecturer at the Department of Medical and Biological Disciplines

Lupaina I.S. Candidate of Biological Sciences, Senior

Lecturer at the Department of Medical and Biological Disciplines

Zhytomyr

Annotation

The article reveals the essence of the concept of "professional burnout" as a stress reaction that occurs as a result of prolonged occupational stress of medium intensity. Psycho-emotional burnout is perhaps one of the most common syndromes, which develops against the background of continuous exposure to stressful situations and leads to intellectual, mental and physical fatigue and exhaustion. The article presents that the pedagogical activity of a teacher of a higher education institution leads to the syndrome of "professional burnout" in most people of this profession. It has been proven that teachers work in a rather restless, emotionally tense environment, which requires constant attention and control over the interaction in the system "teacher-student". It was found that a significant stressor is the psychological and physical overload of teachers, which causes the so-called syndrome of "burnout" - exhaustion of moral and physical strength, which inevitably affects the effectiveness of professional activities, general health, mental well-being and relationships in the family and everyday life. The purpose of the study of the psycho-emotional state of teachers of higher education is determined. The experiment involved 59 teachers of different ages and work experience. It was found that the vast majority of teachers in institutions of higher education have a high level of both emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishments and an average level of depersonalization. The pedagogical experience, the most "dangerous" in the teacing activities is the period of 11-15 years, when the symptoms of burnout are observed most often. It was found that emotional burnout syndrome occurs against the background of physical and mental exhaustion of a teacher. Therefore, preventive measures aimed at improving health will help prevent this disease. It is concluded that teachers with a high level of "emotional burnout" need psychotherapeutic measures to overcome and prevent emotional burnout from a psychologist, because it is necessary to improve their professional activities.

Key words: stress, teacher, educator, burnout, emotional exhaustion.

Анотація

ПСИХОЕМОЦІЙНЕ ВИГОРАННЯ ВИКЛАДАЧА ЗАКЛАДУ ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ В ОСВІТНЬОМУ ПРОЦЕСІ

Ляшевич А. М. кандидат біологічних наук, старший викладач кафедри медико-біологічних дисциплін Житомирський державний університет імені івана Франка, Житомир, Україна

Лупаїна І. С. кандидат біологічних наук, старший викладач кафедри медико-біологічних дисциплін Житомирський державний університет імені івана Франка, Житомир, Україна

Стаття розкриває суть поняття «професійне вигорання» як стресової реакції, що виникає в результаті тривалого професійного стресу середньої інтенсивності. Психоемоційне вигорання є, можливо, одним із найпоширеніших синдромів, що розвивається на тлі неперервного впливу на людину стресових ситуацій і призводить до інтелектуальної, душевної і фізичної перевтоми та виснаження. У статті визначено, що педагогічна діяльність викладача закладу вищої освіти призводить до виникнення синдрому «професійного вигорання» у більшості людей цієї професії. Доведено, що педагоги працюють у доволі неспокійній, емоційно напруженій атмосфері, що вимагає постійної уваги і контролю за взаємодією у системі «викладач -- студент». За таких умов стрес спричиняється безліччю стресогенів, які безперервно накопичуються в різних сферах життєдіяльності. З'ясовано, що суттєвим стресогенним фактором є психологічні й фізичні перевантаження педагогічних працівників, які спричиняють виникнення так званого синдрому «професійного вигорання» - виснаження моральних і фізичних сил, що неминуче позначається як на ефективності професійної діяльності, загальному стані здоров'я, психічному самопочутті, так і на стосунках у сім'ї та побуті. Визначена мета дослідження психоемоційного стану викладачів закладу вищої освіти. В експерименті брали участь 59 педагогів різного віку і стажу роботи. Виявлено, що у більшості викладачів закладу вищої освіти спостерігається високий рівень емоційного виснаження, високий рівень редукції особистих досягнень та середній рівень деперсоналізації. Проаналізовано педагогічний стаж роботи педагогів, найбільш «небезпечним» у діяльності викладача є період 11--15 років, коли симптоми професійного вигорання спостерігаються найчастіше. Виявлено, що синдром емоційного вигорання настає на тлі фізичного і психічного виснаження викладача. Тому запобігти такому захворюванню допоможуть профілактичні заходи, спрямовані на зміцнення здоров'я. Зроблено висновок про те, що викладачі з високим рівнем «емоційного вигорання» потребують психотерапевтичних заходів для подолання та профілактики емоційного вигорання від психолога, адже це є необхідним для удосконалення їхньої професійної діяльності.

Ключові слова: стрес, викладач, педагог, професійне вигорстш, емоційне виснаження.

Formulation of the problem

A person in modem society is often exposed to chronic social stress, which can be caused by various stressors of social origin. A person's experience of chronic social stress can change both human consciousness and disrupt the functioning of various body systems.

Stress these days is one of the most common types of affect. It is a state of excessively strong and prolonged psychological stress that occurs in a person when their nervous system is affected by emotional overload. Stress disrupts human activity and the normal course of their behavior. Stress, especially if it is frequent and prolonged, has a negative impact not only on the psychological state, but also on physical health. They are the main "risk factors" that course or aggravate such diseases as cardiovascular and gastrointestinal.

According to Hans Selye, stress is a nonspecific (i.e. the same to different influences) response of a body to any demand imposed on it, which helps it to adapt to these difficulties and cope with them. Any suddenness that disrupts the normal flow of life can cause stress. At the same time, as Hans Selye points out, it does not matter whether the situation we encounter is pleasant or unpleasant. It is the intensity of the need for change or adaptation that matters [1].

Social stress is one of the most common factors in the development of various mental and nervous disorders, including adaptation disorders such as anxiety, depressive-like disorders, and so on [8].

The "burnout" syndrome is a stress reaction that occurs as a result of long-term occupational stress of medium intensity. Given the definition of the stress process by Hans Selye (i.e. stages of anxiety, resistance and exhaustion) "professional burnout" can be considered to be the third stage, which is characterized by a stable and uncontrolled level of excitation. Teachers work in a rather restless, emotionally tense environment, which requires constant attention and control over the interaction in the system "teacher-student". Under such conditions, stress is caused by many stressors, which constantly accumulate in various spheres of life. Signs of stress in the work of a teacher are diverse and numerous: high emotional stress, increased anxiety, irritability, exhaustion - and these are only a small part of the factors that lead to emotional exhaustion of the representatives of this complex and extremely important profession today. A significant stressor is the psychological and physical overload of teachers, which causes the so-called syndrome of "burnout" - exhaustion of moral and physical strength, which inevitably affects the effectiveness of professional activities, general health, mental well-being and relationships in the family and everyday life.

The problem of professional burnout is reflected in the works of such foreign scientists as K. Maslach, S. Jackson, B. Perlman, X. Freidenberger, E. Hartmann and others. In domestic science, the issues of professional burnout were raised by V. Boyko, N. Vodopianova, L. Karamushka, N. Lazarev, O. Romanovska, T. Formaniuk and others. Researchers V. Boyko, N. Vodopianova, T. Ronhynska, A. Serebriakova, O. Starchenkova and others were engaged in research and development of diagnostic methods for the "professional burnout" syndrome [2].

American researchers K. Maslach and S. Jackson described burnout as a syndrome of physical emotional exhaustion, which occurs against the background of stress. Because of this state negative self-esteem, negative attitude to work, loss of understanding and compassion for colleagues begin to develop [5]. Scientists consider the syndrome of "burnout" as a three-component system, which consists of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduction of personal aspirations, which is the result of a discrepancy between a person and their work [9]. The main component of this mechanism is emotional exhaustion, which is caused by oversaturation with negative emotional experiences. The second component - depersonalization - is a deformation of the relationship, which is manifested in negativism, impersonal, cynical attitude towards the persons of provided services, and their positive attitude towards themselves. The third component - the reduction of personal accomplishments - negative assessment of their own work, themselves as specialists. The authors see the most reliable sign of burnout in the combination of emotional exhaustion with depersonalization, while the relationship between the reduction of personal accoplishments and the other two components of burnout is not necessarily considered to be a direct causel. Thus, the dynamics of the burnout, according to K. Maslach, unfolds in the following direction: idealism and excessive demands - emotional and mental exhaustion - dehumanization as a way to counteract it - a syndrome of aversion (against themselves - against others - against everything) and, as a consequence - collapse: dismissal, disease [4].

Emotional burnout syndrome is a disease that, unfortunately, is not always noticed. Given that the main providers of the educational goal are teachers of higher educational institutions, it is necessary to pay great attention to their psychological health. The stressful nature of the professional activity of teachers has a negative impact on their mental states, which causes a number of negative socio-psychological consequences in the professional sphere. These include: decreased job satisfaction, deteriorating socio-psychological climate in the team, burnout [10].

Teachers belong to a professional group that is particularly open to maladaptive tendencies. This is facilitated by high levels of stress, the complexity of intellectual work, increased load on the visual system, psycho-emotional and muscular tension. M. Berebin believes that socially maladaptive factors for this profession are low social security and prestige of the profession, suppression of active social needs, multifunctional socially responsible activities in conditions of information overload, the need for professional interpersonal interaction in situations with a high degree of conflict. Among the many features and difficulties of educationaal work, its high psychological tension is especially distinguished. Moreover, the need for emotion and involvement is recognized as one of the professionally important qualities of a teacher [7].

The profession of the teacher is one of those where the syndrome of "professional burnout" is the most common, because the professional activity of the teacher is recognized as one of the most emotionally stressful. This is due to the large number of unpredictable and uncontrolled communicative situations, unregulated work, high degree of personal responsibility of a teacher, the inability to obtain unambiguous evidence of the effectiveness of their activities, and so on. Emotional burnout of teachers has become a problematic phenomenon of modern higher educational institutions. Therefore, it is very important to study the peculiarities of the syndrome of "professional burnout", its development and course in educational work [6]. The study of emotional burnout of teachers is a very relevant and acute problem of our time. This is determined by the need of science and practice to know the individual factors and features of the traumatic effect of emotional burnout on the mental health of the teacher [3].

professional burnout syndrome conflict

The purpose of the study

theoretical substantiation of the concept of "burnout", experimental study of the signs of this syndrome in teachers of higher educational institutions and arrangement of recommendations for the prevention of "burnout". Subject of the research: psychological features of "professional burnout" of teachers. Research methods: theoretical (method of scientific analysis, synthesis, abstraction, induction, classification and systematization, which were used to generalize theoretical approaches to determine the nature and characteristics of the impact of "burnout" syndrome on the personality of a teacher) and empirical methods (questionnaire, pedagogical experiment, quantitative and qualitative analysis of the results). In the course of the research the following practical method was used: diagnostics of professional burnout by K. Maslach and S. Jackson.

Presentation of the main research material

The study was conducted in May 2021 with teachers of Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University (Ukraine). The study involved 59 teachers, 46 women and 13 men aged 27 to 69 years.

The percentage of surveyed teachers is as follows: teaching experience up to 5 years - 5.1%, from 5 to 10 years - 10.2%, from 11 to 15 years - 30.5%, from 16 to 20 years - 20.3 % and more than 20 years - 33.9%.

The processed questionnaires of the "Emotional Exhaustion" block showed that the average rate of psycho-emotional burnout in all teachers is at a high level. Emotional exhaustion is characterized by a decrease in emotional background, increased indifference, negativism, dissatisfaction with work, emotional oversaturation.

Having analysed the results of the "Depersonalization" block of the questionnaires it was found that the average statistics of this condition of all teachers are at the average level. Depersonalization is manifested in the distortion of relationships with other people. There can be increase in dependence on others, or increase in negativity, cynicism of attitudes and feelings. Depersonalization involves a cynical, indifferent, inhumane attitude towards the people they work with. Contacts with colleagues become formal, impersonal; the negative attitudes may initially be latent and manifest themselves in restrained irritation, which eventually breaks out and leads to conflicts.

The results of the "Reduction of personal accomplishments" block show that this condition is on average at a high level for all teachers. Reduction of personal accomplishments can be manifested either in the tendency to negatively evaluate themselves, their professional accomplishments and successes, negativism about accomplishments and opportunities, or limiting their capabilities, responsibilities towards others.

The results of the survey showed that if the respondent has a high level of emotional exhaustion, then both depersonalization and reduction of personal accomplishments are high. If the respondent has an average level of emotional exhaustion, then depersonalization and reduction of personal accomplishments may be of a medium or high level. If the respondent has a low level of emotional exhaustion, then both depersonalization and reduction of personal accomplishments are low or medium.

It was found that the most pronounced sign for the respondents is "emotional exhaustion". The following results were found in teachers: 51% have a high level, 44% - medium and 5% - low (Figure 1). Emotional exhaustion is a major component of burnout and manifests itself in a decrease in emotional background, indifference or emotional overload. The teacher feels the devastation and fatigue caused by his own work.

Fig. 1 Components of "emotional burnout" of teachers of Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University (Ukraine), (n = 59)

According to the results of the survey, such a feature as "reduction of personal accomplishments" in the studied teachers is also at a high level, in particular a low level - in 14% of teachers, medium - in 33% and high - in 53% (Figure 1). People who have this predominant trait may experience a decrease in the sense of competence in their work, dissatisfaction with themselves, a decrease in the value of their own activities, feelings of guilt for their own negative attitudes or feelings, negative perceptions of themselves in professional activities, decreased professional and personal self-esteem, feeling of own inability, indifference to work. It is possible that the level of motivation to work will reduce, which is manifested in a decrease in enthusiasm and initiative.

Less pronounced feature in the respondents is "depersonalization", in particular, a low level was found in 25% of respondents, medium - in 41% and high - in 34% (Figure 1). Depersonalization is manifested in the tendency to negatively evaluate their professional accomplishments, underestimation of themselves and their own successes, negative attitude to work and possible prospects, formalities of contacts with colleagues at work and so on.

Regarding the pedagogical experience, the most "dangerous" in the teacing activities is the period of 11-15 years, when the symptoms of burnout are observed most often.

Conclusions

In this study, emotional burnout is seen as a syndrome of constant fatigue, emotional exhaustion, which only intensifies over time. It has been proven that emotional burnout is easily confused with depression, because a person in both states is equally passive and powerless. Emotional burnout and depression are very similar and are often seen as related problems. But numerous studies show that there is a difference between them. The survey revealed such features of emotional burnout as emotional exhaustion, which is manifested by emotional devastation and fatigue, not excluded are manifestations of depersonalization, characterized by depersonalization of relationships with people. The results of the survey show that a significant number of teachers are characterized by inadequate emotional response, reduced interaction with colleagues, termination of professional responsibilities, the desire to be alone, expanding the sphere of saving emotions. A pronounced feature for the respondents is the reduction of personal accomplishments. Their attitude is manifested in the tendency to negatively assess themselves, their professional achievements and successes, negativism about professional dignity and opportunities, or in the leveling of personal dignity, limiting their capabilities, responsibilities to others. Thus, in the professional activity of teachers there is a high level of emotional burnout.

Emotional burnout syndrome occurs against the background of physical and mental exhaustion of a teacher. Therefore, preventive measures aimed at improving health will help prevent this disease. One of the most effective means of preventing the development of emotional burnout is self-regulation, because without the active and conscious involvement of the individual it is impossible to successfully overcome this problem. Teachers with a high level of "emotional burnout" need psychotherapeutic measures to overcome and prevent emotional burnout from a psychologist, because it is necessary to improve their professional activities.

Prospects for further research are related to the development of guidelines for preventive and corrective work aimed at reducing psycho-emotional stress and increasing the motivation level of professional activity of teachers of higher educational institutions, taking into account their temperament and age.

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