REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Burnout

Problems and issues inevitably arise in the working environment. Some of which

include lack of communication between employees, excessive working load, lack of

resources and more. Kapur (2018) reports that the main issues that employees face

progressively are the conditions of overwork, job insecurity, job dissatisfaction and lack

of autonomy. Definitely, employees will find it more and more difficult or even impossible

to cope with work when pressure and job demands are high and constant. These

difficulties greatly impinge on the employees’ work performance and will cause stress.

Chronic stress eventually leads to burnout.

Job burnout is a psychological syndrome that arises from being constantly

exposed to these stressors affecting the mental, emotional and physical aspects of the

worker (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). It is “a consequence of the perceived

disparity between the demands of the job and the resources (both material and

emotional) that an employee has available to him or her” (Cedoline, 1982). It is often

characterized by its three core dimensions: exhaustion, cynicism and lack of personal

accomplishment. Exhaustion, the central component of burnout, refers to being

emotionally drained by one’s work. Meanwhile, cynicism is an excessive feeling of

detachment or responding negatively to the work in general and/or to the individuals

whom the employees interact with while performing their job. Lastly, lack of personal

accomplishment refers to a decline in one’s feelings of competence and of successful

achievement at work (Bakker & Costa, 2014).

exhaustion are part of it, but the hallmark of burnout is the distancing that goes on in

response to the overload. According to Corey (1996), burned out individuals may feel

that whatever they are doing makes no difference at all and that they have nothing left

to give. They typically find themselves tired, drained, and without enthusiasm.

Seemingly, they make themselves believe that their work lacks meaning. They feel that

what they do have to offer is either not wanted or not received; they feel unappreciated,

unrecognized, and unimportant, and they go about their jobs in a mechanical and

routine way. They tend not to see any concrete results of the fruits of the efforts. Often,

they feel oppressed by the “system” and by institutional demands, which, they contend,

stifle any sense of personal initiative.

Teacher Burnout

The teaching profession is stressful (Borg & Riding, 1991; Travers & Cooper,

1996). It is known for having many job demands (Travers & Cooper, 1996) and for doing

many tasks simultaneously. Aside from their workload, teachers face the day-to-day

stressors of student misbehavior, quantitative workload or unfavorable physical work

environment all the while concerning themselves of their students and others’ well-

being. It is asserted that the teaching profession is “emotionally taking and potentially

frustrating” (Lambert, O’Donell, Kusherman & McCarthy, 2006, p.105) and thus,

explains why teachers have been resorting to leaving the profession at an alarming rate.

With these in regard, employees in the academe, it can be said that teachers are prone

to stress, which, with constant experience, leads to burnout.

more serious problem to the profession than job change or early retirement; because

although he or she remains in the classroom, burnout reduces the ability of the teacher

to cope. As a matter of fact, statistical data show that teachers seem to be more

exposed to the three dimensions of burnout compared to other professions. These

workers in the helping professions, as well as counselors, doctors, nurses and

administrators, are charged with the tremendous obligation of looking out for others’

well-being alongside the weight of multitude of stressors that stem from routine job

activities. Combined with the common workplace issues such as limited resources, long

hours, marginal working conditions, and often unreasonable demands from those

receiving services, educators acquire stress which ultimately leads to burnout

(Dworkins, 1987). In fact, as investigated by Kalimo and Hakanen (2000), cited by

Hakanen, Bakker and Schaufeli (2005), teachers show the greatest burnout levels

among occupations devoted to offering human services and white collar jobs in the

country, Finland. Moreover, Sanford (2017) observed that teachers who are new and

younger are especially more susceptible to burnout than others. It is therefore likely that

the Philippines, with hiring more new teachers for the relatively new K to 12 curriculum,

to have educators prone to suffering from burnout.

Causes of Burnout

As the cases of burnout increases in the current times not only in the country but

also worldwide, a need to take a look into the causes of burnout arises. In 2005,

Maslach and Leiter declared that the causes of burnout is divided into two categories

which are situational predictors and individual antecedents. Situational factors comprise
of seven antecedents: (1) workload, (2) control, (3) award, (4) social network, (5) job

fairness, and (6) values. Meanwhile, under the second group are age, gender, marital

status and work experience. Panis and Aronoson (quoted by Maslach, Schaufeli, &

Leiter, 2001), explained that emotional and physical fatigue syndrome is what causes

occupational burnout. Meanwhile, World Health Organization (1998), considered a

number of factors that contribute to an employee’s burnout namely; environmental,

individual and organizational factors.

In a book by Anthony Cedoline (1982), he investigated and analyzed the

following seven major causes of burnout that are most discussed and mentioned in

research studies:

Lack of Control Over One’s Destiny

As organizations become large and impersonal, employees are frequently

less involved in decision making. Even simple tasks can be delayed due to legal

dictates, administrative policy, or lack of funds. Employees’ participation in

decision-making promotes more positive job attitudes and greater motivation for

effective performance.

Lack of Occupational Feedback and Communication

Like other workers, educators want to know the expectations of the

organization, the behaviors that will be successful or unsuccessful in satisfying

job requirements, any physical and psychological dangers that might exist, and

the security of the job. Education employees need feedback to develop job

values, aspirations, objectives, and accomplishments. Lack of clear, consistent

year without regular, periodic feedback, the possibility of stress increases the

longer the employee works in a vacuum. Regarding communication,

organizational structures that foster open, honest, cathartic expression in a

positive and constructive way reap large dividends from employees. When

management reacts to open communication on a crisis basis only, it reinforces

negative communications.

Work Overload or Underload

Researchers have found high levels of stress among individuals who have

excessive workloads. Long or unpredictable hours, too many responsibilities,

work at a too-rapid pace, too many phone calls, dealing directly with difficult

people without sufficient relief, dealing with constant crises, and supervising too

many people (e.g., large class sizes and overcrowding) or having broad

multifaceted job descriptions are characteristics of a work overload. In addition,

boring tedious jobs or jobs without variety are equally distressful.

Contact Overload

Contact overload results from the necessity for frequent encounters with

other people in order to carry out job functions. Some occupations (teaching,

counseling, law enforcement) require many encounters that are unpleasant and

therefore distressful. These workers spend a large proportion of their work time

interacting with people in various states of distress. When the caseload is high,

control over one's work and consequent job satisfaction is affected. Contact
overloads also leave little occasion or energy for communication and support

from other employees or for seeking personal and professional growth

opportunities.

Role Conflict/Ambiguity

Although role conflict and ambiguity can occur independently; they both

refer to the uncertainty about what one is expected to do at work. Role conflict

may be defined as the simultaneous occurrence of two or more opposing

pressures such that a response to one makes compliance with the other

impossible (e.g., mass education versus individualized instruction). The most

frequent role conflicts are (1) those between the individual's values and those of

the superior or the organization; (2) the conflict between the demands of the work

place and the worker's personal life; and (3) the conflict between worker abilities

and organizational expectations. In numerous studies, role conflict has been

associated with low job satisfaction, frustration, decreased trust and respect, low

confidence in the organization, morale problems and high degrees of stress. Role

ambiguity may be defined as a lack of clarity about the job, that is, a discrepancy

between the information available to the employee and that which is required for

successful job performance. In comparison to role conflict, role ambiguity has

the highest correlation to job dissatisfaction. Role ambiguity is especially

common amongst school administrators.

Individual Factors
 Personal factors such as financial stability, marital satisfaction, as well as

personality factors such neuroticism, excessive shyness, inflexibility, and poor

stress management skills all contribute to how one is affected by stress on the

job. The mutual interaction and accumulation of both personal and occupational

stressors can certainly contribute to job burnout.

Training Deficits

Several different areas of job training are necessary to prevent

occupational distress. The most obvious area is adequate initial preparation.

Training and competencies are necessary to bolster confidence, as well as to

allow the worker to get through each day without unnecessary dependence upon

others or upon reference materials. On-the-job training is also necessary as

technology advances. New professionals are most susceptible to some forms of

distress. Secondly, training in communications skills is necessary in order to

facilitate the ability of the employee to relate successfully with supervisors, fellow

workers, and recipients of services or products. According to one survey, jobs

are more frequently lost because of poor communication than because of any

other factor. Finally, one needs to be taught how to deal with stress. Everyone

needs to learn methods of coping with the variety of stressors faced each day

(Anthony, 1982).