Preview
Creation Date
2023
Description
For over 20 years, the Education Departments of Bethel University have prepared teachers to serve K-12 students in Minnesota’s public schools. Each year, for accreditation and continuous program improvement data are gathered on their teaching performance and their satisfaction with the training they receive at Bethel. However, we are unsure about how long our newly inducted teachers stay in the field, what challenges they face as novice teachers, and how workplace factors influence the onset or mitigation of occupational burnout. In 2016, we recruited 65 teacher candidates from Bethel’s undergraduate and graduate education programs to participate in a longitudinal study spanning five years after program completion to learn more about who stays in the field, who leaves, and why. After initial consent, 43 participants continued through 10 phases of data collection using the Maslach Burnout Inventory/Areas of Workplace Satisfaction (MBI/AWS). Results suggested the second and fourth years in the classroom as most challenging for new teachers. Across all areas of Workplace Satisfaction, ‘workload’ emerged as a singular correlate with burnout factors of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Workplace factors of Community and Values were most often rated as consistent areas of satisfaction across the first years of induction.
Keywords
Special Education Teachers, Longevity, Occupational Health