IRANIAN EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF BURNOUT CAUSES AND SOURCES OF PREVENTION

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the Iranian language teachers’ perceptions of burnout causes and sources of prevention. Participants of the study consisted of 76 male and female language teachers with 2-10 years of teaching experience in Tehran. Selection of the participants was performed according to convenience sampling form a famous language school in Tehran. A sequential mixed approach was used, in which 20 teachers participated in interviews and the remaining participants completed the burnout prevention survey that was designed based on the qualitative data collected from the interviews. Then the burnout prevention questionnaire was developed using the results of the interviews and administered to the remaining participants. In the next step, analysis of the collected data was performed through factor analysis to identify the components of burnout prevention. According to the results of the content analysis of the interview data, Iranian EFL teachers viewed work and life balance, organized working conditions, healthy classroom context and vital as well as growing working environment as the sources which could prevent burnout. Based on the results of factor analysis, work and life balance and vital as well as growing working conditions constituted one component of the burnout prevention, organized working environment made up the next component, and healthy classroom environment comprised the last component of the burnout prevention.