Level of burnout among special education teachers working in the school system

Prolongirani profesionalni stres može da dovede do mentalnih i fizičkih oboljenja kod pojedinca, što negativno deluje na kvalitet rada i odnose sa klijentom. Istraživanje prikazano u ovom radu je sprovedeno sa ciljem da se utvrdi nivo i rasprostranjenost sindroma profesionalnog sagorevanja kod defektologa zaposlenih u obrazovnim ustanovama u Republici Srbiji kao i da se utvrdi povezanosti specifičnih sociodemografskih varijabli sa sindromom profesionalnog sagorevanja ove populacije. Uzorak je činilo 46 defektologa zaposlenih u specijalnim osnovnim školama na teritoriji Republike Srbije. Profesionalno sagorevanje ispitivano je primenom instrumenta MBIEducators Survey (MBI-ES) i to kroz tri osnovne komponente sindroma profesionalnog sagorevanja: emocionalnu iscrpljenost, depersonalizaciju i percepciju ličnog postignuća. Rezultati pokazuju da, u odnosu na ukupan uzorak, na subskali EI najveći deo uzorka (43,5%) pokazuje umerene znake PS. Na subskali DE najveći procenat uzorka (67,4%) pokazuje blage znake PS, kao i na subskali LP (34,8%).Occupational stress among special education teachers has been one of the main focuses of researchers over the World the last decade, the reason being that persistent job related stress in special education teachers can lead to mental and or physical illnesses. Understanding the dynamics of the relationship between job related stress and burnout among special education teachers can lead to creating effective prevention procedures and intervention plans among special education teacher at risk of developing burnout syndrome. The central aim of the present study was to determin the leavel and distribution of burnout among special education teachers working in special education schools in Serbia, as well as to establish the connection between specific socio-demographic variables with burnout in this population. The sample consisted of 50 special education teachers employed in special education primary schools in Serbia. The level of burnout was investigated using the instrument MBI-Educators Survey (MBIES), through three categories: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and perception of personal accomplishment. These categories represent the components of burnout whose symptoms, if manifested in an individual, may indicate the presence of burnout. Results show that 43,5% of the sample has moderate signs of EI, while 67,4% show mild signs of DE. Mild signs of burnout on scale personal acomplishment are also shown in 34,8% of the whole sample