Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to analyse the role played by teaching interactive practices (measured through a self-report Likert scale) in predicting teacher burnout, after controlling for school grade (primary vs. secondary school) and teaching experience. Participants were 282 Italian teachers equally distributed between primary and secondary schools. Teaching interactive practices were investigated through a purpose-built questionnaire concerning teacher- versus student-centred practices. Burnout was studied using the Maslach Burnout Inventory in its three-dimensional—Emotional Exhaustion, Low Personal Accomplishment and Depersonalization—Italian version. An explorative factor analysis on the questionnaire displayed three dimensions of teaching practices, namely student-centred practices focused on flexibility, student-centred practices focused on participation and teacher-centred practices. The main results showed that, irrespective of school grade and teaching experience, the adoption of interactive practices favouring students’ participation negatively predicted burnout; on the contrary, teacher-centred practices and flexibility positively predicted it. The result implications for educational processes and teacher training are discussed in the conclusion.
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Notes
At first, the scale comprised 35 items. However, after a series of analyses carried out in a pilot study, we excluded the items showing low loadings and communalities.
The personal accomplishment scale of the MBI included only positively worded items, which were subsequently reversed in order to evaluate a low sense of personal accomplishment (Simbula and Guglielmi 2010).
In order to dichotomise the variable teaching experience, we chose the median value of the years of teaching, which corresponded to 8. We then assigned the value 0 to teachers with 1 to 8 years of experience (50.4 %), and the value 1 to the other teachers.
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Consuelo Mameli
University of Bologna, Department of Education, Via Filippo Re 6, 40126 Bologna, Italy. E-mail: consuelo.mameli@unibo.it
Current themes of research
Teacher–student interactions. Classroom discourse. Educational quality. Teacher burnout.
Most relevant publications in the field of the Psychology of Education:
Mameli, C., Mazzoni, E., & Molinari, L. (2015). Patterns of discursive interactions in primary schools: An application of Social Network Analysis. Research Papers in Education, 30(5), 546-566.
Mameli, C., & Molinari, L. (2014). Seeking educational quality in the unfolding of classroom discourse: A focus on microtransitions. Language & Education, 28 (2), 103-119.
Mameli, C., & Molinari, L. (2013). Interactive micro-processes in classroom discourse: Turning Points and emergent meanings. Research Papers in Education, 28(2), 196-211.
Molinari, L., & Mameli, C. (2013). Process quality of classroom discourse: Pupil participation and learning opportunities. International Journal of Educational Research, 62, 249 – 258.
Molinari, L., Mameli, C., & Gnisci, A. (2013). A sequential analysis of classroom discourse in Italian primary schools. The many faces of the IRF pattern’. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 83(3), 414-430.
Luisa Molinari
University of Parma, Department of Literature, Arts, History and Society, Borgo Carissimi 10, 40125 Parma, Italy. E-mail: luisa.molinari@unipr.it
Current themes of research
Classroom discourse and social interaction; rights and responsibilities in education; process of change and microtransitions in families with adolescents; classroom justice.
Most relevant publications in the field of the Psychology of Education:
Mameli, C., Mazzoni, E., & Molinari, L. (2015). Patterns of discursive interactions in primary schools: An application of Social Network Analysis. Research Papers in Education, 30(5), 546-566.
Passini, S., Molinari, L., Speltini, G. (2015). A validation of the questionnaire on teacher interaction in Italian secondary school students: Effect of positive relations on motivation and academic achievement. Social Psychology of Education, 18, 547-559.
Molinari, L., Mameli, C., & Gnisci, A. (2013). A sequential analysis of classroom discourse in Italian primary schools. The many faces of the IRF pattern’. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 83(3), 414-430.
Molinari, L., Speltini, G., & Passini, S. (2013). Do perceptions of being treated fairly increase students’ outcomes? Teacher-student interactions and classroom justice in Italian adolescents. Educational Research and Evaluation, 19(1), 58-76.
Corsaro, W.A., Molinari, L. (2008). Policy and practice in Italian children’s transition from preschool to elementary school. Research in Comparative and International Education, 3, 3, 250-265.
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Mameli, C., Molinari, L. Teaching interactive practices and burnout: a study on Italian teachers. Eur J Psychol Educ 32, 219–234 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-016-0291-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-016-0291-z