The Relationship Between Preschool Teachers’ Tendency of Liking Children and the Levels of Professional Burnout

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the differentiation state of preschool teachers’ liking of children and their professional burnout according to their personal characteristics and the predictive state of their professional burnout related to the teaching profession of the teachers’ liking of children. 225 preschool teachers that were determined randomly on a voluntary basis from Ümraniye district on the Anatolian side and Küçükçekmece district on the European side of Istanbul participated in the study in the 2014-2015 academic year. The data were collected using a personal information form developed by the researcher, the “Barnett Liking of Children Scale” developed by Barnett and Sinisi (1990) and the “Maslach Burnout Inventory” developed by Maslach and Jackson (1981) and adapted into Turkish by Çam (1989)- Ergin (1992). The data obtained were analyzed using the statistical package. The teachers’ level of personal accomplishment demonstrates significant differences according to gender, the institution of employment and work efficiency, and depersonalization level demonstrates significant differences according to the institution of employment and work efficiency. While the level of the teachers’ emotional exhaustion shows significant differences according to the willing professional choice and the opinion on work efficiency, it does not show significant differences according to the institution of employment. The teachers’ burnout level demonstrates significant differences according to the institution they work in, the state of the willing professional choice and the opinion on work efficiency. The teachers’ tendency of liking children shows significant differences according to gender, marital status, the number of children, the opinion on work efficiency, the institution they work in and the state of the willing professional choice. The differences observed between the scores obtained from the teachers’ personal accomplishment and depersonalization scales are not significant. The teachers’ tendency of liking children demonstrates a significant relationship with depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment and burnout.