Causes of Burnout among Secondary School Teachers: A Case of Bungoma North District-Kenya

Abstract

Teachers are key players in the achievement of educational goals in any country. To achieve this goals, their well-being is important and their issues need to be addressed. Burnout among teachers is one of the biggest issues which need attention. Burnout is a feeling of tiredness; low enthusiasm and going out of work mechanically. It can result from prolonged exposure to stress. The purpose of this study was to investigate the causes of burnout among secondary schools teachers in Bungoma North District of Bungoma County, Kenya. The study population comprised of 37 secondary schools having 544 teachers. Eighteen schools were sampled which included five provincial schools and thirteen district schools. In the provincial schools category, two were boys’ schools, two mixed and one girls’ school and that is the only Provincial Girls’ School in the district. District Schools comprised of three boys’ schools, three girls’ schools and seven mixed schools. The sample size was 180 teachers and 18 Principals. This sample was obtained by selecting 10 teachers from each sampled school using stratified random sampling and 1 principal from each of the sampled schools using purposive sampling. Data was collected using questionnaires, document analysis, task performance schedule and interview schedule. Analysis was done using descriptive statistics and was presented on
tables, pie charts and graphs. The study revealed that apart from the normal classroom teaching, teachers had a number of remedial lessons to attend to, larger classes to handle, a lot of paper work and some had to International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development stay in their work stations other than their normal school timings in order to complete various tasks. All these factors were contributing in burnout among teachers which were badly impacting their performance. The study recommended that the weekend remedial lessons should be discontinued, regular transfers on request should be in practice and some relaxation time should be given to teachers. The findings of the study gave insight to school administrators, the Ministry of Education and individual teachers on the existence of burnout among teachers.