Special need educators : examining individual and organizational factors of burnout

Abstract

Burnout has been a pressing issue among employees within the special needs industry and past research has focused mainly on individual factors such as job satisfaction, work engagement and job workload predicting burnout. This study aims to examine other individual factors as well as organizational factors which are seldom explored within the special needs setting in relation to burnout. Special need educators across Singapore were recruited to complete a questionnaire, to gather information with regards to their burnout levels, job crafting, recovery experiences, perception of organizational justice and commitment to their organization. Stepwise regression analysis suggested that social job resources, affective commitment to the organization and perceived distributive justice is negatively associated with emotional exhaustion. Personal accomplishment, however, is negatively predicted by challenging job demands and affective commitment. Social job resources, perceived distributive justice and affective commitment is negatively associated with depersonalization, while continuance commitment is positively associated with depersonalization. In addition, affective commitment mediates the relationship between social job resources and both emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Implications for this study and future directions are discussed to aid in the understanding of the factors relating to burnout within the special needs setting. Recommendations for organizations to consider are also presented.