Professional Identity and Burnout among Pre-School, Elementary, and Post-Elementary School Teachers in Israel

Abstract

The novelty of the present study is its attempt to distinguish between pre-school, elementary, and post-elementaryschool teachers, regarding the relationship between professional identity and burnout. Two hundred and fortyteachers responded to two questionnaires: professional identity and teacher burnout scales. Pre-school teachers werefound to be less burned out than their elementary and post-elementary school colleagues, for both general burnoutscore, and the factors of non-fulfillment and depersonalization. Regarding general burnout, no significant differencewas found between elementary and post-elementary school teachers. Elementary school teachers had significantlyhigher scores for general professional identity and its factors than pre-school and post-elementary school teachers.Regression equations of different kinds were found for predicting burnout according to professional identity factorsand years of experience.