Abstract

This study explores issues of burnout and job satisfaction among special school headteachers and teachers in Turkey. The purpose of the study is to determine whether there is a difference between headteachers' and teachers' burnout and job satisfaction in terms of work status, gender and work experiences, and to analyse the factors effecting their burnout and job satisfaction. In this paper, a quantitative approach has been used: 295 subjects responded to the survey. As the research instruments, the Job Satisfaction Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used to measure job satisfaction and burnout levels in terms of the dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. The study results indicated that special school headteachers felt less personal accomplishment than special school teachers. However, there were no significant differences between headteachers and teachers on two burnout dimensions, namely emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and job satisfaction. In terms of gender, males have less emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment but higher depersonalization than their female counterparts. Females have higher job satisfaction than their male counterparts. In relation to their work experiences, more experienced subjects have higher emotional exhaustion and depersonalization than their less experienced colleagues, and also less job satisfaction than less experienced counterparts. However, more experienced subjects who participated in the study felt higher personal accomplishment than the others.