Abstract:

Professional reflection, in addition to being perceived as a means of professional development of teachers, also participates in the prevention of burnout (Javadi & Khatib, 2014; Shirazizadeh & Moradkhani, 2018). Taking into account its purpose and content, we are talking about types of professional reflection that particularly participate in actualization the educational work of teachers. Understandably, each of them can have a different impact on preventing burnout. The aim of the paper is to analyze the frequency of implementation of professional reflection types by teachers (how often they deliberate/think about selected aspects of teaching; higher scores represented higher frequency) from the aspect of statistically significant predictors to individual components of the burnout (to what extent teachers register feelings associated with burnout; higher scores for emotional exhaustion and depersonalization represented a higher risk of burnout; lower scores for personal accomplishment a higher risk of burnout). The scale questionnaire Professional reflection types (Novocký & Orosová, 2019) was used to monitor the frequency of implementation of professional reflection types and the Slovak variant Maslach Burnout Inventory – Educators Survey (Petlák & Baranovská, 2016) was used to map the level of burnout. Both research tools were undergone to exploratory (principal axis method and promax rotation; principal components method and varimax rotation) and confirmatory factor analysis (very good values of fit indices CFI, TLI, RMSEA, SRMR, GFI). The structure of the first research instrument was five-dimensional (metacognitive, critical, cognitive, learning and consulting reflection) and the second research instrument was three-dimensional (emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment and depersonalization). The internal consistency of the tools and dimensions was optimal, which we determined by calculating the value of Cronbach's alpha. 452 high school teachers from all over Slovakia took part in the research. Their average age was 48.65 years (SD = 9.58) and the average length of practice was 21.07 years (SD = 10.32). Multiple linear regression showed that metacognitive reflection (β = 0.195; p = 0.004) and learning reflection (β = -0.152; p = 0.013) were statistically significant predictors of emotional exhaustion, cognitive reflection (β = 0.124; p = 0.016) and learning reflection (β = 0.186; p = 0.001) were in the position of statistically significant predictors of personal accomplishment, but none of the professional reflection types statistically significantly predicted depersonalization. In all the mentioned cases it was a weak prediction. Selected professional reflection types explained 3.7% of the emotional exhaustion variability and 15.4% of the personal accomplishment variability. Professional reflection does not appear to be a factor that has a greater impact on reducing burnout in teachers, and therefore other factors that may enhance its effect should be considered. One of them appears to be teacher self-efficacy (Dexter & Wall, 2021). The conclusion therefore remains that the importance of professional reflection in the sense of a protective factor against the threat of burnout cannot be underestimated, but it is requested to identify a third, strengthening, variable of professional reflection (for example, a specific type of teacher self-efficacy).

Keywords:

Burnout, high school, professional reflection, teacher.