Beginning Teacher Burnout in Queensland Schools: Associations with Serious Intentions to Leave

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa

Study examines early-career teacher burnout in Queensland schools, testing whether burnout is positively associated with turnover intention. A survey of 112 Australian teachers in their first or second academic year (2004) used the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and measured serious intentions to leave the job and/or profession. Meaningful, significant relationships were found between serious intentions to leave and all three MBI subscales. Results offer a direct explanation for high early-career attrition.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Definition and components of burnout

Health and organizational consequences of burnout

Teacher burnout as a global educational issue

Early career teacher turnover

Research gap on burnout and early turnover

Beginning Teacher Burnout in Queensland Schools: Associations with Serious Intentions to Leave Richard Goddard and Marion Goddard Marich Enterprises Abstract In keeping with repeated calls to investigate high early career turnover within the teaching profession, the present study investigated the hypothesis that a significant positive association between burnout and turnover intention would be observed in teachers at the beginning of their careers. A sample of 112 Australian teachers working in their first or second academic year was surveyed in 2004. Respondents were administered the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI: Maslach, Jackson & Leiter 1996) and asked about serious intentions to leave their job and/or profession. Meaningful and significant associations between serious intentions to leave and all three MBI subscales were found. The findings suggest a realistic and straightforward explanation for the alarmingly high early career attrition rates that are now commonly reported for the teaching profession in a number of countries. Introduction Burnout is well accepted as a syndrome of physical, emotional and cognitive exhaustion that develops from sustained exposure to situations that are emotionally demanding and stressful (Maslach, Jackson & Leiter 1996) . Prolific empirical and theoretical attention over more than three decades has confirmed specific markers for the syndrome as a sense of emotional exhaustion, depersonalizing behaviour targeted towards clients, students and/or co-workers and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment (Maslach, et al. 1996) . Burke and Greenglass (1995) have succinctly summarised the accepted wisdom that ‘Psychological burnout is an umbrella term which includes three components that are conceptually distinct but empirically related’(p.188) . The Australian Educational Researcher, Volume 33, Number 2, August 2006 •61 RICHARD GODDARD AND MARION GODDARD It is well accepted that the burnout phenomenon is associated with significant adverse health implications for sufferers (Cordes & Dougherty 1993) . Furthermore, a large body of creditable research has demonstrated that the implications of burnout extend well beyond the mental, emotional and physical health of the sufferer. For example, burnout is known to have a significant adverse influence on the effectiveness of employer organisations (Maslach & Leiter 1997, 1999), on turnover intention and actual turnover of afflicted staff (Drake & Yadama 1996, Geurts, Schaufeli & De Jonge 1998, Weisberg & Sagie 1999), and even client behaviour (Bakker, Schaufeli, Sixma, Bosveld & Van Dierendonck 2000) . Clearly, these consequences have major implications for all organisations and institutions employing staff susceptible to the phenomenon, particularly those organisations and government departments responsible for delivering human services where significant incidences of burnout are know to occur, for example within the human service fields of public nursing, community mental health, general practice and in education. It is burnout within the teaching profession that is the focus of the present study, where the phenomenon has frequently been investigated and has been well recognised as being problematic for teachers and the teaching profession globally (Cherniss 1995, Pierce & Molloy 1990) . In their review of over three decades of teacher burnout research Guglielmi and Tatrow (1998) have noted that burnout has consistently been linked to poor physical and psychological health in teachers. Given the widespread recognition that ‘teacher quality’ is one of the most influential factors in determining student achievement (OECD 2005) then one could be forgiven for believing that amelioration of teacher burnout is set to become one of the most important areas of global educational policy interest in the future. Another persistent organisational problem being experienced by the teaching profession is that of early career teacher turnover

FAQs

What question does the study investigate about teacher burnout and turnover intention?

The study tests the hypothesis that burnout shows a significant positive association with teachers’ serious intentions to leave their job and/or profession at the beginning of their careers.

How was burnout measured in the research?

Burnout was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), assessing three subscales.

What do the findings suggest about early career teacher attrition rates?

The findings support a realistic, straightforward explanation for alarmingly high early career attrition rates by showing significant links between intentions to leave and all three burnout subscales.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa