EFL Teachers' Job Satisfaction and Burnout in Iran

This study was an attempt to examine the relationship between EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers' job satisfaction and burnout in public schools and private institutes in Iran. Participants in this study were 120 EFL teachers (60 from public schools and 60 from private institutes) in Urmia, Iran. The researchers administered Ho and Au's (2006) job satisfaction questionnaire and Maslach, Jackson, and Leiter's (1996) burnout questionnaire, containing 22 items each, to measure the teachers' job satisfaction and burnout levels, respectively. Having collected the quantitative data, the researchers interviewed 10 participants to find out the sources of teachers' job dissatisfaction and burnout. The results showed a significantly negative relationship between EFL teachers‘ job satisfaction and burnout in both contexts, i.e., public schools and private institutes. Moreover, teachers in public schools enjoyed more job satisfaction and less job burnout compared to teachers in private institutes. Furthermore, the findings of the interview unveiled 8 main sources of teachers' job dissatisfaction and burnout. The results are discussed in relation to effective guidelines for teachers in public schools and private institutes in EFL context.

Keywords:

EFL teachers , Job burnout , Job satisfaction