The Relationship Between the Autonomy of Turkish EFL Teachers and Their Professional Burnout


DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52380/ijcer.2025.12.2.609Keywords:
Teacher autonomy, teacher burnout, EFL teachers, teacher attitude, correlational research designAbstract
The aim of this study is to analyze the correlation between teacher autonomy and teacher burnout in a Turkish context. For this study, correlational research design was used, and the data were collected via the Teacher Autonomy Scale by Pearson and Hall (1993) and the Teacher Burnout Scale by Seidman and Zager (1986-1987). 100 Turkish EFL teachers who teach at high school level in public or private institutions of the center of Edirne and its districts Uzunköprü, Havsa, İpsala and Keşan were chosen as the sample for the study. The findings displayed that the participants had a low level of teacher autonomy and a moderate level of teacher burnout. The participants had a slightly higher curriculum autonomy than general autonomy. All the subcategories of the Teacher Burnout Scale showed moderate levels of teacher burnout. The highest mean was observed in the attitudes towards students subscale and the lowest mean was observed in the career satisfaction subscale. When it comes to the correlation between teacher autonomy and teacher burnout, the findings revealed that teacher burnout was significantly, inversely and moderately correlated with teacher autonomy.
References
Aldosiry, N. (2022). The influence of support from administrators and other work conditions on special education teachers. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 69(6), 1873-1887. https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2020.1837353
Avalos, B. (2011). Teacher Professional development in teaching and teacher education over ten years. Teaching and teacher education, 27(1), 10-20.
Benson, P., & Huang, J. (2008). Autonomy in the transition from foreign language learning to foreign language teaching. DELTA: Documentação de Estudos em Lingüística Teórica e Aplicada, 24, 421-439.
Benson, P., & Voller, P. (2014). Autonomy and independence in language learning. Routledge.
Bizmiye, M. (2020). Textbook dependency and teacher autonomy in EFL classes [Master's thesis, Gaziantep University]. Council of Higher Education Thesis Center.
Buğra, C., & Atay, F. (2020). A qualitative study on EFL teachers' self-perceived beliefs about teacher autonomy. International Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 12(1), 235-250.
Cambridge University Press. (n.d.). Autonomy. In Cambridge dictionary. Retrieved November 27, 2023 from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-turkish/autonomy
Chang, M. L. (2009). An appraisal perspective of teacher burnout: Examining the emotional work of teachers. Educational psychology review, 21(3), 193-218.
Ciekanski, M. (2007). Fostering learner autonomy: Power and reciprocity in the relationship between language learner and language learning adviser. Cambridge journal of education, 37(1), 111-127. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057640601179442
Corbin, C. M., Alamos, P., Lowenstein, A. E., Downer, J. T., & Brown, J. L. (2019). The role of teacher-student relationships in predicting teachers’ personal accomplishment and emotional exhaustion. Journal of School Psychology, 77, 1-12.
Deneme, S. (2021). An investigation of occupational burnout levels of Turkish EFL teachers by various variables. Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences, 16(4), 1997-2009.
Esfandiari, R., & Kamali, M. (2016). On the relationship between job satisfaction, teacher burnout, and teacher autonomy. Iranian Journal of Applied Language Studies, 8(2), 73-98.
https://dx.doi.org/10.22111/ijals.2016.3081
Etikan, I., Musa, S. A., & Alkassin, R. S. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American journal of theoretical and applied statistics, 5(1), 1-4.
Ford, T. G., Olsen, J., Khojasteh, J., Ware, J., & Urick, A. (2019). The effects of leader support for teacher psychological needs on teacher burnout, commitment, and intent to leave. Journal of Educational Administration, 57(6), 615-634.
Fraenkel, J. K. & Wallen, N. E. (2012). How to design and evaluate research in education. McGraw-Hill.
Friedman, I. A. (1993). Burnout in teachers: The concept and its unique core meaning. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53(4), 1035-1044.
Gavrilyuk, O. A., Loginova, I. O., & Buzovkina, N. Y. (2013). Relations of perceived autonomy and burnout syndrome in university teachers. International Journal of Applied Psychology, 3(3), 52-62. http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.ijap.20130303.04.html
Girgin, G., & Baysal, A. (2005). Tükenmişlik sendromuna bir örnek: Zihinsel engelli öğrencilere eğitim veren öğretmenlerin mesleki tükenmişlik düzeyi. TSK Koruyucu Hekimlik Bülteni, 4(4), 172-187. https://app.trdizin.gov.tr/makale/TlRJNU56YzM
Ingersoll, R. (2007). Short on power, long on responsibility. GSE Publications
Javadi, F. (2014). On the relationship between teacher autonomy and feeling of burnout among Iranian EFL teachers. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98, 770- 774.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.480
Kamii, C. (1984). Autonomy: The aim of education envisioned by Piaget. The Phi Delta Kappan, 65(6), 410-415. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20387059
Khotimah, K., Widiati, U., Mustofa, M., & Ubaidillah, M. F. (2019). Autonomous English learning: Teachers’ and students’ perceptions. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 9(2), 371-381.
Knox, J. A., & Anfara Jr, V. A. (2013). Understanding job satisfaction and its relationship to student academic performance. Middle School Journal, 44(3), 58-64.
Koçak, A. (2018). The effects of teacher autonomy perceptions of English as a foreign language teachers on their burnout levels: Van case [Master’s thesis, Necmettin Erbakan University]. Council of Higher Education Thesis Center.
Lightfoot, S. L. (1986). On goodness in schools: Themes of empowerment. Peabody Journal of Education, 63(3), 9-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/01619568609538522
Little, D. (1995). Learning as dialogue: The dependence of learner autonomy on teacher autonomy. System, 23(2), 175-181. https://doi.org/10.1016/0346-251X(95)00006-6
Manzano Vázquez, B. (2018). Teacher development for autonomy: An exploratory review of language teacher education for learner and teacher autonomy. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 12(4), 387-398.
Marshall, P. A. (2019). Teacher Autonomy on English Communication Courses in Japanese Universities. International Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 11(2), 87-99.
Maslach, C., & Jackson, S. E. (1981). The measurement of experienced burnout. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2(2), 99-113. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030020205
Mcleod, S. (2023, September 25). Piaget’s theory of moral development. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget-moral.html
Pearson, L. C., & Moomaw, W. (2005). The relationship between teacher autonomy and stress, work satisfaction, empowerment, and professionalism. Educational research quarterly, 29(1), 38-54.
Pedditzi, M. L., Nonnis, M., & Nicotra, E. F. (2021). Teacher satisfaction in relationships with students and parents and burnout. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 703130.
Rudolph, L. (2006). Decomposing teacher autonomy: A study investigating types of teacher autonomy and how it relates to job satisfaction. University of Pennsylvania.
Sehrawat, J. (2014). Teacher autonomy: Key to teaching success. Hartıyam International Journal of Education & Research: Quarterly Peer Reviewed International Journal of Research & Education, 4(1), 2277-1255.
Seidman, S. A., & Zager, J. (1986-1987). The Teacher Burnout Scale. Educational research quarterly, 11(1), 26-33.
Schaufeli, W. B., Maslach, C., & Marek, T. (Eds.). (2017). Professional burnout: Recent developments in theory and research. Routledge.
Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2014). Teacher self-efficacy and perceived autonomy: Relations with teacher engagement, job satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion. Psychological reports, 114(1), 68-77. https://doi.org/10.2466%2F14.02.PR0.114k14w0
Teng, M. F. (2019). Autonomy, agency, and identity in teaching and learning English as a foreign language. Springer Singapore.
Terry, P.M. (1997) ‘Teacher Burnout: Is it Real? Can we Prevent it?’, paper presented at the meeting of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Chicago.
Toropova, A., Myrberg, E., & Johansson, S. (2021). Teacher job satisfaction: the importance of school working conditions and teacher characteristics. Educational review, 73(1), 71-97. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2019.1705247
Uğurlu, Z., & Qahramanova, K. (2016). Opinions of school administrators and teachers on the teacher autonomy in Azerbaijan and Turkey educations system. Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 16(2), 637-658.
Yavuz, M. (2019). Özel eğitim ve rehabilitasyon merkezlerinde çalışan öğretmenlerin mesleki tükenmişlik düzeyleri ve yaşam doyumlarının incelenmesi. OPUS Uluslararası Toplum Araştırmaları Dergisi, 13(19), 527-556. https://doi.org/10.26466/opus.601008
Yavuz, M., & Yıkmış, A. (2021). Özel Eğitim Öğretmenlerinin Mesleki Tükenmişlik Düzeylerinin Çeşitli Değişkenler Açısından İncelenmesi. Ahmet Keleşoğlu Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 3(1), 1-19. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/akef/issue/60702/896311
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Sıla Nalbant, Selma Deneme Gençoğlu

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.