At risk: study finds high levels of burnout in citizenship aducators
To identify the level of professional burnout among trainers and organisers of citizenship education courses in the Eastern Partnership countries of the European Union – this was the aim of a study conducted by EENCE activists. Here are its results, presented on 10 November during the Network’s working meeting in the capital of Moldova.
The study involved 109 trainers and organisers of citizenship education projects from EENCE, friendly networks and civil society organisations, experts and participants of Eduthons in the Eastern Partnership countries.
Only 4 out of 109 respondents are absolutely not burned out. Almost half of the respondents are severely burned out.
Occupational burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress in the workplace.
The main signs and symptoms of professional burnout include (according to the approach of Christina Maslach, Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Berkeley, Christina Maslach ; 21 January 1946, San Francisco, USA):
1. Emotional exhaustion: feelings of fatigue and lack of energy, inability to cope with the emotional demands of the job.
2. Depersonalisation: manifested by emotional detachment and indifference, formal performance of professional duties without personal involvement and empathy, and in some cases negativism and cynical attitudes.
3. Reduction of personal achievements: reduced sense of competence and success in professional activity, feeling of uselessness and dissatisfaction with one’s results.
Here’s what the results of the adducator burnout assessment look like by country:
See the full results of the study (in Russian), which is still ongoing and will be updated with new data.
You can also take part in the study by taking the survey at: https://forms.gle/VR2zm8pr7v387wkt8
The study is conducted by the EENCE working group “Research in Civic Education” in the framework of a project supported by the German Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung / bpb) with the financial support of the German Federal Foreign Office.
