Teacher Burnout and Reflective practice: A Critical Examination

Any profession requiring continuous professional development, like teaching, should focus on reflective practice, as society expects new teachers to engage in this process. Dewey and Schön both emphasized reflection in education, with Schön introducing the action-reflection model, which involves identifying a problem and taking steps to improve. Reflective practice helps increase the likelihood of improvement in teaching. Professional burnout, caused by chronic stress, exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced effectiveness, can be alleviated through reflective practice. Burnout often correlates with a lack of purpose in life, low job satisfaction, poor social interactions, and diminished work quality, negatively impacting students' motivation and classroom engagement. This highlights the importance of reflective practice for teacher well-being and its influence on students. This study explores how reflective practice affects the management of burnout in pre-university teachers, with data collected through self-administered interviews. A group of 20 teachers participated in the study, offering insights into the role of reflection in preventing burnout and improving professional satisfaction. By fostering reflection, educators can better manage stress and enhance both their personal and professional lives, ultimately benefiting the educational experience of their students.