Investigation of burnout levels of preschool teachersworking in independent preschools and nursery schools

This study, in which the burnout levels of independent preschool teachers and nursery class teachers were examined, was conducted with the participation of 20 preschool teachers from public schools in Güngören, İstanbul. The feeling of burnout which seen in preschool teachers, psychological, behavioral and physical statements of burnout were dwelled on; the factors which cause this feeling and coping techniques were researched. Data were acquired using semi-structured interview technique as well as the research is a qualitative study. The analysis of these data was analyzed by theNVivo 8 qualitative data analysis program. Findings related to burnout perceptions in teachers wererevealed through the generated themes and codes. It was observed that exhaustion and stress levels of independent preschool teachers were increased with administrative pressure, participation in decisions, overtime work, heavy loads brought by documents and procedures. Also, dissatisfaction with working conditions due to the education without break, lack of helping staff, excessive classroom attendance become prominent distinctly. Because of the segments of society who think that preschool education consists of play and child care, it has been concluded that teachers found statues low and they are faced with a sense of worthlessness and their burnout levels wereincreased. On the other hand, nursery teachers were emphasized that working conditions increase the stress and fatigue of themselves due to system-related problems such as student numbers, working without break, and a surplus of classroom attendance. It was seen that they are agreed about the lack of pre-primary field knowledge of the administrators and the intrusiveness of parents make it difficult to operate. In general, it was concluded that the hitches which affect the feelings of preschool teachers' toward the profession have also increased the burnout levels. A number of suggestions were made based on the fact that the teachers were disturbed by the system, the parents, administration and the negative view of preschool education. Improvements in class hours, class size, assistant personel and break will be in place to troubleshoot the problems caused by the training system. In addition, it will be right to educate administrators a bout organizational communication in order to relieve the teachers who can not cope with the negativities which confront with the administrative pressure code, such as participation in decisions, autonomy, work for the parents, procedures and paperwork,excessive workload.