Job satisfaction and bornout level of primary school teachers

The aim of this research is to investigate the job satisfaction and burnout levels of primary school teachers working in Şehitkamil-Şahinbey district of Gaziantep. The fact that job satisfaction and performance of teachers are directly proportional and the negative influence of dissatisfaction make this study significant. As teaching requires intensive face-to-face communication, it is one of the occupations with the highest rate of burnout. This high rate of burnout risk reveals the problem which this study investigates. The data was gathered by using "Job Satisfaction Scale" and "Maslach Burnout Inventory" from the 729 teachers who took part in this study. 83,7% of the participants reported that they willingly chose the field of teaching; 46,2% of them reported that they feel stressed out while going to work. The likelihood of those who have worked at the same school between 1-5 years to choose the same profession again (56,1) if given another chance is higher than those who have worked for 5 or more years. Single teachers, teachers who make medıum level a month, those who have worked at the same school for 1-5 years, those who haven't had absenteeism in the last 2 years, those considering changing their professions and those who feel physical tension at work have higher rates of a sense of job satisfaction compared to other teachers. In the burnout scale, the statement "I feel like I am treating the people I meet as if they are inanimate objects by the nature of my job." got the highest average by being confirmed by the majority of teachers. In the job satisfaction scale, most of the teachers answered positively tothe question "Do you attend seminars or conferences to contribute to your Professional development?" The study concludes that as the teachers' job satisfaction level increases, the burnout level decreases and that the burnout level is low and the satisfaction level is high. Keywords: Primary School, Class Teacher, Job Satisfaction, Burnout Syndrome