Problems experienced in the distance education process and professional burnout of teachers

It is an undeniable fact that the Covid -19 global epidemic, which started in December 2019 and continued until the first months of 2022, left a lasting impact on every individual, big or small, who experienced this process. A deadly threat, unprecedented in recent history, has taken the whole world by storm and there is almost no industry left untouched. Education systems are also one of the most damaged areas in this process. At the beginning of the epidemic, the restrictions applied to reduce the contagiousness of the virus and the spread of the epidemic caused the educational activities to cease. When it was understood that it would take time to eliminate the epidemic, distance education method started to be applied as an alternative solution to continue education activities. In this study, it is aimed to determine the problems experienced in the distance education process during the epidemic process and to determine the relationship between these problems and professional burnout of teachers. The research includes teachers working in official primary, secondary and high schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in the 2021-2022 academic year. A total of 479 teachers, 261 female and 218 male, participated in the study on a voluntary basis. The data collection tool consists of three parts: the scale to identify the problems experienced in the distance education process, the personal information form and the professional burnout inventory trainer form. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 23 package program, and as a result of the results obtained, a 29-question scale consisting of five sub-factors was developed to identify the problems experienced in the distance education process. As a result of this study, it was determined that the problems experienced in distance education activities during the epidemic process increased the professional burnout of teachers and on the other hand, decreased personal success. In the study, it was determined that teachers with a professional seniority of 5 years or less experienced more problems in the distance education process than teachers with higher seniority, therefore, the professional burnout levels of teachers with low professional seniority were higher than senior teachers. In the study, it was also concluded that the teachers of the basic education branch had fewer problems than the numerical and verbal branch teachers, and their professional burnout levels were lower than the numerical and verbal branch teachers. Based on the fact that distance education activities will continue despite the end of the epidemic, the completion of the deficiencies in distance education activities thanks to the results obtained; It is aimed that this study will be a guide for correcting mistakes and getting high efficiency from distance education.