Burning the candle at both ends : an explanatory sequential mixed methods study on the impact of coping, competence, and school context on burnout in alternatively certified teachers.

Prolonged teacher stress and burnout cause teachers of all experience levels to resign early, creating a school staffing problem (Ingersoll et al., 2021; King & Yin, 2022; Oberle et al., 2020; Sutcher et al., 2016; Will, 2022). Maslach and Jackson (1981) defined burnout as a syndrome caused by job demands and stress with three factors: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal achievement. I aim to examine how teachers affiliated with an alternative teacher preparation program in Kansas City, Missouri experience, perceive, and combat burnout through coping mechanisms, competence in the classroom, and school context awareness. I used an explanatory sequential mixed methods study to understand the predictability of affiliation with an alternative teacher certification program called Kansas City Teacher Residency (KCTR) and years of teaching experience on emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal achievement. The participants for this study included three groups of KCTR affiliated teachers with different teaching experience levels: pre-service (KCTR residents), first-year (KCTR graduates, and experienced (KCTR alumni). I used Herman et al.’s (2020) Coping-Competence-Context (3C) Theory of Teacher Stress to understand how teachers combat and overcome feelings of burnout using three stress interventions: coping mechanisms and strategies, competence in classroom practices, and school context.

In the quantitative phase of research, I found that years of teaching experience and KCTR affiliation statistically were statistically significant predictors of emotional exhaustion (p =.05) and personal achievement (p = .01) but not of depersonalization (p=.06). Findings indicate that, on average, teachers with 2–3 years of teaching experience reported more emotional exhaustion than other groups of teachers. KCTR residents, or pre-service teachers, reported low emotional exhaustion, low depersonalization, and high personal achievement, demonstrating that the scores do not indicate burnout. Participating teachers described how positive coping mechanisms and administrative support improved their wellbeing. Through an examination of current research, study findings, future implications, and recommendations, I inform teacher preparation program leaders and school and school district administrators on mitigating the increasing attrition rate through addressing teacher burnout and stress.