Teachers’ Professional Development, Emotional Experiences and Burnout

Teachers’ professional development and its correlates is a subject yet to be properly explored and conceptualized. We tested the potential associations between teachers’ professional development stage, emotional experiences at work and burnout. We adopted a view of professional development as ‘frame of mind’, shaping perception, emotional reactions, thoughts and function, rather than mere level of skills and knowledge. We hypothesized that teachers’ developmental stages will differentiate their emotional reactions at work and their burnout level. Sample of 133 school teachers representing a broad range of tenure at work reported their self-perceived professional development stage, emotional experiences at work and experience of burnout. Results showed significant differences in positive and negative emotions between the developmental stages, as well as differences in burnout levels. Results are linking emotional experiences and performance among teachers throughout the career span. An integrative framework emerging from our data is presented and further research is called for.