Presence and leves of Burnout in teachers in alternance, in a educational institution of Colombia

Abstract

Introduction. Faced with the Colombian government’s order to start classes in 2021 under the alternate modality, the initially reaction of the teachers was to disregard it, claiming the risk of getting infected with COVID-19 by their students. Gradually, under pressure from the government, they went back to school. The objective of the study was to identify the presence and levels of professional burnout during the alternation in teachers linked to an educational institution in Santander, Colombia. Methods. Descriptive research was conducted, working with a census sample of 28 teachers. The Maslach Burnout Questionnaire was applied, which consists of three subscales: emotional exhaustion, personal performance, and depersonalization. Results. The data show low levels in the subscales of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and high in personal performance. However, it is important to note that 21.4% of the participants show signs of emotional exhaustion, indicating the presence of some stress. Conclusion. Within this group of teachers, there are no symptoms of professional burnout, suggesting that most of them have protective factors, such as living with their partner and children, and having access to tools provided by the institution to address stress. Recommendations. It is considered important to further investigate the identification of protective factors against professional burnout in this population.