Stress, burnout and resilience of teachers of students with emotional behavioural challenges

Background The incidence of stress and burnout among teachers in Hong Kong has been increasing at an alarming rate in recent years [1,2]. Studies on teacher stress and burnout have found that teachers of students with emotional behavioral challenges (EBC teachers) report more stress than general education teachers and are more likely to want to leave their position [3]. Studies conducted in Hong Kong [4] have also reflected the changing nature of the education system, in which the high expectations from stakeholders, inclusive education policy, increasing work load and the accreditation culture all put stresses on teachers. If left unresolved, teacher stress will have substantial negative effects on teachers’ physical and mental health, this will accelerate the turnover rate of teachers, and the whole educational system will be impaired and inefficiency will follow[5]. In view of the possible adverse consequences of teacher stress and burnout, certain measures must be undertaken to alleviate these problems. This study examines the stress and burnout levels and their relation with the individual and organizational resilience of the teachers from seven Social Development Schools (special schools for maladjusted students who have varied EBC) in Hong Kong. The question of how these EBC teachers become resilient while teaching in the challenging school environment is explored, with a view to developing an explanatory model of the relation between stress, burnout and resilience and the factors and behaviors affecting resilience. Recommendations are drawn from this model on how teachers and school systems may act to alleviate the problem of burnout.