Discussion drawn from "A Study of Burnout and Job Satisfaction Among High School Journalism Advisers" by Reinardy, Maksl, and Filak
In 2009, researchers published a study that examined "burnout among high school journalism educators and the link between job satisfaction and burnout among those teachers." Using several different tests and scales, they attempted to answer three essential research questions with their study:
1) How will journalism advisers rate on the Maslach Burnout Inventory?
2) Will there be significant differences between male and female journalism advisers on the MBI?
3) How will the three MBI subscales correlate to overall job satisfaction among journalism advisers?
The researchers had a sample size of 563, all of whom were sent a 2-part survey that also included thorough demographic information. They also used descriptive statistics, a sample t-test, and a multiple regression analysis to examine the data.
The study concluded that the journalism advisers were not experiencing burnout. Researchers wrote "Journalism advisors in this study are not experiencing high levels of wear and tear from the job, they enjoy working closely with their students, and they feel a great deal of success and achievement in their work." They reported that the study also indicates that advisers have high job satisfaction, and determined "no significant differences existed between" males and females on the MBI teaching scale.
I think the biggest takeaway from this research is that teaching journalism can be a satisfying and highly rewarding career. The study proves that advisers generally feel average emotional exhaustion, low depersonalization, and high personal accomplishment. These results differ from previous studies teaching studies which didn't focus on journalism advisers and reported higher depersonalization and less personal accomplishment.
I, like the researchers, believe the improvement is related to how much more closely advisers work with students than other teachers. There is more hands-on involvement, much more time spent together even outside of class, and very personal connections formed through writing. These bonds are most likely a great deal more satisfying than those formed with other teachers, who may only see their students for a few hours a week, always in the same setting, with little interaction or variation. I can confidently say that my high school journalism adviser knew me much better than any other teacher in my secondary experience, and I'm sure the same is true for many of my classmates.
I also believe that the production of a tangible product and less emphasis on grades contribute to the low burnout rates in this study. Other teachers may struggle to assess their students learning, and don't have the privilege of holding in their hands a summary of all their hard work and late hours, to be distributed across the community. Furthermore, while journalism advisers do have standards and expectations to meet, they do not have to worry about state assessments or piles of small assignments to be graded. They get to focus on making their students the most efficient, well-rounded journalists they can be.
1) How will journalism advisers rate on the Maslach Burnout Inventory?
2) Will there be significant differences between male and female journalism advisers on the MBI?
3) How will the three MBI subscales correlate to overall job satisfaction among journalism advisers?
The researchers had a sample size of 563, all of whom were sent a 2-part survey that also included thorough demographic information. They also used descriptive statistics, a sample t-test, and a multiple regression analysis to examine the data.
The study concluded that the journalism advisers were not experiencing burnout. Researchers wrote "Journalism advisors in this study are not experiencing high levels of wear and tear from the job, they enjoy working closely with their students, and they feel a great deal of success and achievement in their work." They reported that the study also indicates that advisers have high job satisfaction, and determined "no significant differences existed between" males and females on the MBI teaching scale.
I think the biggest takeaway from this research is that teaching journalism can be a satisfying and highly rewarding career. The study proves that advisers generally feel average emotional exhaustion, low depersonalization, and high personal accomplishment. These results differ from previous studies teaching studies which didn't focus on journalism advisers and reported higher depersonalization and less personal accomplishment.
I, like the researchers, believe the improvement is related to how much more closely advisers work with students than other teachers. There is more hands-on involvement, much more time spent together even outside of class, and very personal connections formed through writing. These bonds are most likely a great deal more satisfying than those formed with other teachers, who may only see their students for a few hours a week, always in the same setting, with little interaction or variation. I can confidently say that my high school journalism adviser knew me much better than any other teacher in my secondary experience, and I'm sure the same is true for many of my classmates.
I also believe that the production of a tangible product and less emphasis on grades contribute to the low burnout rates in this study. Other teachers may struggle to assess their students learning, and don't have the privilege of holding in their hands a summary of all their hard work and late hours, to be distributed across the community. Furthermore, while journalism advisers do have standards and expectations to meet, they do not have to worry about state assessments or piles of small assignments to be graded. They get to focus on making their students the most efficient, well-rounded journalists they can be.