Observed Supervisory Behavior and Teacher Burnout in Special Education

Abstract

A method for assessing the relationship between supervisory behavior and staff burnout was developed and tested in two schools for mentally retarded children. The method uses a new instrument, the Supervisor Behavior Observation Scale. The two schools involved in the study differed significantly in level of staff burnout, as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and in supervisory behavior. Specifically, the principal of the low burnout staff interacted less frequently with others and spent less time observing staff in their classrooms. Instead, she spent more time in her office engaged in planning and coordinating activities. She also interacted more with her own superior. The low burnout principal also talked more and listened less, and she spent more time discussing work-related problems but less time discussing administrative issues. She also gave staff more emotional support but spent less time in “small talk” with them.