Boujut, E., Popa-Roch, M., Palomares, E.-A., Dean, A., & Cappe, E. (2017). Self-efficiency and burnout in teachers of students with autism spectrum disorder. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 36, 8‑20. doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2017.01.002
This research paper is published within a school context which grants a real interest in well-being and mental health of students and teachers. Inclusive education also gets increasing media coverage with new policy proposals for an inclusive school in 2018 in France.
A lot of current researches study teacher stress and burnout but few of them are interested in the same topic with teachers taking care of children with ASD in an inclusive education process. The disability perception in society has indeed evolved a lot and several laws have come into being, including the inclusive school one in 2013. This law follows that of February 11, 2005 for equal rights and opportunities, and participation of people with disabilities to citizenship and clearly announces the right for all children to school education. Mainstream education schemes for inclusion have been set up and in the recent years we have seen a noticeable increase of students with ASD enrolled in ordinary schools. The schooling of children with autism is indeed very recent in France (Philip, 2012). In addition, research shows that working with children with special needs is a risk factor for burnout (Curchod-Ruedi, Ramel, Bonvin, Albanese & Doudin, 2013). This is the originality of this research, led by Boujut et al. in 2017 in which the mechanisms explaining this exhaustion are investigated by focusing on the mediating effect of perceived stress and coping strategies.
The main author of this article is a senior lecturer at the Cergy-Pontoise University and a member of the Laboratory of Psychopathology and Health Process. Her research focuses on the adaptation of individuals to stressful situations in the areas of illness, education and work. This article is a scientific article and is intended for students and mental health professionals as well as students and professionals in national education.
Summary
The concept of inclusive school allows the disabled child to participate fully in school life and in the same environment as other children. It also aims to reduce discrimination against difference by teaching children to live together. But if the 2005 law allowed an increase in the schooling of children with disabilities in ordinary environments, studies show the existence of dysfunctions in their support and difficulties to meet their specific needs (Blanc, Bondonneau, & Choisnard, 2011). Inclusion in mainstream schools of autistic children is a source of stress for teachers who need to adapt to cope. The specific nature of autism questions the nature of teachers’ role to meet the needs of this inclusive school. It is also a real educational challenge because of the profiles of children with autism. These children’s difficulties are often significant and affect cognitive processes, social interactions and communication (Ruble & McGrew, 2013), generating behavioral issues. Difficult behaviors and social interaction issues are the main difficulties reported by teachers who must then adapt their practices. This situation causes significant stress and the sense of self-efficiency may be essential to fight burnout.
The article aims to describe the specific link between feelings of self-efficiency, perceived stress, coping strategies and burnout. Indeed, perceived stress and coping strategies influence the relationship between self- efficiency and burnout. Thus, the author begins by defining the concept of burnout. It is a three-dimensional syndrome. The first dimension relates to emotional exhaustion. The second relates to depersonalization, which corresponds to the appearance of cynical behaviors and attitudes toward people. The last dimension concerns personal accomplishment and refers to the denigration of his work and his skills. Nevertheless, there are protective factors such as self-efficiency. This feeling will help to limit the effects of stress and to search for solutions.
Subsequently, the author details this important factor: sense of self-efficiency. She defines it as a personal characteristic, corresponding to the ability for a person to have control over his actions.
As for stress, the author states that it does not depend solely on external factors, but also on the way the individual cognitively perceives the situation. To be faced with student’s difficult behavior is indeed a stressful situation. The behavior will be perceived by the teacher as a threat (endangering other students, for example) or a loss (loss of student attention) or a challenge (the ability for the teacher to set up his authority).
Finally coping strategies are mentioned. They refer to the cognitive and behavioral efforts we make that allow us to manage internal or external demands. There are several strategies: the first one is the strategy centered on the problem and corresponds to following a specific action plan. The second one is the emotional strategy where one tries to manage his inner tension. Finally, there is the search for social support and empathy from the others.
In order to rule on the existence of a link between teachers’ sense of self-efficiency and burnout, 203 teachers aged 26 to 64, including 86% women and 14% men were recruited. The study was conducted over four years using surveys completed online or in paper format. Each teacher had worked with at least one child with ASD and work experience ranged from 1 year to 42 years. Different scales were used to measure perceptions of self-efficiency, perceived stress, coping strategies and burnout.
The results demonstrate a link between the perceived self-efficiency of teachers with inclusive education for children with autism and burnout. The analysis reveals that this relationship is influenced by perceived stress and coping strategies. Thus, the more the teachers have a low level of perceived self-efficiency, the more they tend to use emotional-based coping strategies and the higher the risk of burnout, regardless of the studied dimension. The situation is then more perceived as a threat or a loss, which increases the risk of emotional exhaustion. This study shows that the emotion-focused coping strategy is a mediator in the relationship between self-efficiency and burnout regardless of the studied dimension, for teachers who have children with ASD as part of their inclusive education.
The results show that the tendency to believe in one’s own ability to handle difficult situations has a significant effect on the implementation of appropriate strategies. Conversely, a low level of perceived self-efficiency leads to greater use of emotion-based coping strategies known to be inappropriate.
Critical evaluation
The aim of the author is reached. The explanatory mechanisms of the relationship between self-efficiency and burnout are indeed exposed and well detailed. From our point of view, the multiplicity of analyses can nevertheless be an obstacle to an in-depth understanding. This text is therefore not accessible to a public who is not scientific or lacking basic knowledge in research methodology. Moreover, the theme of inclusive education and work stress is of real interest for politicians, media and general population. Therefore, allowing an extension of such research is very interesting, especially for teachers and their training.
It seems indeed relevant that these results can be used for training as well as for prevention purposes. If these results show the real impact of teachers’ sense of self-efficiency on the risk of burnout, how can we reinforce it in practice?
Conclusion
This study provides essential elements for understanding the barriers to successful inclusion of these particular students. Indeed, studying the variables that influence teachers’ burnout in this specific context helps to identify barriers to their inclusion. Thus, the study shows that working on teachers’ sense of self-efficiency is essential for successful inclusion because it affects the way they handle a situation. The results highlight the importance of reinforcing this feeling by different ways, including specialized training and cognitive-behavioral interventions to allow teachers to implement coping strategies adapted to the difficulties they encounter in childcare with TSA. A high sense of efficiency makes it possible to perceive the situation as a challenge and to use more problem-oriented coping strategies. These are more efficient in terms of results and thus allow to find solutions, leading to a better assessment of the sources of stress. The author indicates that an enrichment of the initial training of all teachers in connection with autism and childhood professionals is necessary. It also seems essential to develop a partnership between schools, the parents and the medico-social services in order to support the teachers and thus to tend to an inclusion that is more in favor of their and their students’ well-being.
Words we have learned
Sense of self-efficiency: sentiment d’auto-efficacité
To adapt to cope : s’adapter pour faire face
To implement: réaliser, mettre en œuvre, instaurer
Subsequently: ensuite, par la suite
Emotional exhaustion: épuisement émotionnel
Conversely: inversement, à l’inverse
Bibliography
Blanc, P., Bondonneau, N., & Choisnard, M. F. (2011). La scolarisation des enfants handicapés. Rapport au Président de la République. Retrieved from http://www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/var/storage/rapports-publics/114000307.pdf
Curchod-Ruedi, D., Ramel, S., Bonvin, P., Albanese, O., & Doudin, P.-A. (2013). De l’intégration à l’inclusion scolaire : implication des enseignants et importance du soutien social. ALTER – European Journal of Disability Research / Revue Européenne de Recherche sur le Handicap, 7(2), 135‑147. doi: 10.1016/j.alter.2012.11.008
Philip, C. (2012). Scolarisation des élèves avec autisme en France : trente ans d’histoire… La nouvelle revue de l’adaptation et de la scolarisation, 60, 45-58.
Ruble, L., & McGrew, J. H. (2013). Teacher and child predictors of achieving IEP goals of children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43, 2748-2763. doi: 10.1007/s10803-013-1884-x
Lisa DOUTÉ & Dorothée LEBOURQUE