The Relationship between Teachers' Perceptions of Emotional Labor and Teacher Burnout and Teachers' Educational Level

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of emotional labor, teacher burnout and teachers’ educational levels. The research sample consisted of 170 female Haredi (religiously ultra-orthodox and observant) teachers working in schools throughout Israel. The data were collected using the Emotional Labor of Teaching Scale (TELTS) and Teacher Burnout Questionnaire, and a demographic questionnaire formulated for the present study. The data collected in the study were processed using SPSS software. The two research hypotheses, namely a) teachers characterized by lower levels of burnout will use the natural acting technique associated with emotional labor whereas teachers typified by higher level of burnout will utilize the surface acting or deep acting emotional labor techniques; and b) teachers with higher levels of education will tend to use the natural acting technique associated with emotional labor in contrast to teachers with lower levels of education who will tend to utilize the surface acting or deep acting emotional labor techniques, were analyzed by ANOVA and MANOVA procedures. The main findings indicated that both teachers' burnout levels and teachers’ levels of education differentially affected the use of the specific emotional labor techniques (surface, deep or natural acting). The conclusion of this study is that various variables can influence teachers’ use of techniques associated with emotional labor. Changes in such variables, such as teachers’ level of burnout and level of education, may improve management of emotions in teaching and improve their well-being.