Teaching interactive practices and burnout: a study on Italian teachers

The purpose of the present study was to analyse the role played by teaching interactive practices (measured through a self-report Likert scale) in predicting teacher burnout, after controlling for school grade (primary vs. secondary school) and teaching experience. Participants were 282 Italian teachers equally distributed between primary and secondary schools. Teaching interactive practices were investigated through a purpose-built questionnaire concerning teacher- versus student-centred practices. Burnout was studied using the Maslach Burnout Inventory in its three-dimensional—Emotional Exhaustion, Low Personal Accomplishment and Depersonalization—Italian version. An explorative factor analysis on the questionnaire displayed three dimensions of teaching practices, namely student-centred practices focused on flexibility, student-centred practices focused on participation and teacher-centred practices. The main results showed that, irrespective of school grade and teaching experience, the adoption of interactive practices favouring students’ participation negatively predicted burnout; on the contrary, teacher-centred practices and flexibility positively predicted it. The result implications for educational processes and teacher training are discussed in the conclusion.