The Professional Quality of Life of North Carolina School-Based Agriculture Education Teachers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v67i1.3270Keywords:
Professional Quality of Life, Secondary Traumatic Stress, Compassion Satisfaction, Burnout, Teacher Stress, ProQOLAbstract
School-Based Agriculture Education (SBAE) teachers are known to experience stress and burnout due to the expectations of their jobs. Framed by the constructs of secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and compassion satisfaction, this quantitative study sought to examine North Carolina SBAE teachers using the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) instrument. ProQOL focuses on the previous 30 days and identifies participants’ positive feelings toward their profession, known as compassion satisfaction, and the negative feelings of secondary traumatic stress and burnout. Surveyed in February and March 2024, most participants indicated low to moderate levels of secondary traumatic stress, moderate to high levels of burnout, and moderate to high levels of compassion satisfaction. Even though these participants indicated they were experiencing burnout, they were satisfied with their jobs. It is recommended to decrease levels of burnout and secondary traumatic stress by supporting SBAE teachers in setting realistic expectations of the career with stakeholders and offering training dedicated to developing coping strategies for working in a caring field. Further research at the regional and/or national levels and among other educational disciplines is recommended.
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