Blazing New Trails - Connexions

Special Education Director Burnout in Montana 89
1997). Although special education directors are called on to support the teachers and staff
working with exceptional children, the support they receive is often limited because of the
limited range of experience many superintendents and school board trustees have in the field
of special education.
The relationship between years of experience in education and higher levels of
personal accomplishment substantiated research findings noted by Cordes and Dougherty
(1993), “…older, more experienced, employees tend to experience lower levels of burnout
than younger employees” (p. 636). Yet, this relationship appeared in a context where many of
the special education directors (77%) scored high on the personal achievement dimension as
well as the other two dimensions. Thus, feelings of confidence and job-related achievement
seemed to prevent their being considered to have job-related burnout. Bandura (1977)
suggested that expectations impact human performance and organizational commitment.
Special education leaders are often experienced special education teachers. As they have
gained experience in education, it is likely that they have integrated their initial hope with a
truer understanding of the capabilities of their staff and students. This sense of realistic
understanding possibly inoculated the majority of special education directors in Montana to
prevent burnout. Furthermore, those rising to leadership positions are more likely to exhibit
self-efficacy in creating and sustaining positive, realistic expectations resulting in perceptions
that progress can and will occur. As one gains experience, he or she is able to better anticipate
the likely results and better understand the likely impact of each set of actions with other
employees, students and parents. Self-efficacy combined with the skill to accurately anticipate
consequences creates an internal locus of control. In establishing and maintaining this internal
locus of control, perceptions of personal accomplishment and responsibility seem to be driven
to high levels through a reciprocity reinforcing an internal locus of control and positive selfefficacy
in an upward spiraling system. Such a spiraling system may provide an explanation
for the third finding.
Depersonalization has been found in several studies to be positively correlated with
emotional exhaustion (Edmonson, 2001; Maslach et. al., 1996). The same finding in this study
with a larger than typical effect size was unremarkable; however, the positive relationship
found between depersonalization and personal accomplishment with a larger than typical
effect size was contrary to previous research findings. Cordes and Dougherty (1993) reported,
“Diminished personal accomplishment results in part from high levels of depersonalization”
(p. 646). Maslach et al. (1996) noted composite scores on the emotional exhaustion and
depersonalization subscales are positively correlated with one another and both are typically
negatively correlated with personal accomplishment subscale scores. A possible explanation
for the positive relationship between depersonalization and personal accomplishment found in
this study could lie in a mutual reinforcing spiral of self efficacy and an internal locus of
control. Depersonalization often results as a consequence of a perceived lack of control over
environmental factors, so in response, the individual exercises what little control he or she has
by limiting engagement with the environment or severing relationships that seem
overwhelmingly negative (Wisniewski & Gargiulo, 1997). Now, consider perceptions of
depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and personal accomplishment as a system where
each dimension of burnout impacts the other two dimensions. The perceived lack of control
combined with a limited ability for self-efficacy resulted in disengagement (a definition of
depersonalization). Yet, the individual must persist in going through the motions of the job on
a daily basis. The emotional disengagement makes the required daily actions more difficult to
perform creating a sense of mental and physical weariness (a definition of emotional
exhaustion). In this way, depersonalization is connected to emotional exhaustion in a positive