Date of Award
9-1-2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Educational Leadership, Ed.D.
First Advisor
Timberly Baker
Second Advisor
Corey McKenna
Committee Members
Deborah Wammack
Call Number
ISBN 9798380164276
Abstract
This quantitative correlational study investigated the potential impact of technostress on rural high school teacher burnout. The purpose of this study was to determine the possible correlations between the five techno-stressors that make up technostress and the burnout experienced by rural Arkansas high school teachers. The person-environment fit theory was the guiding framework for this study, which states that stress is a result of the interaction between a person and their environment. This study focused on high school teachers from nine different rural high schools in the State of Arkansas. Each high school had similar student and certified teacher populations, based on the Arkansas Activity Associations fall sport classifications. Each certified staff member at the participating nine high schools received a technostress and burnout survey instrument, which was open from October 1, 2022 to October 31, 2022. The survey instrument contained seven demographic questions, 23 technostress focused questions, and 10 burnout focused questions. Each technostress and burnout questions were based on a frequency scale ranging from 1-Strong disagree / Never to 7-Strongly agree / Always. In total, 101 valid responses were collected and analyzed to determine technostress and teacher burnout connections. Initial analysis determined that rural high school teachers are suffering from techno-uncertainty, techno-overload, and techno-invasion as well as suffering from teacher burnout. A Spearman rho correlation analysis was performed and revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between techno-overload and burnout, techno-invasion and burnout, and techno-insecurity and burnout. Interestingly, teachers reported techno-insecurity levels are considered to be low, but the correlation was statistically significant. The results indicated that educational leaders, professional organizations, and teachers should focus on ways to mitigate techno-overload, techno-invasion, and techno-insecurity in professional and personal practices in order to minimize the potential impact on teacher burnout. Future research can extend the study to elementary or middle school staffs, smaller and larger districts, and urban or suburban districts within the state or region. A qualitative study would also be beneficial in order to gain deep insight into the impact those three techno-stressors have on the life of an educator.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Reeves, Jason Keith, "Technology’s Impact On K-12 Educators: Correlations Between Technostress and Burnout Among Rural High School Teachers" (2023). Student Theses and Dissertations. 161.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/161
