The difficult of teaching between burnout, professional ethics, and community

Abstract

It is generally accepted that teaching is among helping professions which are strongly related to the risk of burnout. This paper aims to start new avenues of reflection on the risks of burnout within the school context, focusing on the in-dividual and social well-being of the teacher and the repercussions on the stu-dent’s teaching-learning process, and on the consequent need to initiate pre-vention paths based on adult education. In this regard, the paper intends to highlight the results of a qualitative research conducted in 2023 and involving secondary school teachers in the province of Palermo, subdivided by gender and type of institution in which they serve. The main objective of the research, which fits within the framework of fundamental pedagogy of hermeneutic-phenomenological style, was to survey the subjective perception of the burnout phenomenon and teachers’ job satisfaction. The first aim of the study becomes access to the teacher’s lived experience, with specific reference to the risk and protection factors that contribute to the definition of professional identity and ethics. The broader aim is to promote more fruitful educational practices, inso-far as they are communitarian, from the point of view of those involved.