PROFESSIONAL QUALITY OF LIFE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS IN GREECE
Abstract
The present study focused on investigating the professional quality of life of special education teachers of primary and secondary education in Greece. In particular, the three dimensions of the professional quality of life of special education teachers were investigated, based on participants' responses and some demographic-general characteristics. In addition, the possible relevance of the three dimensions of professional quality of life to each other was investigated. The sample of the study was 106 special education teachers of primary and secondary education. The Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL)-Compassion Satisfaction and Fatigue, Version 5 (Stamm, 2009) was used to assess professional quality of life. The statistical package SPSS version 21.0 was used for statistical analysis of the data. Statistical assumptions were tested for a default level of statistical significance a=.05. The analysis of the data showed that the level of participants' job satisfaction was high, while the level of secondary traumatic stress and burnout was low. A statistically significant relation was found between specialization in special education and job satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress and burnout of special education teachers, respectively. Age and years of service of special education teachers were found to be statistically significant in relation to their burnout. It also emerged that teachers’ secondary traumatic stress was associated with job satisfaction and burnout. The findings of the present study are expected to contribute to improving the professional quality of life of special education teachers.
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