Antecedents of Burnout Among National Primary School Teachers in Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya, Malaysia

Teachers are people in one of the occupational groups that are most likely to experience work-related stress that might lead to burnout. However, to date, studies conducted related to burnout among teachers, especially in Malaysian national primary schools, are still lacking. Therefore, this study has been conducted to close this gap. Specifically, this study is intended to determine the relationship between work overload, supervisor support, and autonomy and burnout among national primary school teachers in Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (WPP), Malaysia. This quantitative correlation research study employed stratified random sampling to select teachers from eight national primary schools around WPP, Malaysia. Data were obtained through self-administered cross-sectional questionnaires. A total of 270 teachers participated in this study. The study found that work overload was positively and significantly related to teacher burnout. Meanwhile, supervisor support showed a negative and significant relationship with burnout. A regression analysis confirmed the dominant contributions of work overload, followed by supervisor support, on teacher burnout. This means that excessive workload and lack of support from the supervisor are contributing to teacher burnout among primary school teachers in WPP, Malaysia. The results of this study provide valuable insight to policymakers to plan for adequate interventions for teachers. This study also supports the ideas from the job demands-resources theory and the Conservation of Resources theory in a Malaysian education settings.