Burnout and Organization in Education: A Synthesis of Literature.

Burnout in education is described in terms of system stress. Systems and their relationships are viewed at four levels: somatic, psychological, social, and cultural. "Burnout" is defined as a reduction of the function of an organism or living system. Changes in the state of a system create increased demands for adaptation. Stress is a general disturbance of the system that creates some demand for energy. Stress at the organic level can be related to stress at the psychological and social levels. Systems analysis begins from the assumption that a system is a set of interrelated parts and is part of a larger suprasystem. The system is characterized by its structure which relates the parts and processes of functioning over time. Stress can be viewed as a disturbance in the structure-process relationship of a system. A disturbance which impedes the functioning of the system involves the concept of health. Thus the health of the system involves a network of structure-process relationships which affect the level of functioning of the individual in the social context. The functional link of the individual may be seen as role taking and performance. Stress agents are those variations in a system which create a disturbance in the stability of the system. (JN)