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13 - School-Related Burnout During Educational Tracks: Antecedents and Consequences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2009

By
Katariina Salmela-Aro
Edited by
Ingrid Schoon  and
Rainer K. Silbereisen
Ingrid Schoon
Affiliation:
Institute of Education, University of London
Rainer K. Silbereisen
Affiliation:
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena, Germany
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Summary

Although they do not like school, Finnish students do well at school, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2003) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Feelings about school are important though in influencing individuals' future decisions concerning their education and work career and, thus, the entire life course (Salmela-Aro, Aunola, & Nurmi, 2008; Salmela-Aro & Nurmi, 2007). This chapter applies a new approach to school-related adjustment that is conceptualized in terms of school-related burnout. Although a substantial number of studies have been carried out on adjustment in the school context (Konu, Lintonen, & Autio, 2002; Roeser, 1998; Wigfield & Eccles, 1994), little of the research has focused specifically on how adolescents' think and feel about going to school. School burnout is defined along three dimensions: exhaustion due to school demands, cynical and detached attitude toward school, and feelings of inadequacy as a student (Salmela-Aro, Kiuru, Leskinen, & Nurmi, 2009; Schaufeli, Martínez, Pinto, Salanova, & Bakker, 2002). In this chapter, I discuss some of the antecedents and consequences of school-related burnout by reviewing the findings of the ongoing FinEdu study, in which adolescents have been followed intensively in their transition from comprehensive to postcomprehensive education. Rather than viewing it as a syndrome, I focus on school burnout as a continuum from mild to severe. I also introduce a specific intervention program called “Towards Working Life,” the aim of which is to facilitate the school-to-work transition and decrease school burnout.

Type
Chapter
Information
Transitions from School to Work
Globalization, Individualization, and Patterns of Diversity
 , pp. 293 - 311
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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