Teacher burnout is increasingly problematic, especially for special education teachers who have a unique set of job responsibilities. Survey and interview data was used in this phenomenological study to examine how the educator preparation program (EPP) experience and self-authorship journey of early career special education teachers impact their potential to experience burnout. Data findings regarding level of self-perceived burnout, recollections of being or not being taught stress management and coping strategies in their EPPs, recollections of the self-authorship journey, and intentions for remaining in the career are shared in this dissertation. The essence of this phenomenon can be summed up as such: individuals are going into special education because of a passion, but many special education teachers are experiencing mental health symptoms because of their career and/or are experiencing some degree of self-perceived burnout. Fortunately, the results of this study can help EPPs improve pre-service teacher preparation with the aim of improving rates of mental health distress and teacher burnout.
Keywords: self-authorship, educator preparation program (EPP), wellbeing, teacher self-efficacy, burnout
","abstract_html":"<p>Teacher burnout is increasingly problematic, especially for special education teachers who have a unique set of job responsibilities. Survey and interview data was used in this phenomenological study to examine how the educator preparation program (EPP) experience and self-authorship journey of early career special education teachers impact their potential to experience burnout. Data findings regarding level of self-perceived burnout, recollections of being or not being taught stress management and coping strategies in their EPPs, recollections of the self-authorship journey, and intentions for remaining in the career are shared in this dissertation. The essence of this phenomenon can be summed up as such: individuals are going into special education because of a passion, but many special education teachers are experiencing mental health symptoms because of their career and/or are experiencing some degree of self-perceived burnout. Fortunately, the results of this study can help EPPs improve pre-service teacher preparation with the aim of improving rates of mental health distress and teacher burnout.</p> <p><em>Keywords</em>: self-authorship, educator preparation program (EPP), wellbeing, teacher self-efficacy, burnout</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Straub, Brittany L."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ed.D. Doctor of Education","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Higher Education Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Jaclyn Rivard","Dr. Judah Viola","Dr. Sherri Bressman"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-03-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-03-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:05Z","subjects":["self-authorship","educator preparation program (EPP)","wellbeing","teacher self-efficacy","burnout","Adult and Continuing Education","Curriculum and Instruction","Educational Leadership","Elementary Education","Elementary Education and Teaching","Higher Education","Higher Education and Teaching","Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching","Mental and Social Health","Other Teacher Education and Professional Development","Scholarship of Teaching and Learning","Secondary Education","Secondary Education and Teaching","Special Education and Teaching","Teacher Education and Professional Development"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/642","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Jaclyn Rivard","Dr. Judah Viola","Dr. Sherri Bressman"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Straub, Brittany L."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-03-31T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Higher Education Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["self-authorship","educator preparation program (EPP)","wellbeing","teacher self-efficacy","burnout","Adult and Continuing Education","Curriculum and Instruction","Educational Leadership","Elementary Education","Elementary Education and Teaching","Higher Education","Higher Education and Teaching","Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching","Mental and Social Health","Other Teacher Education and Professional Development","Scholarship of Teaching and Learning","Secondary Education","Secondary Education and Teaching","Special Education and Teaching","Teacher Education and Professional Development"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/642"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Teacher burnout is increasingly problematic, especially for special education teachers who have a unique set of job responsibilities. Survey and interview data was used in this phenomenological study to examine how the educator preparation program (EPP) experience and self-authorship journey of early career special education teachers impact their potential to experience burnout. Data findings regarding level of self-perceived burnout, recollections of being or not being taught stress management and coping strategies in their EPPs, recollections of the self-authorship journey, and intentions for remaining in the career are shared in this dissertation. The essence of this phenomenon can be summed up as such: individuals are going into special education because of a passion, but many special education teachers are experiencing mental health symptoms because of their career and/or are experiencing some degree of self-perceived burnout. Fortunately, the results of this study can help EPPs improve pre-service teacher preparation with the aim of improving rates of mental health distress and teacher burnout.
Keywords: self-authorship, educator preparation program (EPP), wellbeing, teacher self-efficacy, burnout
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Special Education Teacher Burnout: Examining the Role of Educator Preparation Programs in Prevention"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Jaclyn Rivard","Dr. Judah Viola","Dr. Sherri Bressman"],"dc:creator":["Straub, Brittany L."],"dc:date.available":["2022-03-31T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Teacher burnout is increasingly problematic, especially for special education teachers who have a unique set of job responsibilities. Survey and interview data was used in this phenomenological study to examine how the educator preparation program (EPP) experience and self-authorship journey of early career special education teachers impact their potential to experience burnout. Data findings regarding level of self-perceived burnout, recollections of being or not being taught stress management and coping strategies in their EPPs, recollections of the self-authorship journey, and intentions for remaining in the career are shared in this dissertation. The essence of this phenomenon can be summed up as such: individuals are going into special education because of a passion, but many special education teachers are experiencing mental health symptoms because of their career and/or are experiencing some degree of self-perceived burnout. Fortunately, the results of this study can help EPPs improve pre-service teacher preparation with the aim of improving rates of mental health distress and teacher burnout.
Keywords: self-authorship, educator preparation program (EPP), wellbeing, teacher self-efficacy, burnout
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/642"],"dc:subject":["self-authorship","educator preparation program (EPP)","wellbeing","teacher self-efficacy","burnout","Adult and Continuing Education","Curriculum and Instruction","Educational Leadership","Elementary Education","Elementary Education and Teaching","Higher Education","Higher Education and Teaching","Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching","Mental and Social Health","Other Teacher Education and Professional Development","Scholarship of Teaching and Learning","Secondary Education","Secondary Education and Teaching","Special Education and Teaching","Teacher Education and Professional Development"],"dc:title":["Special Education Teacher Burnout: Examining the Role of Educator Preparation Programs in Prevention"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Higher Education Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Public Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:05Z"}