SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF DIFFERENT ACTORS IN THE FACE OF EMOTIONAL EXHAUSTION OF TEACHERS

Abstract

The exhaustion experienced by teachers can be supported in what Freire (2008) calls existential fatigue, since from physical fatigue it moves to spiritual fatigue that ends up in mood emptiness. This goes hand in hand with the corrosion of character (Sennet, 2009), since teachers see their thoughts and ideals repressed; thus, alienation with the context in which they develop is produced.This qualitative research aimed to escribe the social representations regarding the emotional exhaustion of teachers from the public and private system in Temuco, Galvarino and Villarrica. The research design corresponds to a multiple case study. Data has been obtained through semi-structured interviews to teachers and principals from four schools. It was a content analysis and the ATLAS.ti version 7.0 software was used.One of the key conclusions is based on what Foucault (2008) referred to in his Theory of Structuralism, in which the power devices restrict the freedom of people. When bringing this to the educational system, the phenomenon of exhausted teachers can be explained.