Self-efficacy and Burnout Higher Education Facilitators Share Their Stories of Shifting Practice During a Time of Crisis

Abstract

This South African based exploratory study examines the differing experiences of higher education facilitators who were faced with having to rapidly transition to fully online engagement as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown regulations that were implemented as a result. Using a qualitative case study approach, this study sought to understand why some facilitators were able to rise to the challenge with relative ease, while others struggled to cope, citing feelings of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and low levels of personal achievement, each an associated dimension of burnout. Engaging with these facilitators, and the thematic analysis which followed, led to four major themes: balance is everything, technology as help or hinderance, adaptation rather than replication, and a loss of agency, with its associated sub-theme: everyone is exhausted. What the findings revealed was that those who presented with high levels of self-efficacy were able to avoid the onset of burnout during this time of crisis, while those with relatively low self-efficacy levels could not. Interestingly, emotional exhaustion featured as a significant factor across all participants, even those with high levels of self-efficacy. These findings underscore the importance of implementing support strategies that will assist all facilitators in bolstering their levels of resilience in order to mitigate the impact of the next crisis, whatever form it may take.