Postgraduate Degree
Postgraduate Open Degree
The Masters in Education (MEd.) programme is a generalist master’s degree which seeks to provide you with the opportunity to ext[...]
Research Project Overview
Tristan’s research explores the issue of teacher burnout in Gibraltar, focusing on how it manifests across personal, work-related, and student-related dimensions, using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. The study aims to understand the prevalence, causes, and consequences of burnout among teachers, while also examining whether certain demographic or professional factors, such as years of experience, school type, or subject taught, affect burnout levels. Ultimately, the research seeks to give voice to teachers’ experiences and generate meaningful data (both quantitative and qualitative) that can inform school leadership, policy, and support networks available in Gibraltar.
Teacher burnout is not just an individual issue. It affects the entire educational ecosystem, including student learning outcomes, school morale, and staff retention. In small education systems like Gibraltar’s the sustainability of the teaching workforce becomes especially important. By understanding the root causes and scale of burnout, the education community can begin to address structural and cultural factors that impact teacher wellbeing, making this a topic with both local urgency and wider relevance.
What potential impact could these findings have on educational practice or policy?
The findings could help shape more targeted staff wellbeing initiatives, such as enhanced mentorship programmes for early-career teachers, workload management strategies, and mental health support services all of which exist but perhaps better knowledge of their existence is needed. At a policy level, it could inform the development of wellbeing frameworks or staff retention strategies, which up until now remains relatively insignificant, but could prove to follow global trends in future. This is something I believe we need to be ready for, notwithstanding, remaining aligned with the realities of Gibraltar’s unique educational context. The hope is that data-driven insights can support leaders and policymakers in creating environments where teachers feel valued, supported, and professionally fulfilled.
What has this research journey taught you about education, or yourself, that you didn’t expect?
One unexpected insight has been just how deeply emotional and personal the teaching profession is. I’ve come to appreciate that burnout is not just about being overworked. It’s often about a disconnect between one’s passion for teaching and the realities of the job. Personally, this journey has deepened my empathy and made me more reflective as an educator and potentially one day, a leader. It has reinforced the importance of listening to staff, advocating for sustainable working conditions, and recognising that supporting staff wellbeing is essential in achieving long-term educational success.
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