Passion for teaching, transformational leadership and burnout among physical education teachers

The purpose of the study was to examine the associations between physical education (PE) teachers’ passion and their perception of burnout, testing the mediating role of teachers’ transformational teaching behaviours in this relationship as a coping resource. Participants (161 PE teachers; M = 40.59; SD = 8.36) were asked to complete a multi-section questionnaire tapping the variables of interest. Results showed that harmonious passion and transformational teaching were negative predictors of burnout, whereas obsessive passion was a positive predictor of burnout. Results also indicated that teachers’ transformational behaviours partially mediated the relationship between harmonious passion and burnout, and they totally mediated the relationship between obsessive passion and burnout. In conclusion, lower levels of burnout in PE teachers appear to be related to whether teachers perform more transformational behaviours in their job, and whether they feel in control of their passion for teaching.