The master's thesis deals with the workload of an educator in a residential care facility
and with various ways of relieving and coping with burdens that educators experience
at work. In the theoretical part, I present the position of educator in a residential care
facility, children and adolescents with emotional and behavioural problems as those
with whom educators are in close contact and residential care facilities as institutions
where educators are employed. I also list the workloads and stressors that educators
face. I further define the educational profession as a helping profession and its most
common consequences: secondary trauma, stress and burnout. I also explore ways
to relieve educators and take care of themselves. In the empirical part, through
interviews with six educators at one of the Slovenian residential care facilities, I find
out how they experience their workplace and what burdens they face there. At the
same time, I research the methods they use to relieve and reduce workload and their
potential wishes regarding changes in the workplace that would help reduce workload.
The results show that the selected educators experience their work positively and find
their job very specific. Most of the workload comes from direct or educational work
(complex issues of adolescents, high standards, establishing relationships …), indirect
work (large amounts of documentation, low pay …) and discrepancies in the team.
Findings regarding relief, however, show that educators often rely on their social
network, especially their colleagues, in order to reduce workload. As far as potential
changes are concerned, they mostly want changes in legislation (placement criteria,
norms …) and more financial and material resources.
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