In the thesis, we discuss the work of special education teachers, who provide extra professional support to children in need. Limitations and weaknesses of their work are also reviewed. Many factors, including changes in the general system of education, parents’ high expectations, unpleasant classroom circumstances, high amount of work tasks and employment uncertainty are just a few of the factors that lead to higher amounts of work-related stress and burnout syndrome. The purpose of the thesis was to identify how special education teachers perceive the level of work-related stress, and which stress-related factors are the most aggravating for them. We were also interested in the presence of burnout syndrome in our sample of special education teachers. The results have revealed that 70, 2 % of participants perceive their work as stressful or very stressful. From all of the included factors, teachers reported conflicts with parents, constant changes in the general system of education and also bringing their work-related tasks home and therefore not having enough time for their families, as the most important stress-related factors of their work. Burnout syndrome, which includes high level of emotional burnout, depersonalization and low level of self-realization, is not present in our sample. However, results have revealed that more than a half of participants (55, 3 %) report medium or high level of emotional burnout. We have also found out that the level of emotional burnout does not correlate with participants’ age and years of work. On the other hand, the number of working hours seems to be in positive correlation with the level of emotional burnout.
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