Abstract

• The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between autonomy, job satisfaction, and burnout of teachers at selected Universities in Mandalay. This study was based on Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory, Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory, and Maslach’s Multidimensional Theory of Burnout. In this research, both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to carry out the study. “Teaching Autonomy Scale (TAS)” developed by Pearson and Hall (1993) to study the perceptions of teachers on autonomy, “Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ-Short form)” developed by Weiss, Dawis, England and Lofguist (1977) to find out the perceptions of teachers on job satisfaction, and “Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-ES)” developed by Maslach, Jackson and Schwab (1996) to examine burnout perceived by teachers were used. Besides, interview questions were utilized to gain detailed information about autonomy, job satisfaction, and burnout of teachers. In the quantitative study, the target sample was 317 teachers, and 30 teachers participated in the qualitative study. Descriptive statistics such as means, and standard deviations, and Pearson-product moment correlation coefficient were used to analyze data. And data collected from interviews with teachers were categorized and analyzed to complement quantitative findings on autonomy, job satisfaction, and burnout of teachers. The findings of this study indicated that autonomy was positively and moderately correlated with job satisfaction (r = .582, p < .01). So, it can be interpreted that if autonomy of teachers is increased, their job satisfaction will also be increased. Moreover, it was found that there was a negative and low correlation between autonomy and burnout of teachers (r = -.255, p< .01). So, it can be concluded that if autonomy of teachers is increased, the feeling of burnout at their job will also be decreased, and vice versa.