THE THEORETICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SHARED LEADERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL BURNOUT IN THE EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT

Abstract

Shared leadership and professional burnout have been topics of discussion and debate among scientists and practitioners. The article analyses the theoretical assumptions of the relationship between shared leadership and professional burnout in an educational context. The article consists of the following parts: first, the concepts of shared leadership and burnout are revealed, and then the relationship between these two concepts is discussed. An analysis of scientific literature suggests that decentralised leadership, empowerment, a culture based on trust, effective communication, and feedback, as features of shared leadership, help to create a psychologically safe working environment and climate of an educational institution. Such an organisational climate reduces the risk of teachers’ burnout, strengthens their motivation, emotional resilience, and engagement. This suggests that shared leadership in the educational institution and teachers’ professional burnout are interrelated.