“Aquele que entre vocês for o menor será o maior”: prática escolar, cotidiano e adoecimento

Abstract

This work aims at analyzing the understanding, by elementary and middle school teachers, of the causes of a potential illness condition related to their professional activities. Educational activities were qualitatively analyzed in a public school in the city of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, between 2010 and 2011. Based on the principles of the Ethnographic Research, such activities were studied in regards to work conditions and social relations inside the school environment. The main purpose of such an analysis is to understand this illness condition, known as faculty indisposition, not only in a strictly biological approach, but also taking into consideration the several causes related to the educational environment, in which the anthropological approach is key. Moreover, in complementation to the field work, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), developed for evaluating the stress level of teachers, policemen, doctors and nurses, was applied. Results showed a high level of exhaustion by the part of teachers in the school studied.