Teaching: Stressful Activity and Its Implications Research Paper

Introduction

The fact that teaching is one of the most stressful occupations seems to be undoubted. Teachers have to cope with a large scope of multi-faceted challenges such as poor discipline, huge amounts of paperwork, discouraging students’ results, etc. As a consequence, it often turns out that a young specialist is unable to continue effective performance due to the stress and the work burnout. The key problem resides in the fact that the outcomes of stress are equally negative for both a teacher and students. A professional that is discouraged is highly unlikely to maintain an atmosphere favorable for consistent children’s development.

To find alternative solutions to resolve this problem, it is, first and foremost, critical to identify the key causes of stress. Thus, for instance, some experts believe that the main reason why a teacher experiences a strong moral pressure is the abundance of responsibilities he or she is expected to bear (Hartney, E, 2007). Other specialists point out the factor of the so-called “troubled students” that creates extra stress for a teacher’s performance and leads to meltdowns (Long, 2006). Also, it is the excessive amounts of paperwork a teacher is obliged to carry out that do not only distract him or her from the core activity but also create the feeling of general fatigue and exhaustion.

Moreover, as well as any other employee, a teacher has to operate within a certain community the integration into which is not always an easy task. Otherwise stated, such a common problem as the misunderstanding and the lack of support in the professional community might also play a critical role in increasing the general tension. The last, but not the least, is the factor of the overstated expectations that might distort a teacher’s positive approach when contradicting the reality (Barnes, 2002). As a result, it is considered critical to take into account all the stress factors while working out an effective program aimed at reducing teachers’ stress and burnouts.

The proposed program, “Think Positive, Think Stress-Free,” bases on the assumption that it is more rational to re-shape teachers’ perception of stress rather than try to eliminate all the stress factors from the school environment. Hence, the program implies addressing the four critical problems that are apt to have a particularly negative impact on a teacher’s stress-free performance: the paperwork, the children factor, the community problems, and the defeated expectations. It is considered reasonable to address the stress problem complexly and perform a positive change in the settled behavior patterns. In other words, it is proposed that a teacher gains the skill of coping with different stress situations in the course of the program.

The program is mainly targeted at young specialists to prevent them from quitting work by providing some useful techniques for coping with stress. In the meantime, the program might be, likewise, applied to work with experienced professionals to assist them in re-shaping their attitude to the stressful environment at work.

The program’s timeline is targeted at one month, within which each week is devoted to learning to cope with a particular stress aspect. The program’s curriculum comprises seminars, common discussions and practical classes in the framework of which teachers will be offered to take part in the role-games and find solutions for real-life situations. The key target of the proposed program resides in helping teachers re-shape their general vision of the work-related stress and outline some alternative solutions for everyday problems.

A particular emphasis is put on the assessment element. Hence, it is presumed critical to carry out both a preliminary and post-evaluation to point out the positive changes and indicate potential weaknesses in the proposed program.

The key specificity of the proposed program resides in the fact that it tries to address the problem complexly paying due regard to all the stress factors that a teacher is likely to face at work. Also, it is considered critical that the program makes a particular focus on re-shaping the vision of problems rather than eliminating the causes. Hence, it is expected that the positive attitude to challenges that will be obtained upon the program’s completion can be highly assistive not only in the teaching field but also in the non-occupational spheres of life.

Goals and Objectives

The key goal of the proposed program resides in raising job satisfaction in teachers by improving their ability to cope with stress. It is presumed that the increase in their job satisfaction will have a positive impact on their general performance and, thus, contributes to the educational process’s refinement. Therefore, the proposed program is designed to address all types of stressors and ensure a complex approach to the solution of the problem.

The proposed program targets a series of objectives:

1. an average score in the Perceived Stress Scale reduces to 5 maximum;
2. the average response to the “Support” items from Job Stress Scale is “strongly agree” or “mildly agree”;
3. teachers learn some useful techniques to optimize the paperwork;
4. teachers come to know each other better upon the course’s completion;
5. teachers develop their approaches to coping with stressors in class;
6. teachers learn to set objective and realistic aims to avoid defeated expectations.

Research

Stress Roots

First of all, it was considered critical to define the roots of the stress in order to point out potential solutions. A detailed literature review has shown that experts have varied opinions regarding the main causes of stress and burnouts in teachers. Thus, for instance, Gold and Roth (2013) suggest differentiating between professional and personal stressors (19). The fact that the causes of stress can be determined not only by the objective drawbacks of the educational system but some individual factors signifies that the elimination of all the risk factors is utterly impossible. Hence, while working out a stress reducing program, it will be more rational to focus on re-shaping the perception of stress.

In the meantime, in order to provide teachers with some useful techniques and methods, it is critical to ensure that these techniques address all types of stress. Otherwise stated, it is important to define the main stress determinants. First of all, the major part of experts agrees upon the fact that one of the most powerful stressors is an excessive paperwork. Thus, according to Herman and Reinke (2014), the majority of teachers report the constant increase in paperwork obligations when asked to indicate the key source of stress (18).

Another factor that is emphasized by experts is the so-called community factor. Hence, Reddy (2007) points out that in accordance with his research, a negative environment in the professional field has a strong impact on teacher’s motivation and general performance; it also reduces the level of job satisfaction (146). The latter remark is particularly important as it shows the interconnection between teachers’ stress and their performance.

In addition, a large scope of scientific research is devoted to the analysis of such stress factor as defeated expectations. Hence, there is an opinion that young specialists set excessively high expectations that are soon defeated by the reality (Gauthier, 2015). Otherwise stated, young graduates are initially determined to receive the highest results possible from their students. Meanwhile, what they have to face, in the course of the first year of practice, is a low motivation, critical discrepancies between the desires and the abilities, and the lack of interest in the subject on the part of the students. As a result, a teacher feels ultimately discouraged, and a large percentage of specialists prefer to give up.

The last but not the least is the so-called “children factor”. Experts point out that a significant part of stress comes from the students’ behavior and the attitude to studies that they show in class (Gohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2004). The disrespect or the misbehavior on the part of the students is a powerful stress factor as it makes a teacher distract from the core activity and occupy with the problems non-related to teaching itself. As a consequence, a significant part of the class’s time is spent on establishing silence and order, the teacher fails to meet the initially set curriculum deadline, and the general education process shows worse progress than it could have shown.

Therefore, it might be concluded that there are four main groups of stressors:

Current Statistics

The overview of the relevant statistical data has shown that the scale of the stress-related problems in teaching is concerning. Hence, most of the experts agree upon the point that the teaching career acquires negative implications due the stressful environment that have a negative impact on the people’s desire to get occupied in the relevant field.

Recent research has shown that an average teacher is absent from work for about 26 working days per year, whereas a large percentage of these teachers report the significant decline in their mental health due to the excessive stress pressure. The most concerning finding generated in the framework of this research resides in the fact that 76% of teachers consider quitting their jobs due to the unfavorable and stressing environment (Espinoza, 2015). The described figures signify a strong possibility of losing a large part of valuable and high-qualified employees in the nearest future unless the problem is timely addressed.

Whereas the research, overviewed above, shows that stress tends to determine teachers’ decisiveness to quit, another recent survey has pointed out that it also becomes a negative factor that prevents graduates from starting a career in the teaching field. Thence, according to the recent statistics, more than 10 thousand graduates refused to apply for the position of a teacher, and this number keeps growing (Cockroft, 2015).

Otherwise stated, stress reduction seems to be a critical mission that is aimed at not only improving the general teachers’ performance, but preserving the job itself – as long as the image of a teacher’s job implies negative connotations, it is predictable that fewer people will express willingness to build their careers in the relevant field.

As a result, the following interconnection might be viewed:

Measuring Techniques

As long as the problem of work-related stress in teachers seems to be evident, the question, consequently, arises regarding the assessment techniques that might assist in performing a profound evaluation of the problem’s size. There is currently a wide scope of various measuring scales aimed at assessing the level of stress.

First and foremost, one of the most wide-spread measuring techniques is Occupational Stress Inventory–Revised Edition (OSI-R). The method was initially generated by Osipow and Spokane and is aimed at assessing the three key aspects of the occupational field: work-related stress, psychological pressure, and resource challenge (SIGMA, 2016). The Occupational Stress Inventory–Revised Edition (OSI-R) includes 14 different scales (SIGMA, 2016):

Occupational Stress

• Role Overload.
• Role Insufficiency.
• Role Ambiguity.
• Role Boundary.
• Responsibility.
• Physical Environment.

Psychological Strain

• Vocational Stress.
• Psychological Strain.
• Interpersonal Strain.
• Physical Strain.

Coping Resources

• Recreation.
• Self-Care.
• Social Support.
• Rational / Cognitive Coping.

The results of the test allow developing a stress “profile” of an employee. In the meantime, the application of this method is apt to have some disadvantages. Thus, the technique does not contain any precise questions; instead, it suggests teachers evaluate their level of stress for different aspects. However, some of the aspects might be unclear so that there is a strong possibility that teachers will provide inaccurate information due to the lack of understanding.

Another popular technique is the Perceived Stress Scale developed by Sheldon Cohen. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a commonly applied psychological technique aimed at evaluating the perception of stress (Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983).

The measuring scale contains 10 concise questions designed to indicate how unpredictable variables affect respondents’ lives (Figure 3). The key benefit of this technique resides in the fact that all the questions are simply formulated, and the potential responses are easy to understand.

In addition, the proposed items are of a general nature. Otherwise stated, they are free of the specific context relevant to particular communities; thus, the test can be applied in any occupation field. Meanwhile, this technique has a critical drawback – all the questions are posed to retrieve the information within one-month period only. In addition, the scale was worked out almost half a century ago and might fail to consider some important variables.

Lastly, one of the most efficient measuring techniques is the Job Stress Survey (JSS). The 30-item scale designed by Spielberger is aimed at evaluating the work-related stressors and their causes. The method is currently applied to various business or educational settings (Statistics Solutions, 2016). It is essential to note that the proposed scale is rather complex; therefore, it is considered rational to search for the alternative simplified variants of the method.

Hence, for instance, a group of Portuguese researchers has developed a shorter JSS scale preserving the initial concept. Their scale (Figure 4) contains questions that imply a non-direct measuring of stress in employees (Alves, Chor, Faersteinc, Lopes, & Werneckd, 2004). The key benefit of this technique resides in the fact that the questionnaire addresses all types of the stress-related problems with clear and simple definitions.

Solution Practices

It is essential to note that the problem of stress reduction in teaching environment has been widely addressed by the scientific community. One of the most complex studies has been carried out by Netherland researchers. The experts have performed a consistent analysis of different types of interventions aimed at reducing work-related stress: cognitive-behavioral, multimodal, and organization-focused. Whereas the latter two interventions were focused on eliminating the objective stressors from the working environment, the first intervention implied re-shaping employees’ perception of stress and changing the ineffective behavioral patterns in stress situations.

According to the research findings, the cognitive-behavioral approach turned out to be the most effective stress reducing intervention (Klink, Blonk, Schene, & Dijk, 2001). Therefore, it can be assumed that the key aim of a potential stress reduction program should reside in helping teachers change their vision of the existing stressors, make a shift to the positive approach and assist them in learning some useful techniques of stress management.

Another important research was carried out by American scientists. Jennings and Greenberg (2008) performed a detailed analysis of the factors that have a significant impact on the teacher’s stress-free performance. The study has shown that those specialists that possess the so-called social and emotional competence (SEC) are more likely to cope with stress situations that appear in class. The researchers point out that there is a close interconnection between a teacher’s SEC and the ability to resist stress and burnouts (Jennings & Greenberg, 2008). Hence, it might be concluded that a stress reduction program should be, first and foremost, aimed at helping a teacher improve the emotional competence.

Program Outline

Program Description

The proposed program is aimed at helping teachers develop the resistance to stress and burnouts. The program is based on a complex approach to address all types of stressors: the student factor, the community factor, the defeated expectation and the paperwork.

The program is designed for the four-week period, within which each week is devoted to the development of the techniques assistive in coping with a particular type of stressor. In order to ensure consistent evaluation, it is recommended that the teachers complete several tests to identify the preliminary level of stress and assess the post-results.

The implementation of the program is highly cost-effective. Thus, minimal expenses are required, and the curriculum does not set any strict limitations regarding the settings. Otherwise stated, the courses can take place in any available classroom or outside.

Preparatory Stage

Before implementing the program, it is essential to carry out the relevant assessments. Thus, teachers will be offered to complete the Job Stress Scale (Figure 4) and the Perceived Stress Scale (Figure 3). The JSS findings will provide general insights of a teacher’s attitude to work and stress while the PSS results will help to indicate particular problems. It is considered that a teacher capable of coping with stress is likely to have 0-12 scores in the Perceived Stress Scale.

Schedule

Week 1

Description

During the first week, the teachers are to solve the problems related to the abundance of paperwork, which causes additional stress during each term. The lack of time can increase the nervousness in the teachers, so the target is to give the teacher a chance to reduce the stress caused by a large scope of documents and tables they are obliged to complete every month.

Activities

The coaches will meet every member of the teaching staff in order to collect all the necessary information concerning their personal attitude towards this problem. They will ask the questions referring to the advantages and the disadvantages of paperwork. After that, the teachers will have a special meeting devoted to the abundance of the paperwork. The trainers are to give information related to all the peculiarities of working with papers.

They will revise the material and learn new information about the changes in the document executions. Realizing that they cannot get rid of the paperwork, the teachers will be offered to find alternative solutions to optimize their performance. For example, the teachers that give lessons on the same subjects may share the paperwork among a small group. Moreover, they can create integrated teaching programs that will save their time considerably.

During this week, the coaches will have a debate devoted to this problem. The coaches will divide teachers into two groups. Each team will be supposed to offer the most optimized solution for coping with a particular type of documentation. Teachers will share their experience and adopt the best practices from one another. It is critical that the teachers are able to discuss this issue properly in a friendly atmosphere. Later on, the coaches will hold an origami master class to release the general tension. The teachers will use the old papers and documents. This fun activity will soften the stress connected with this factor.

Finally, the coaches will divide the teachers into small groups, they will sum up the ideas discussed during the week and add the points not mentioned during this period. They will find the solutions which can help them reduce the time spent om paperwork without changing the core concepts of the educational system and its regulations.

Benefits

First and foremost, the teachers will be able to share their skills in coping with paperwork. It is expected that every teacher will contribute by offering an effective method of document management. The optimization of the paperwork will save assist in saving time, giving the teachers a lot of opportunities to spend it on improving their teaching methods.

It is also proposed that the school authorities give two extra days during the period of holidays in order to enable the teachers to fill in all the necessary tables, or to write detailed reports on the process of studying. The teachers will feel more encouraged and supported; as a result, they will not experience excessive stress at the end of each term.

Week 2

Description

This week is devoted to stress caused by the so-called “student factor”. In the course of this week, the teachers will discuss various problems related to children, their motivation and the general attitude to studies. It is considered critical that this week will help the teachers realize they all have common problems and encourage them to unite in their solutions.

Activities

The coaches will start the new week with a short seminar devoted to the low-motivated children, misbehavior, the lack of respect, etc. They will help the teachers to revise the well-known psychological material as well as to get acquainted with the new tendencies in educational practices.

Later on, the coaches will suggest the teaching staff create colorful projects illustrating their ideas about increasing motivation. As well as in the course of the previous week, the teachers will be divided into several groups. In such a manner, they will have fewer difficulties completing the tasks and get to know each other better that will have a positive impact on the general environment in the community.

After that, they will have a day devoted to sharing their vision of the problem. They will also visualize the problem trying to imagine low-motivated or misbehaving children as positive personalities, accidentally bewitched by an evil wizard. The teachers will have to pretend to be the only heroes capable of unspelling them. Hence, they will observe the problem from some new standpoints, and it will help them to find effective solutions.

During the presentation process, the coaches will give the teachers special note boards (ex. “I like the way you are”). The teachers will be able to hang these note boards in their classrooms as the source of extra inspiration. In addition, their task will reside in writing notes on the board, where they will express positive feelings towards children: the reasons why they are grateful to all of them or a particular student. They should write something new every day, and try to involve children in all the possible ways. The notes with positive implications can be applied to the board, whereas the negative notes should be prohibited.

Moreover, the coaches will help teachers find new methods of relaxation which they can employ during their lessons in order to eliminate stress in both the adults and the children. The teachers will likewise have a chance to create a plan of organizing school takeover days so that the children with low motivation level and misbehavior can be involved in the teaching process on this day.

Finally, the teachers will also be encouraged to have the day of the so-called self-analysis. Under the supervision of the coaches, they will have an opportunity to analyze stressful situations connected with students, and indicate the drawbacks in their own behavior patterns. These patterns will be commonly discussed, and the potential improvements will be targeted. Thus, the teachers will be able to observe the stressors from different perspectives, share their skills with the colleagues and adopt the best practices from the latter. In addition, they will be proposed to take part in a role-playing game to work out different situations in the lessons, in the framework of which, each teacher should perform the role of a child.

Benefits

The revision of the theoretical basis and the acquaintance with the new teaching practices will let the teachers develop new approaches and techniques. In addition, the teachers will have a chance to analyze their behavioral patterns and find the current flaws. It is considered that the methods of visualization will assist in creating a positive attitude towards difficult situations and motivate adults to overcome stressful situations easily so that they will have enough energy for creativity. Lastly, the group work will have a positive impact on the community environment – the teachers will learn to understand their colleagues through the intense communication.

Week 3

Description

The third week is devoted to the atmosphere inside the teaching community. Thus, the principal activity is aimed at solving the problems that exist among the members of the teaching staff and prevent them from an effective cooperation. This week plays an important role as the stress caused by misunderstanding or prepossessions in the community can influence the productivity of a teacher to a great extent. Thus, the coaches will encourage the teachers to participate in the team-building exercises.

Activities

At the beginning of the week, the coaches will hold a game called “The Way I see You.” The teachers will be welcomed to gather in a circle. According to the game’s concept, they are supposed to pass an orange to each other. As soon as the coach says “stop,” the person holding the orange should address the colleague next to him or her, naming the professional advantages that the latter possesses. All the participants will have a chance to ask him or her personal questions, and the teacher should be honest in the responses to the colleagues.

Later on, the coaches will organize a common discussion that will have an unconventional character. In the course of the discussion, each teacher will be expected to share his most unsuccessful experience in teaching. The main aim of this group talk resides in elevating the trust and the sincerity in the community. Sharing their negative experience, the teachers are likely to sympathize one to another. In addition, this method will help the teachers develop a more tolerant attitude towards their own mistakes and the colleagues’ faults.

A significant focus throughout the third week will be placed on encouraging the teachers to join in the common activities. Thus, the teachers will be proposed to create a special chart that will include important dates that will signify their picnics, trips, celebrations, etc. It is considered that the common activity in the framework of the informal environment will help to develop friendlier relationships among the colleagues. To set a positive example, the coaches will organize an informal lunch for teachers on the last day of this week.

Benefits

The methods employed in the course of the third week are expected to be particularly useful for young teachers who often experience the problems of the integration into the new team. With the help of the outlined tasks, they will receive a chance to gather more information regarding their colleagues.

Hence, the common interaction will increase the inner unity among the teaching staff. In addition, the positive attitude along with the readiness to help each other developed through common activities will be beneficial for resolving the work-related problems. Lastly, in spite of the fact, that the key aim of the week resides in improving the relations between the community members, the teachers will inevitably share valuable professional experience while completing a particular task. As a consequence, the week is supposed to be beneficial in terms of both professional and personal development.

Week 4

Description

During this week, the teachers are supposed to analyze the inner conflicts that appear due to the contradictions between their expectations and the reality. In other words, the activities of this week mainly address such stress factor as defeated expectations. As long as the disappointment that is particularly typical of young teachers leads to crucial outcomes, it is considered critical that the teachers learn to set objective and realistic aims and shape their expectations in accordance with the real environment.

Activities

First and foremost, the coaches will organize the motivating lecture concerning the benefits of being a teacher. Special psychologists invited to the lecture will support the teachers having problems with the loss of motivation. After that, the teachers are to fill in the table divided into two big columns. In the first column, they should write down all the possible advantages and in the second one, they should note the disadvantages of being a teacher. The coaches will analyze the results and write them down on the blackboard and count the identified “pros and cons.” After that a common discussion will be held, in the course of which, the teachers will try to turn the defined drawbacks into the benefits.

During this week, the coaches will likewise organize the meeting with the school authorities. The teachers will be able to discuss those objective drawbacks that they defined on the first day: the school schedule, the day offs, and the paperwork. The authorities will have an individual task to find alternative solutions to encourage the employees.

In the middle of the week, the coaches will invite those teachers from other schools who have shown some achievements in the professional field. They will be able to inspire the colleagues, and describe their vision of targeting.

Upon the week’s completion, each teacher will be welcomed to compose a list of the short-term objectives basing on the practices adopted in the course of the activities. The teachers will also have a chance to represent their target lists in front of the colleagues and explain the rationale for every aim set. The members of the community might comment on the plans of their colleagues and provide the piece of advice if necessary.

Benefits

The activities of the week are expected to remind the teachers of the benefits of their work and the prospects it offers. In addition, the productive interaction between the teaching staff and the school authorities can establish a more favorable atmosphere inside the school – the teachers will receive the essential feedback and the necessary support. Moreover, it is assumed that the activities of the week will assist the teachers in performing a more rational targeting and avoiding, in such a manner, disappointment and frustration.

Program Assessment

The program’s efficacy will be assessed with the help of the following indicators:

• the scores gained in the Perceived Stress Scale;
• the scores gained in the Job Stress Scale;
• the number of days off required due to the burnout;
• the number of common activities the teachers organizes within their community;

It is suggested that the outcomes are evaluated in three stages:

• immediately after the program’s completion;
• in six months;
• in a year.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it should necessarily be pointed out that the problem of stress and burnouts in teachers hurts various variables: teachers’ performance, community environment, students’ motivation. Hence, this problem needs to be addressed timely and complexly.

It is assumed that the proposed program will assist teachers in re-shaping their perception of stress, working out effective stress reduction techniques and eliminating the negative behavioral patterns. Also, the large scope of group activities is likely to help young teachers get better integrated into the new community and develop a tolerant attitude towards their colleagues.

The program’s implementation does not require any considerable expenses or high-cost equipment. Hence, the program can be potentially implemented in any environment. In the meantime, it is critical that all the community members, including the school’s authorities, participate in the program to ensure consistent interconnection and effective solutions to the problems.

Reference List

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