Coping with Teaching Stress

Research proposal for Independent Study

Siam University

June 5. 2011

Graduate SchoolMaster of Business Administration500-611 Business Research Methods

Submitted to: Dr. Candidate. Tuomo RautakiviPrepared by: Yipeng LuoStudent ID No. : 5317192005

1. Introduction

This study tries to discover ways of coping with stress of teaching English as a

foreign language in a large school in Bangkok. This will be addressed by looking at

existing research into the causes of stress and other related subjects.

The intention of this research is find the factors which contribute the stress and

pressure, [internal pressure from workplace and external pressure from surrounding

environment –new culture and place]

Teaching can be a stressful occupation. The daily interactions with students and

coworkers and the incessant and fragmented demands of teaching often lead to

overwhelming pressures and challenges, which may lead to stress. Where work stress

is unrelenting, some negative physiological, psychological, and behavioral

consequences may result. (DeRobbio&Iwanicki, 1996, p.1)

The research is based on the assumption that researcher attempt either to address

stress directly by removing or mitigating its perceived causes or indirectly by

suggesting palliative measures which teachers may take to help them cope more

effectively with potentially stressful.

Many teachers would agree. Teaching is not only hard work; it can be full of stress.

Pressure due to school reform efforts, inadequate administrative support, poor

working conditions, lack of participation in school decision making, the burden of

paperwork, and lack of resources have all been identified as factors that can cause

stress among school staff. (Farber1984; Kyriacou1987, 1989; Kyriacou and Sutcliffe

1978; Phillips and Lee1980).

Teaching in schools today is not only arduous hard work, but can also be dangerous in

the level of stress a teacher is put under. The central question this research will be

asking is what techniques or strategies do teachers use to manage stress both inside

and outside the classroom?

2. Problem Definition

The purpose of this research will be for the following reasons: teacher stress or

burnout, as it is know in the profession, is a large and negative part of teaching, which

most teachers will suffer from at some point in their career.

A certain amount of stress in education is predictable, even constructive. The

exhilaration and challenges of educating children will physically cause adrenaline

levels associated with stress it increases. However, educators differ radically from one

another in the degree to which they are able to indentify and manage stress. Stress is

the physiological and emotional reaction to psychological events. “Any event

triggering the formerly life-saving, ancient “fight or flight” response is stressor.

Unrelieved, the cumulative, physical strain generated by psychological stress can

harm the body.”(Goodwin, Cunningham, and Childress, 2003)

“Stress is a consistent, exaggerated, and overwhelming sense of urgency, often

coupled with frustration.” (Kiser 2007)

“ Anxiety due to school reform efforts , minimal administrative support , poor

working circumstances , lack of involvement in school decision making , the

encumbrance of paperwork , and lack of resources have all been identified as factors

that can cause stress among educators” ( Hammond & Onikama , 1997 )

The production of the report and evidence gathering and analysis is in itself stressful.

It is hoped that the additional stress does not impact too adversely on the author.

The research will not go into any one producer of stress. The causes of stress are well

documented and are many and varied. It is assumed that for the most part, these

cannot be changed.

As the project will be completed in a limited space of time and the subject is ongoing

and evolving in its nature, it may not be possible to find a long term methods of stress

management. It is also possible that not all of the intended sample will be able to

complete both the survey and the questionnaire.

Research question (RQ)

What techniques or strategies do teachers use to manage stress both inside and outside

the classroom?

What are the elements causes of teacher stress?

What are the symptoms of teacher stress?

How to coping with teacher stress?

3. Literature Review

Educators and Stress

Educator stress is defined by Kyriacou (1987) as “the experience by a teacher of

unpleasant emotions, such as tension, frustration, anxiety, anger, and depression,

resulting from aspects of work as a teacher” (p. 146).

Causes of stress

Teaching can be a stressful occupation. The daily interactions with students and

coworkers and the incessant and fragmented demands of teaching often lead to

overwhelming pressures and challenges, which may lead to stress. Where work stress

is unrelenting, some negative physiological, psychological, and behavioral

consequences may results. (DeRobbio & Iwanicki, 1996, p.1)

Most teachers would agree with the above statement. Being a successful teacher is

hard work in the classroom and both physically and emotionally demanding. A certain

amount of stress is expected and also desirable in order to function properly within the

expected responsibilities of the job. And there are three elements causes of teacher

stress. School reform efforts, Inadequate administrative support, The burden of

paperwork.

Symptoms of Stress

“Stress is not an illness --- it is a state. However, if stress becomes too excessive and

prolonged, mental and physical illness may develop” (UK Govt Health and Safety

Executive 2010)

This short term symptoms fall broadly into three categories (HSE 2010).

Emotional symptoms

Mental symptoms

Changes in behaviour

Coping Strategies

The particular difficulties peculiar to ESL teachers in the situation do not permit

dealing directly with most of the causes of stress, which would be the ideal scenario.

Therefore it becomes necessary to create strategies to cope with and hopefully reduce

the effects of stress.

The online teacher support network (2008) advocates a work/life balance, a healthy

eating and exercise regime, an active social life and support in the form of friends or

religion. These may help alleviate symptoms and will certainly give the individual the

best chance of physical and emotional wellbeing.

Even though it may be possible to pinpoint the sources and causes of stress it may not

be possible to address, change or ignore these stressors. Therefore ways of coping

have to found if the teacher is not to succumb to burnout, long term health or mental

problems.

Theoretical Framework

In my opinion, the dependent variable of my study is teacher stress, which is the

variable of primary interest. And I attempt to explain the variance in this dependent

variable by the six independent variables of

(1) School reform efforts

(2) Inadequate administrative support

(3) The burden of paperwork

School reform efforts in Bangkok, as it affects public or private school teacher

attitude. In fact, school reform has two key impacts on teacher stress. First, they have

exacerbated burnout for all groups of teachers. Second, they have had especially

negative effects on certain categories of teachers, identifiable either by years of

experience, race, or gender. Inadequate administrative support was one of the primary

reasons early career teachers in this study gave for leaving the profession. The burden

of paperwork, teacher lack of time to do their job properly.

Teacher stress

School reform efforts

Inadequate administrative support

The burden of paperwork

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

4. Methodology

Additional research will be carried out targeting a small sample of teachers in similar

circumstances to the author in order to ascertain the extent of stress symptoms

experienced, specific causes of stress and techniques used to cope with stress. This

information will be obtained by using a questionnaire and carrying out one to one

interviews. The information will be analyzed, presented and conclusions and

recommendations made. It is hoped that the author may discover new ways of coping

with stress in order to improve his performance in the classroom and general

wellbeing. Findings of any significance may be shared with those participating to the

same end.

The research will be qualitative, teachers will be asked not to write their names on the

questionnaires and to be discrete as to where they fill out the questionnaires. This

should ensure a low risk of any problems with management objecting to the survey

taking place, or possible persecution of any of the teachers taking part. The teachers

will also be told exactly why the researcher is doing the research, before been asked if

they would fill out the questionnaires. A smaller group of trusted long term teachers

will be asked to do interview, again they will be told exactly why the researcher is

doing the research.

In undertaking this research the researcher will undertake a survey based on

interviewing at least twenty teachers; both genders will be included. The range of

teachers will be from different subject areas, grades and schools, in doing so the

researcher will obtain the broadest coverage attainable within the given time frame. In

essence, it is hoped that the results of this research will give the researcher an insight

into the possible practical techniques of different ways to manage stress.

In addition to the interview process, the researcher will make use of the internet for

better understanding of the subject and also to strengthen the findings through the use

of these interview techniques with reference to the internet. The results of this

research will give a valuable insight into the ways of coping with stress cause by

teaching. The research will contain methods on coping with stress.

The theory that this research will add is a personal insight into the methods of stress

management, based around ESL teachers. The data and methods that researcher will

compile will be put into personal practice when teaching myself, therefore

improvement of my lessons and state of mind.

The results of the research will give a valuable insight into the causes and signs of

stress and the results of the interviews will be collated to compile shared best practice

coping strategies. This will give general insight into those problems common to all

teachers and I will use it to gain insight into my personal circumstances.

The data and methods that researcher will compile will be put into personal practice

when teaching myself, therefore improvement of my lesson and state of mind.

Limitations of the study

The survey research may be limited to some of the teachers who participated in the

signs of stress questionnaire. Not all of the participants may be available for both.

These educators represent a very small part of a large picture. However, as they are

broadly within my own circumstances and are subjected to similar stress triggers, this

will prove useful to my own experiences.

5. Method

(A=Acknowledge B=Behavior Modification C=Communication)

Stressors are always present in the profession of teaching, which suggests teachers

should learn techniques to manage stress to remain an effective teacher. One such

method suggests a simple ABC stress management model which recommends first

acknowledgement of the stress, second modification of behavior and finally

communication with students and other staff. Just as is with many challenges in life, it

is better for teachers to be proactive, rather than reactive, with management of stress.

A widely recognized proactive stress management method is to maintain a healthy

physical state through regular exercise, a nutritional diet and good sleep. Another well

recognized proactive method of combating stress is to maintain a strong mental state:

intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. Establishing clear classroom expectations

can alleviate many of the stressors existing in a classroom between the teacher and

students. A good practice is for teachers to set up these expectations from the

formation of the class to prevent any escalation of anxiety in the classroom. A final

proactive stress management technique is control of the work environment. An

efficient and effective teacher will be proficient in time management, prioritization

and organization. The Ten Commandments for Reducing Stress is a set of guidelines

for teachers to ensure they control their work environment. If teachers continue to see

unhealthy stress, even after following the proactive methods and the ABC’s method,

then they should seek outside assistance. Outside assistance is typically sought after

prolonged exposure to unhealthy stress, but outside assistance can be a good source

for proactive stress management. The sources cited below in the Recommended

Resources Section provide a good starting point for additional outside assistance.

The outcome of this report is to enhance educators’ awareness of stress and activities

designed to lower stress, specifically:

(1) Presenting research on stress and its effects on the human body and job

performance.

(2) Conducting a questionnaire and interview amongst ESL and other teaching staff

on effects of stress and use of coping strategies.

(3) Collecting data from the surveys and interviews in order to evaluate its effect on

teacher stress with recommendations for best practice management of stress.

Individual ESL teacher’s methods of coping with teaching stress will be the unit of the

research analysis.

Additional research will be carried out targeting a small of teachers in similar

circumstances to the researcher in order to ascertain the extent of stress symptoms

experienced, specific causes of stress and techniques used to cope with stress. This

information will be obtained by using a questionnaire and carrying out one to one

interviews.

The research will take a non-random approach for the following reason, the school

employs forty ESL teachers, but many of these are unsuitable for the research

analysis, some of the staff is new to teaching, therefore any stressors that are high in

new teachers may affect the research. Also some members of staff are unknown to the

researcher; this poses the possibility of gossip getting back to the management of the

school, which could lead to repercussions for the researcher or other participants.

The questionnaire will provide quantitative data as to the stress symptoms

experienced. This system may be depicted graphically by the number of symptoms

experienced by each individual. This data will be grounded in the previous research in

this report. Its content will show the extent to which those symptoms are experienced

by ESL teacher. This quantitative data is secondary research and is only indicative of

types and signs of stress exhibited by the group.

The analysis of the stress survey was to find out the percentages of teachers surveyed

who experienced various signs of stress. The information was put into Microsoft excel

in order to make graphs. The resulting data was divided into: Number of signs of

stress experienced. General signs of stress experienced. Emotional changes, thought

changes and physical changes as a result of stress.

6. Participant suitability for Research

This research will be based on ESL teachers in Bangkok. The teachers chosen for the

research will have been employed for 3 years or more to ensure that any stress they

have is as a result of being an experienced teacher, not those stress associated with

taking a position as a newly appointed teacher.

7. Other issues

There is a risk involved in the research, that any independent activity in the school i.e.

this research itself may cause paranoia in the management. This is a risk to any

teacher who will participate. The risk being that they may lose their jobs. Therefore

interviews will take place outside the school and with a small number of teachers.

8. Timescale considerations

Research Schedule

2011 2012

Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb

Writing

Proposal

Data

Collection

Data

Analysis

Thesis

Writing

References

Argyle, M. (1964). Psychology and social problems. London: Methuen

Borg, M. G. (1990). Occupational stress in British educational settings: A review.

Educational Psychology, 10, 103-126.

Burnett, Gray 2010 justschools.gseis.ucla.edu/crisis/overcrowding/index.htm[online]

Burnett, Gray. Overcrowding in Urban Schools. ERIC/CUE Digest Number 107,

ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education New York NY.

Chorney LA (1998) Self-defeating beliefs and stress in teachers. Dissertation

Abstracts International 58, 2820

Cockburn, H. (2007). How stressed in your school? Programme 5. England: Teachers

TV

http://www.prel.org/products/Products/Coping-teacherStress.htm

DeRobbio, R. A., & Iwanicki, E. (1996, April). Factors accounting for burnout among

secondary school teachers. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American

Educational Research Association, New York, NY. Farber, B.A. (1984) Stress and

Burnout in Suburban Teachers. Journal of Education Research

http://www.canadianteachermagazine.com/ctm_healthy_living/

winter06_coping_with_teacher_stress.shtml

Farber, B. A. (1991) Crisis in Education: Stress and Burnout in the American Teacher.

San Francisco Jossy-Bass

Fontana, D. (1989). Managing stress: The British Psychology Society and Routledge,

Ldt.

Glencoe (2005) teaching today [online]

Goodwin, R. H. Cunningham, M. L. & Childress, R. B. (2003). The changing role of

the secondary principal. NASSP Bulletin

Hammond, O. W. & Onikama, D. L. (1997). At risk teachers. Honolulu, HI: Pacific

Resources for Education and Learning

http://www.cedu.niu.edu/~shumow/itt/teacher%20stress.pdf

Appendix 1

Interview

1. Can you tell me about your career in teaching?

Where have you taught?

What subjects have you taught?

What level have you been teaching?

How many years have you been here?

2. What are the stressful things about teaching that you face on a daily basis?

3. What are the most stressful incidents you have had in your career?

What happened?

How did you deal with it?

What were your feelings about it?

How did you cope with your feelings?

Do you have any stories?

4. What do you feel when you are stressed?

Physically

Mentally

5. How do you cope with stress?

In school

Outside school

6. How do you feel about your own resilience to teacher stress?

Do you stress coping techniques work?

Would it be useful to know how others cope with stress?

7. Did your expectations match with your work?

Is that create stress?

Appendix 2

Signs of stressPlease tick all that apply

Number of participants

Number answered

yes

% of participants saying yes

Moodiness and over-sensitivityConstant worryingFeeling overwhelmedFinding it hard to remember thingsPessimismMuddled thinkingOver or under eatingIncrease in drinking, smoking or drug takingReduced work outputFrequent minor illnessesLoss of libidoSleep disturbanceHigh blood pressure

Irritability or agitationGeneral unhappinessLoss of sense of humourPoor self-esteemFeeling de-motivatedBecoming withdrawnFeeling isolatedImpaired judgementFinding it hard to concentrateIndecisionRacing thoughtsMind blanksFloor pacingNervous habitsIncreased sickness absenceAches and painsFatigueSweatingHeadachesAccident proneStomach upsetsFast heart rateDisregard for personal appearance