Teacher Stress and Anxiety

Author(s):  
Casey M. Brown

This chapter illustrates the author's struggle with stress and anxiety associated with the teaching profession. After conversations with colleagues, it is apparent that many teachers drive to and from school with knots in their stomachs, exhausting themselves with worry about students, parents, administrators, state standards, and more. As educators, we search to find balance between our school lives and our “normal” lives. We struggle to take a mental break from our jobs. In this chapter, the author uses a multigenre style to illustrate her anxiety and healing throughout her teaching career. Many authors write about the needs of the student, yet it is also worthwhile to explore the mental health of teachers. Teachers cannot best serve students if teachers cannot first take care of themselves. It is an idea that is often overlooked, and the author hopes this chapter may help educators who have experienced similar issues of anxiety in their careers.

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
A. C. R. Trevisan ◽  
E. P. Trevisan

In the article we seek to address questions regarding the interest of graduates of a degree course in Natural Sciences and Mathematics in relation to the teaching career in basic education. The course enables its graduates to work in the subjects Science and Mathematics in the final years of elementary school and Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry in high school. Our intention is to identify and reflect on the perceptions of these graduates about teaching, highlighting with this inherent aspects to the exercise of this profession in basic education. From the application of questionnaires to graduates of this course, we produced data regarding their performance in basic education, which enabled us to reflect on the national scenario in relation to the exercise of this profession. We could observe that the majority of the students participating in the research are not working in basic education and that the current scenario of devaluation of the teaching career exerts a significant influence in the decision making process of choosing or not the teacher profession for professional performance after graduation.


Author(s):  
Eduardo Mendes Nascimento ◽  
Marcia Carvalho Garcia ◽  
Edgard Cornacchione

ABSTRACT This study sought to investigate which coping strategies are most frequently used by accounting faculty and how they can modulate the perceived stress. The higher education academic environment is filled with events that are stressful in nature; however, little effort, especially in the area of accounting, has been employed in seeking to understand and propose guidelines that can improve well-being and pleasure in the teaching profession. A coping strategy is a behavior that protects the individual from psychological damage related to problematic social experiences; it is through these behaviors that individuals manage their day-to-day experiences, thus helping to maintain their mental health. The discussion about the use of strategies for coping with stress lacks an approach in higher education institutions (HEIs), as it indicates that various strategies are being employed ineffectively and signals that three of the statistically significant strategies belong to the dimension of those focused on dysfunctional emotions. And, more seriously, of those three strategies, two (self-reproach and denial) have further contributed to increasing the perception of stress. The Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI), composed of 26 questions with a five-point Likert scale, and the Brief COPE (Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory), with 28 items and a four-point scale, were employed together with sociodemographic questions. An electronic questionnaire was sent to two thousand accounting faculty in Brazil. Altogether, 563 faculty members answered the questions. The analysis was conducted through association and multiple linear regression tests. It was verified that the average stress reported by the faculty members was 63% of the maximum TSI score, and the most prevalent strategies measured by the Brief COPE were planning, active coping, positive reinterpretation, use of instrumental support, self-reproach, and religion. Through linear regression estimation, it was concluded that two coping strategies (active coping and behavioral divestment) negatively moderated the faculty members’ stress, but two others (self-reproach and denial) raised their perception of stress. Moreover, it was discovered that the faculty members who were most vulnerable to stress use less adaptive coping strategies more intensely.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Ratanasiripong ◽  
Takashi China ◽  
Nop T Ratanasiripong ◽  
Shiho Toyama

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the mental health issues among teachers globally and to investigate the significant factors that specifically impact the mental health of school teachers in Okinawa, Japan.Design/methodology/approachThis cross-sectional study examined depression, anxiety, stress, self-esteem and resiliency among 174 teachers from seven schools in Okinawa, Japan. The study questionnaire consisted of four parts, including demographic data, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale (DASS-42), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE), and Connor-Davidson Resiliency Scale (CD-RISC). Multiple regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of mental health variables.FindingsOf the 174 teachers, 111 were females (64%) and 60 were males (35%). Average age of participants was 41.65 (SD = 10.07). Average number of years being a teacher was 15.50 (SD = 9.88). There was a significant gender difference in the level of self-esteem. Significant differences in anxiety were found among varying grade levels taught. Regression analyses indicated that resiliency and self-esteem significantly predicted depression, anxiety and stress among school teachers in Okinawa.Originality/valueThis is the first study among school teachers in Okinawa that examined the impact of resiliency and self-esteem on their mental health. To reduce psychological distress common within the teaching profession, social and environmental support should be provided within the school to better foster the successful promotion of teacher resiliency and self-esteem.


2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (26) ◽  
pp. 69-94
Author(s):  
Maria da Consolação Rocha ◽  
Carmen Sylvia Vidigal Moraes

Neste artigo, analisamos o Plano de Carreira dos Servidores da Educação de 1996 e as alterações posteriores, em especial a de 2003, que criou o cargo de educador infantil, e a de 2012, que o transformou em cargo de professor para a educação infantil. Ambas as alterações rompem com a carreira docente unificada. O atual Plano de Carreira dos Servidores da Educação é resultado de um processo de debates e embates ocorridos entre a administração pública e os(as) trabalhadores(as) em educação em suas lutas pela valorização profissional ao longo da história de constituição da Rede Municipal de Educação de Belo Horizonte (RMEBH), criada em 1948. Para melhor compreensão dos embates, avanços e recuos na regulação da carreira docente em Belo Horizonte, organizamos o artigo em quatro momentos. Nos dois primeiros, destacamos os debates realizados e as regulações ocorridas nas décadas de 1980, 1990. No terceiro, apresentamos o plano de carreira vigente e as modificações ocorridas ao longo dos anos 2000, bem como as alterações no quadro de pessoal a partir do processo de terceirização da função docente na educação infantil, que configura uma nova ruptura com a carreira docente e um processo de desprofissionalização do trabalho educacional na capital mineira. ABSTRACTIn this article, we analyze the Career Plan of Education Servers, 1996 and subsequent amendments, in particular the 2003 created the post of child educator, and 2012, which transformed it into a professorship for early childhood education . Both changes break with the unified teaching career. The current Plan Career of Education Server is the result of a process of debate and clashes occurred between the public administration and / (the) employees / (as) education in their struggles for professional development along the network of the constitution of history Municipal Education of Belo Horizonte (RMEBH), created in 1948. to better understand the struggles, advances and retreats in the regulation of the teaching profession in Belo Horizonte, organized the article in four stages. In the first two, we highlight the discussions and adjustments that occurred in the 1980s, 1990. In the third, we present the current career path and the changes that have occurred over the 2000s, as well as changes in personnel from the process outsourcing of the teaching function in early childhood education, which sets a new break with the teaching career and deprofessionalization process of educational work in the mining capital


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graciela Cordero Arroyo ◽  
Jose Alfonso Jimenez Moreno

As a consequence of the Mexican Educational Reform of 2013, the educational system allows the entry into teaching in presschools and primary schools to professionals without preservice teacher education, as long as they demonstrate their suitability through two large-scale tests. This article describes and analyzes the implementation of the tests used in the evaluation of admission to the professional teaching service at these educational levels, and in addition, presents empirical evidence of the results of the process of entering the teaching career as a basis to question the alleged suitability in the evaluation results, both nationally and in a federal entity in the northwest of the country. Two references are observed that define the suitability of the teaching performance. The first is an instrument called Profiles, Parameters and Indicators, which serves as a general ideal of what is expected by the teaching function. The second, the standards defined in the measurement process itself. The conclusion addresses the need to review the process of evaluation of the admission to the teaching career in Mexico, as well as to analyze the implications for the devaluation of the teaching profession and the desired educational quality that the entry of professionals without the appropriate training can bring.


2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Waitshega Tefo Smitta Dibapile

The purpose of this paper was to investigate and analyze the reasons advanced by Post Grade Diploma in Education students (PGDE) for choosing teaching as a career. The subjects of the study were 102 students of which 58 were females and 44 were males. The average age for this group of students was 23.  Data were collected using a questionnaire in which a quantitative approach was employed using closed and open-ended questions.  The findings of the study revealed that, PGDE students choose the teaching profession mainly for extrinsic reasons such as job security and economic advancement. The paper also indicated that student teachers chose teaching as a career because they wanted   to serve the community.


Author(s):  
Tímea Szűcs

The complexity of the teaching profession can be seen in the relationship between various people as they work together with students, colleagues, management and office staff. In addition, the different personalities and attitudes of the children fundamentally determine the structure and effectiveness of lessons as well as applied pedagogical methods. The complexity can also be approached through the diversity of teaching activities. Besides lessons and administration, the duties of the teacher include organizing various school and city events, competitions, programs, trips and camps. The music teacher’s individual lessons involve yet another type of interaction between teacher and student, and this special situation adds complexity to a teaching career. This essay explores the specific situations and challenges that characterize a music teacher's career. Keywords: teaching, complexity, pedagogical methods, music education, primary schools of arts


Author(s):  
Carlos Alberto Lima de Oliveira Pádua ◽  
Antonia Dalva França-Carvalho

This article presents an analysis of the teaching career beginning in Basic Education using the beginning teacher as a reference. The study is based on the theoretical discussions of Gonçalves (2000), Huberman (2000), Guarnieri (2005), Tardif (2008), Darling-Hammond (2014), among others. For methodological development, we used qualitative research (BRASILEIRO, 2013), type case study (MEKSENAS, 2011) with input in ethnomethodology (COULON, 1995). The research was carried out in a public school and had as participants a teacher whose teaching time is less than two years, a principal and a pedagogical coordinator. The data collection techniques were observation, questionnaire, interview and field diary. Data analysis was performed based on Bardin (1977), and interpretation in accordance with Hermeneutics-Dialectics also discussed through Minayo's reflections (1998). The results indicate elements that facilitate the beginning of the teaching profession, such as commitment, respect, profile, self-confidence, among other principles. They also point out difficult elements, such as shyness and practical fragility. They also show the different challenges encountered by the teacher, especially the process of overcoming the dichotomy between training (theory) and professional practice. In general, the research findings show that the entry of the beginner teacher into the school results from a university education based on teaching and research. And, that the beginning of the teaching career explains a context of learning knowledge, characterized by the availability and proactivity inherent in pedagogical work, by the experiences of social relations between students and school professionals that converge to the construction of the teaching professional identity. Therefore, the study expands the reflection on the teaching profession from the perspective of the beginning teacher collaborating to expand this field of knowledge.


Author(s):  
Liliana Bujor ◽  

This study aims to capture the dynamic regarding the attitude of the first year students towards the teaching career. To identify the level of attitudes towards the teaching profession, we used a research method based on a questionnaire investigation, as method of analysis, and two different cohorts of students: cohort 1 was represented by students enrolled in 2010-2011 academic year and cohort 2 by the students enrolled in 2019-2020. The cohort, the environment and the gender gave us interesting results about the attitude towards teaching (total score, attitude towards others, work and self-attitude). The results showed that there are significant differences between cohorts in terms of attitude towards teaching career. So, we can say that there is a dynamic towards careers that must be integrated in educational policies and in the career orientation plans.


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