The Relationship Between Long Working Hours and Stress Responses in Junior High School Teachers: A Nationwide Survey in Japan

Background: Long working hours and mental health problems among teachers are a concern in Japan. More specifically, it has been reported that junior high school teachers tend to work overtime. In this study, examined the working hours of junior high school teachers in public schools and investigated the association between overtime work and stress responses across job titles.Methods: From June to December 2018, 54,772 teachers in public junior high schools completed a web-based nationwide survey regarding occupational stress and submitted self-evaluated working hours per day of the previous month. Psychological and physical stress responses were assessed using the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire.Results: Results showed that 59.6% of the participants worked 11 h or more per day. Additionally, the length of working hours significantly differed across job titles (χ2 (30) = 5295.8, p < 0.001, Cramér’s V = 0.14). With respect to tenured teachers, sex (female), age, taking charge of the class, number of working years in the same school, working hours of 10 to 11 h, 11 to 12 h, 12 to 13 h, and 13 h or more were significantly associated with high stress, compared to those who worked less than 9 h per day. Moreover, for fixed-term teachers, sex (female), age, working hours of 9 to 10 h, 10 to 11 h, 11 to 12 h, 12 to 13 h, and 13 h or more were related with more stress as compared to those who worked less than 9 h per day. On the other hand, there was no significant relationship between long working hours and stress response among vice-principals, even though they tended to work the longest hours.Conclusion: We verified that Japanese junior high school teachers work long hours. Long working hours were associated with stress responses in both tenured and fixed-term teachers, but not in vice-principals. However, vice-principals work the longest hours among teachers, and we suggest that these long working hours may be a hidden problem that is often overlooked.

How Is Cultural Intelligence Related to Human Behavior?

Cultural intelligence is an individual’s ability to recognize, understand, and adapt to cross-cultural contexts in order to change his or her self-capacity. Hence, this study explores the relationship between cultural intelligence and interpersonal communication, psychological capital (PsyCap), and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) among teachers in Indonesia and investigates the possibility of finding relevant new models. A Likert questionnaire was used to collect research data. The research participants included 450 Indonesian junior high school teachers selected by accidental sampling. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for data analysis, supported by descriptive statistics and correlational matrices. The results indicate that cultural intelligence is significantly related to teachers’ interpersonal communication, PsyCap, and OCB. Additionally, this study also produces a new model regarding the relationship between cultural intelligence and a teacher’s OCB, mediated by interpersonal communication and PsyCap. Therefore, researchers and practitioners can discuss and adopt a new empirical model to increase cultural intelligence.

Character, meaning in life, and well-being of students from teachers' perspective

Previous studies have revealed the benefits of character and meaning in life for individual well-being. However, little research has been conducted on elementary and junior high school teachers who teach students between the ages of 10-15 years (late childhood and early adolescence) in Indonesia. This study aims to explore teachers’ perceptions about character, meaning in life, and well-being. Interviews were conducted among 20 teachers. Our findings revealed that according to the teachers, the lessons and assessments in character education are well designed. However, coordination within the school community and with parents as well as specific roles between teachers and parents in building students’ character, meaning, and well-being needs to be improved. What teachers understood about meaning in life corresponds with the results of previous studies. Teachers’ understanding of well-being concept is still limited. They acknowledged family background, socioeconomic status, popularity, and academic achievement as important factors in students’ well-being. Keywords: character; meaning in life; well-being; teachers; children; adolescents

CIPP evaluation model - The agreement of the five ministers: Arranging and organizing junior high school teachers

The purpose of this study is to use a descriptive qualitative method to describe the program of the agreement of the five ministers that was implemented in Salatiga. According to the findings, the implementation of the program to organize and arrange Civil Servant teachers in the city of Salatiga is still not going well. This issue prompted additional research into the process of leveling and rearranging teachers. Problems in the implementation of the ongoing program at the Salatiga Education Office were discovered with the assistance of CIPP. In terms of context, the implementation procedures are consistent with the Regional Government’s procedures in terms of vision and mission, objectives, and identification of needs and opportunities. The input is seen to be by the Mayor of Salatiga’s decision, such as aspects of strategy, procedures, and teacher placement. However, the Education, Youth, and Sports Office does not manage funds because there is no allocation. The stages of the process have been running, including readiness identification and monitoring, mutation implementation, and discipline. The result stage demonstrates that while not all of them have achieved their goals, such as equal distribution of teachers in schools, they have done well in terms of benefits, impacts, and sustainability. As a result of the results obtained from the input and output aspects, the Salatiga government must allocate funds for the teacher transfer program for organizing and rearranging middle school teachers in Salatiga to run as expected.

Subahnale dan Rang-rang Pembelajaran Matematika SMP

The purpose of this research is to find mathematical concepts in the cultural heritage of songket cloth and how to apply them as a medium for learning mathematics in junior high schools. The results of this study can be used as a reference for junior high school teachers to choose culture-based learning media related to student life, especially in Lombok. This research is an ethnomathematical research with the research method used is a qualitative research method with an ethnographic approach. The research was conducted in September, October, and November 2021 in Sukarara village, Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. The subjects in this study were craft works in the form of songket cloth and songket weavers who were active in the village of Sukarara which consisted of three weavers. Data were collected by documentation, document observation, and interviews. The documents obtained were then analyzed related to the content of the mathematical concepts contained therein. The conclusion of this study is that the quality of mathematics learning can be improved by using the traditional songket subahnale cloth as a medium or learning aid. Some mathematical concepts that can be learned with songket subahnale as the medium are congruence, similarity, perimeter of flat shapes, area of flat shapes, folding symmetry, comparisons, pattern tracing. Songket fabrics that can be used as media are songket subahnale woven fabrics with geometric motifs such as diamond motifs, rang-rang motifs, and hexagons

PENGARUH KEPEMIMPINAN KEPALA SEKOLAH, KELENGKAPAN SARANA PRASARANA SEKOLAH DAN KOMITMEN ORGANISASI TERHADAP KINERJA GURU SMP SE-KECAMATAN BALOCCI KABUPATEN PANGKEP

Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian eksplanatori dengan menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif. Pemilihan jenis penelitian ini agar dapat dijelaskan secara deskriptif hubungan yang terjadi antara variabel, sehingga diperoleh pengertian yang mendalam tentang objek yang diteliti. Terdapat tiga definisi operasional variabel yaitu(1). Kepemimpinan Kepala Sekolah (X1), (2) Sarana Prasarana (X2) (3) Komitmen Organisai (X3) merupakan orientasi nilai terhadap organisasi yang menunjukkan bahwa seorang guru sangat memikirkan dan mengutamakan pekerjaan dan sekolah tempat tugasnya. Variabel komitmen akan diukur dari indikator (1) Affective Commitment, (2) Continuance Commitment dan (3) Normative Comitment dan (4) Kinerja Guru (Y). Populasi dari penelitian ini adalah seluruh SMP Negeri dan swasta di kabupaten Pangkep. Instrumen yang digunakan untuk mengumpulkan data mengenai ketiga variabel penelitian yaitu kepemimpinan kepala sekolah (X1), sarana prasarana (X2), komitmen organisasi (X3) dan kinerja guru (Y) adalah kuesioner. Kuesioner ditujukkan untuk seluruh guru di SMP di Kecamatan Balocci. Metode pengumpulan data yang dilakukan dalam penelitian ini adalah dengan memberikan kuesioner kepada responden penelitian. Berdasarkan hasil analisis data dan pembahasan disimpulkan sebagai berikut: (1) Terdapat pengaruh signifikan kepemimpinan kepala sekolah terhadap kinerja guru SMP se-Kecamatan Balocci. (2) Terdapat pengaruh signifikankelengkapan sarana prasarana sekolah terhadap kinerja guru SMP se-Kecamatan Balocci. (3) Terdapat pengaruh signifikan komitmen organisasi terhadap kinerja guru SMP se-Kecamatan Balocci. (4) Terdapat pengaruh bersama yang signifikan anatara kepemimpinan kepala, kelengkapan sarana prasarana sekolah dan komitmen organisasi terhadap kinerja guru SMP se-Kecamatan Balocci. This research is an explanatory research using a quantitative approach. Selection of this type of research in order to describe descriptively the relationship that occurs between variables, in order to obtain an in-depth understanding of the object under study. There are three operational definitions of variables, namely (1). Principal Leadership (X1), (2) Infrastructure (X2) (3) Organizational Commitment (X3) is a value orientation towards the organization which shows that a teacher really thinks about and prioritizes work and the school where he is assigned. The commitment variable will be measured from the indicators (1) Affective Commitment, (2) Continuance Commitment and (3) Normative Commitment and (4) Teacher Performance (Y). The population of this study were all public and private junior high schools in Pangkep district. The instrument used to collect data on the three research variables, namely the principal's leadership (X1), infrastructure (X2), organizational commitment (X3) and teacher performance (Y) was a questionnaire. The questionnaire was addressed to all teachers in junior high schools in Balocci District. The data collection method used in this study was to provide questionnaires to research respondents. Based on the results of data analysis and discussion, it is concluded as follows: (1) There is a significant influence of principal's leadership on the performance of junior high school teachers in Balocci District. (2) There is a significant effect of completeness of school infrastructure on the performance of junior high school teachers in Balocci District. (3) There is a significant effect of organizational commitment on the performance of junior high school teachers in Balocci District. (4) There is a significant joint influence between the leadership of the head, the completeness of school infrastructure and organizational commitment to the performance of junior high school teachers in Balocci District.

Pelatihan Penulisan Naskah Ilmiah Jurnal Investigasi Bagi Guru-Guru Se-Kota Tangerang Selatan

Community service activities. Scientific Manuscript Writing Training Journal of Educational Research at SMP Negeri 17 Tangerang Selatan aims to help elementary/junior/junior high school teachers in South Tangerang City in writing scientific manuscripts that will be published in ISSN journals. The training method is carried out using the method of mentoring, discussion, workshops and technical guidance (bimtek) of writing scientific manuscripts in accordance with journal manuscript standards. The results of the training were obtained as many as 11 elementary school teacher manuscripts (73%) and 4 junior high school teacher manuscripts (27%) published in the INVESTIGATION journal of SMP Negeri 17 Tangerang Selatan Volume 2 Number 2 Month September 2021 - December 2022. Publishing teacher scientific manuscripts in the INVESTIGATION journal is certainly very important. assisting teachers in fulfilling their obligations to journalize their scientific texts, so that they are not constrained in promotion of class or position. The targeted output in this community service activity is the publication of the results of community service activities in national scientific journals with ISSN.

Effects of Rice Bran Oil on Lipid Profiles of Hypercholesterolemic Junior High School Teachers

Rice Bran Oil (RBO) is an abundant food source in Indonesia. RBO contains high levels of monounsaturated fatty acids and rich in antioxidants. However, clinical trials on this material are still very limited. This research aims to assess the differences of effect of rice bran oil (RBO) and olive oil (OO) on lipid profile alteration of hypercholesterolemia junior high school teachers. This study used a quasi-experimental method with a non-randomized pre-test and post-test design. A total of 28 junior high school teachers in the Tamalanrea District of Makassar City who experienced hypercholesterolemia were recruited in this study and were divided into 2 groups. The two groups were at different research locations and received different interventions. The intervention group was given rice bran oil (30 ml/day) while the control group was given olive oil (30 ml/day) for 30 days. The pair t test was used to determine the difference in lipid profile before and after giving RBO and OO. The analysis was continued by comparing the results in the two groups using the independent t test. The level of confidence was set at 95% with a significance value less than 0.05 (p <0.05). After giving RBO for 30 days, the results were a decrease in total cholesterol by 4.59%, triglycerides by 15.8%, LDL by 4.87%, but HDL levels also decreased, although in insignificant amounts (3.41%). Meanwhile, giving OO as a control reduced total cholesterol by 5.04% and triglycerides by 28.2%. In addition, there was also a slight increase in HDL levels by 0.45%, in contrast to LDL levels which did not show any difference at all. At the end of the study of the four lipid profile parameters observed, significant improvements were observed in the reduction of total cholesterol and triglyceride levels significantly after administration of RBO and OO (p <0.05). The results also showed that there was no significant difference between RBO and OO on changes in lipid profile (p> 0.05). From this study, we can conclude that rice bran oil and olive oil have the same effect in improving lipid profiles by significantly lowering total cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

Determinan Kinerja Guru di Kabupaten Aceh Utara melalui motivasi sebagai variable intervening

This study analyzes several variables that affect teacher performance in North Aceh. The variable that wants to be disclosed is Competence. Respondents in this study are 198 junior high school teachers in North Aceh. Leadership, motivation and their influence on teacher performance. The sampling method used is a saturated sample. The data analysis method used is Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using AMOS 21 software. From the results of the study, it can be seen that the influence of competence on motivation is not significant, the influence of leadership on motivation is very significant. Meanwhile, the influence of competence on teacher performance is also very significant. Likewise, the influence of leadership on teacher performance is also significant. Motivation was also found to mediate the influence between Competence and Leadership on Teacher Performance. It is recommended to improve teacher performance, it is hoped that the leadership or principal of SMP Negeri in North Aceh Regency to improve teacher competence, improve leadership abilities and also increase motivation for teachers so that their performance will increase in the future.

Professional development and job satisfaction on teaching performance

This study aimed to determine teacher professional development, job satisfaction and teaching performance and to determine the influence of teacher professional development and teacher satisfaction on teaching performance. The research method used was a quantitative method with descriptive correlational techniques. Data collection techniques conducted in this study was a questionnaire. Respondents in this study were 60 junior high school teachers in Gowa Regency. The data analysis technique used product moment and regression analysis which was analyzed using the SPSS program. The results showed that teacher professional development and job satisfaction had a positive and significant influence on teacher performance. The implication of this research was to improve teacher performance through teacher professional development by providing training and increasing job satisfaction through leadership.