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.

Western Pacific Teachers’ Perceptions of Implementing Technology in the Classroom

At a Western Pacific Region school district with six public high schools, district administrators implemented an educational technology training program (ETTP) to improve technology integration in the classroom as measured by the Effective Learning Environments Observation Tool, but there was no follow-up to determine how the teachers perceived the ETTP and to identify the experiences of teachers related to instructional technology after taking the district training. This basic qualitative study, guided by the technology acceptance model, addressed this problem in the district by exploring how the teachers perceived the technology professional development program provided by the district and the teachers’ experiences related to instructional technology after taking the district training. The purposeful sample included 13 Western Pacific Region high school teachers who were interviewed via Zoom. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis to create codes, categories, and themes. The participants perceived the ETTP as helpful because they learned new tools and increased their confidence in using technology in their classrooms. Results showed that after completing the ETTP, teachers still needed content-specific technology training and continuous professional development. High school teachers expressed the need for these trainings to continue integrating technology using up-to-date technology tools. Rethinking science professional development is one potential form of social change.

Linking Emotional Intelligence to Mental Health in Chinese High School Teachers: The Mediating Role of Perceived Organizational Justice

Compare with other professions, teachers are reported to have a higher risk of poor mental health. This study examined the relationships between emotional intelligence, perceived organizational justice, and mental health among Chinese high school teachers. Three hundred and eighty-one high school teachers, with their age range between 21 and 50 years, were administered the Emotional Intelligence Scale, Perceived Organizational Justice Scale, and Mental Health Scale. The result found that emotional intelligence and perceived organizational justice directly influence the mental health of high school teachers. In addition, perceived organizational justice mediated the association between emotional intelligence and mental health. Moreover, the present study analyzes the different role of subtypes of perceived organizational justice on the relationships between emotional intelligence and mental health, and the results showed that the mediating effects of perceived distributive justice and interactive justice on emotional intelligence and mental health are not significant, only the perceived procedural justice mediated the relationships between emotional intelligence and teachers’ mental health. The results are discussed in a conceptual context.

Research overview on training progress for high school teachers

Pedagogy training is a fundamental programme that should be conducted regularly, especially in the context of reforming the general Vietnam education recently. The research objective aims to classify the development process of training activities for high school teachers. The research methodology is based on the historical and comparative approaches to present the maturing process of teaching apprentices for the high school workforce. The research result reveals that although the training activities for high school teachers have been in many countries’ consideration for a long time within the innovation of education and society, there is a shortage of in-depth studies for this topic as well as professional capacity building management in the Vietnamese teaching labour today.

Development of Authentic Assessment Instruments Oriented Reading Skills Based Language Literacy through the Scaffolding Model

This research aims to develop an authentic assessment instrument product based on language literacy with a scaffolding model that is oriented towards reading skills. This research method uses research and development methods. The research results show that the preliminary research phase describes the results of curriculum analysis and student analysis. At the product development stage and validation by experts, the percentage of authenticity instrument eligibility consisting of three indicators is 82%. It can be concluded that the instrument is suitable for use in learning activities. The practicality stage given to 20 students in one of the Manyak Payed Public High Schools, Aceh Tamiang District, consisted of four alternative answers, 25% were declared practical. Thus, high school teachers are advised to use the scaffolding model as a solution to improve reading comprehension and language literacy skills.

Utilization Of the Mendeley Application as Reference Manager For High School Teachers

This study aims to describe how the Mendeley application is used in writing scientific papers by teacher representatives and to see how the effectiveness of using the Mendeley application as a References Manager. The type of research used is descriptive with a qualitative approach. Data collection was carried out by observation and questionnaires. The instruments used to retrieve data were the observation sheet and questionnaire sheet. Data analysis was carried out by reducing the data from observations and questionnaires, then the data from the reduction results were then presented in the form of tables and descriptions, which were then concluded with the results. The results showed that the Mendeley application could be used easily by teachers in compiling articles and the effectiveness of the response to using the Mendeley application as a Reference Manager also received a high percentage of 83%. And the teacher's interest in using the Mendeley application is also high, namely 81%. This is because the teacher said that Mendeley was very easy to use and up to date.

Practices of Filipino Public High School Teachers on Digital Teaching and Learning Technologies during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Basis for Learning Action Cell Sessions

Purpose–With industry 4.0 revolutionizing the digitally renowned teaching and learning societies, this research study aims to uncover the practices of public high school teachers on digital teaching and learning technologies during the COVID-19pandemic. Method–This descriptive-correlational study surveyed 34 consented Filipino teacher-participants of a public high school system in the Buguey District, Northern Philippines. Validated responses extracted thru Google forms administered in 30 days were described using frequency counts and percentages. Perceived practices were correlated with teacher-participants' profiles, while qualitative key informant interviews disclosed best practices, challenges, and problems along with the use of digital technologies for teaching and learning.Results–Findings revealed rare practices on the use of digital technologies to teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic among teachers which are mostly on early to middle age brackets, dominantly female, completed their equivalent Masters' degree, holding teacher 2 or 3 ranks, and permanently teaching in 6 to 10 years now. Practices of teachers in the use of digital teaching and learning tools are somewhatevident, eager to practice and acknowledging the benefits of using the digital tools and radiating best practices in the workplace. Despite some technical issues that are beyond control, having internet at home necessitates the teacher's role to enhance teaching and learning while maximizing the potential of varied tools.Conclusion–With the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Education (DepEd)has indeed necessitated teachers to be innovative in class towards achieving its vision-mission statement by integrating into the curriculum and instruction the use of digital teaching and learning tools.Recommendations–It is recommended that DepEd must continually upscale its technological competencies with the implementation of the proposedlearning action cell sessions.Research Implications–The relevant research findings provided insights for school administrators for implementing training sessions for teachers to be technologically pandemic-responsive.Practical Implications–The results of the study provided inputs for teachers to be adaptive to utilizing digital tools for teaching not only in time of a pandemic.