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Stress

Ben-Ari, R., Krole, R., & Har-Even, D. (2003). 'Differential effects of simple frontal versus complex teaching strategy on teachers' stress, burnout and satisfaction.' International Journal of Stress Management, 10(2), 173-195.

In this article, Ben-Ari, Krole and Har-Even (2003) provide an accessible review of the literature concerning teacher stress. The authors define stress as follows.

Teacher stress may be defined as the experience by a teacher of unpleasant emotions, such as tension, frustration, anxiety, anger and depression, resulting from aspects of his [sic] work as a teacher. (Kyriacou, 1987, cited in Ben-Ari et al., 2003, p. 174)

Stressors for teachers include:

  • problems in interactions with students (eg disciplinary problems, students' misbehaviour, lack of motivation and overcrowded classrooms)
  • problems in the school environment (eg poor organisation, lack of technical and administrative support, staff conflicts, high workload and time pressure)
  • class heterogeneity
  • lack of social recognition
  • large class size
  • lack of resources
  • isolation
  • fear of violence
  • lack of classroom control
  • role ambiguity
  • limited professional opportunities
  • lack of support
  • pressure from management
  • negative interactions with administration, students and colleagues
  • overload
  • supervision tasks in schools
  • lack of fulfilment as a teacher.

Stress can lead to dissatisfaction with work and  burnout. Burnout is characterised as 'a syndrome consisting of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and reduced personal accomplishment (Ben-Ari et al., 2003, p. 174). Ben-Ari et al. (2003) cite the work of Golaszewski (1985), which classifies teacher stressors into 'in-class' and 'organisational' categories. In turn, both organisational and in-class strategies can be invoked to mitigate stress, including:

  • a peer support system
  • administrative assistance
  • training in behavioural and cognitive techniques for dealing with stress
  • identifying environmental factors such as leadership, role conflict, role overload, collegiality and the ability to manage student behaviour effectively
  • using alternative teaching strategies, such as replacing homogenous 'simple frontal' teaching with differentiated 'complex' teaching strategies.