DEDICATION
2.4 Literature on Teachers’ work
2.4.4 Teacher Stress and Burnout
Generally, throughout the literature that was reviewed in this study, stress is associated with negative feelings and emotions. Kyriacou (2001) maintains that teacher stress results from a concoction of indicators such as “anger, anxiety, tension, frustration or depression”
(p. 28), usually triggered by some aspect/s of teachers’ work. At the same time, Wilson (2002) cautions that many studies seemingly conflate stress with its symptoms or effects and how they could be measured. She highlights three different models that can be used to understand what stress is all about. Whereas the ‘engineering model’ perceives teachers as passive subjects on whom excessive demands (which are beyond their limit) are imposed, the medical model focuses on the psychological and physiological indications, which, unfortunately are not peculiar to stress (Wilson, 2002, p. 5). Additionally, the interactive model is seen by Wilson to be situational and interactive, and therefore, portraying teachers as playing an important and active. What Wilson (2002) seems to be suggesting about the interactive model is that teachers may produce different stress indicators even though they are exposed to similar stress predictors. Consequently, burnout is considered to be more severe than stress, and in most cases, may require interventions that are therapeutic in nature (Chan, 2010), or may become chronic and result in complete hostility towards work (Fisher, 2011; Whitehead, 2001).
Various studies (Ferguson, Frost & Hall, 2012; Fisher, 2011; Froese-Germain, 2014;
Kyriacou & Chien, 2004; Reese, 2003) indicate that stress predictors often include, but are not limited to, workload issues (class size, work-home balance), time pressures, student misbehaviour (disruptive students), poor working conditions [lack of resources, lack of support (principal, parents, learners)]. The reaction of teachers to these stress predictors often results in stress indicators like anxiety, fatigue, depletion of energy, exhaustion, edginess, inadequacy, being overwhelmed, depression, tension, helplessness and frustration.
A study by Kyriacou and Chien (2004) provides insight on teacher stress and how teachers in Taiwanese primary schools cope with stress. A questionnaire method was used to collect data, and a total of 203 questionnaires were analysed. They found that in Taiwan, as elsewhere in the western countries, teacher stress was a problem even in primary schools. Teachers in Kyriacou and Chien’s study highlighted heavy workload and attempts to cope with educational reforms as the major predictors of stress. Their study revealed that teacher stress is also prevalent in the primary school context and not only in the secondary schools which are widely researched.
Froese-Germain’s (2014) report on work-life balance among Canadian teachers suggests that teachers in the Northern parts of Canada identified ‘time’ (or lack of it) as the major stressor in their work. This lack of time impacted negatively on the teachers’ home life as teachers struggled to find sufficient time for “marking and grading student work”
(Froese-Germain, 2014, p. 6) or even to prepare for the lessons. The report also highlights the lack of resources (material and human) to support teaching and learning as one of the stressors for teachers.
Findings from Zembylas and Papanastasiou’s (2006) study reveal that sources of job dissatisfaction have a high potential to contribute to teacher stress. They conducted research on teachers and administrators in Cyprus and found that teachers’ work was affected by various social problems, deterioration in teachers’ status and respect (from parents and students), student failure and bad behaviour, all of which create negative feelings, which in turn may lead to teacher stress. However, Zembylas and Papanastasiou’s study also revealed sources of satisfaction which promote positive feelings on teachers. When teachers work collaboratively with their colleagues, or when they feel that they are making a good contribution to the society, they tend to be satisfied with their work. An interesting finding in their study is that teachers mentioned ‘salaries’
as one of the sources of satisfaction which, is contrary to views of most teachers in many countries.
A study by Okeke and Dlamini (2013) used a questionnaire to examine whether secondary school teachers from Swaziland experience work-related stress. The findings from their study revealed two major aspects; the nature of employment and the nature of teachers’
work were as the main stressors for teachers. Okeke and Dlamini (2013) further observed
that qualifications, gender and work relationships had very nominal link to causing work stress.
A review by Reese (2003) provides a critique of studies conducted on teacher stress, particularly studies which use what she calls “one-time, self-report questionnaire” (p. 4), which she claims to be problematic as it assumes stress to be unchanging, and often gathers isolated information unrelated to any theory. Therefore, she advocates multiple methods of data collection as preferable to reliance on one method (survey/questionnaire).
A South African study by Milner and Khoza (2008) investigated the relationship between teacher stress and the school climate of schools with different matric success rates despite similar settings. Using quantitative methods of data collection, various indices (mean intensity test, stress questionnaire and ANOVA) were used to measure teacher stress and the school climate. Findings indicated that teachers from both the high-achieving schools and low-performing schools equally experienced heightened stress levels. However, they found out that the schools’ organisational climates vastly differed in all four schools that were studied which suggested a correlation between a positive school climate and high school performance (Milner & Khoza, 2008, p. 170).
Ferguson, Frost and Hall (2012) studied ‘predictors of anxiety, depression and job satisfaction’ in teachers in the context of Ontario (Canada). The rationale for their research was firstly, to identify stress factors that cause teacher anxiety and depression, and secondly, to identify factors that lead to teacher satisfaction (Ferguson, Frost & Hall, 2012, p. 29). Using data from ‘self-report questionnaires’ from 274 teachers, their analysis revealed that student behaviour and workload were major predictors of teacher depression whilst employment conditions, workload and student behaviour were predictors of anxiety. Furthermore, they found that stress and depression (burnout) impacted negatively on job satisfaction.
Another study by Fisher (2011) used surveys to find out the factors influencing stress, burnout and retention of secondary school teachers. The findings of Fisher’s study indicated that there is a mutual relationship between stress and burnout. The study further noted that the novice teachers usually have higher levels of burnout than experienced teachers. Fisher (2011) argues that the relationship between burnout and job satisfaction
is often reversed. The suggestion is that teachers who often suffer from burnout are those who are usually committed to responding to all students’ needs.