A study of occupational stress of secondary school teachers


Estudio Científico, 2013

58 Páginas, Calificación: 7.8


Extracto


CONTENTS

CHAPTER-I INTRODUCTION
1.1 STRESS
1.2 DEFINITINS OF STRESS:-
1.3 MEANING OF OCCUPATION
1.4 Important facts concerning occupations-
1.5 OCCUPATIONAL STRESS
1.6 DEFINITIONS OF OCCUPATIONAL STRESS
1.7 SOURCES OF OCCUPATIONAL STRESS
1.8 CAUSES OF OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AMONG TEACHERS:
1.9 PROGRAMMES TO REDUCE OCCUPATIONAL STRESS
1.10 OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND TEACHER
1.11 NEED OF THE STUDY
1.12 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1.13 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.14 HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY
1.15 DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
1.16 ORGANIZATION OF THE CHAPTER OF THE STUDY

CHAPTER-II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 IMPORTANCE OF REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

CHAPTER-III METHOD AND PROCEDURE
3.1 DESIGN OF THE STUDY
3.2 MEANING OF SAMPLE
3.3 SAMPLE OF THE STUDY
3.4 TOOLS USED
3.5 DESCRIPTION OF TOOL EMPLOYED
3.5.1 Tool: Occupational Stress Index
3.6 PROCEDURE OF DATA COLLECTION
3.7 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
3.8 STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES USED

CHAPTER-IV ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
4.1 OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS
4.2 Occupational Stress and Secondary School Teachers in terms of Type of School.
4.3 Gender differences in Occupational Stress
4.4 Occupational Stress in relation to Age
4.5 Occupational Stress in relation to Teaching Experience

CHAPTER-V SUMMARY
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 OCCUPATIONAL STRESS
5.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
5.4 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
5.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
5.6 HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY
5.7 DESIGN OF THE STUDY
5.8 TOOL
5.9 STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES
5.10 DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
5.11 CONCLUSION
5.12 EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY:
5.13 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY:

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDICES

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE- 3.1 TEACHERS OF SCHOOLS OF PATIALA DISTRICT (N=100)

TABLE- 3.2 Distribution of Male School Teachers of Patiala District

TABLE- 3.3 Distribution of Female School Teachers of Patiala District

TABLE- 3.4 Scoring Key of Occupational Stress

Table 4.1 Means and S.D.'s of Occupational Stress and its dimensions (N=100)

Table 4.2 Test of significance of the difference between means of dimension wise as well as Total Occupational Stress Scores on the variable "Type of School"

Table 4.3 Test of the significance of the difference between means of dimensions wise as well as occupational Stress Scores on the variable 'Gender'

Table 4.4 Occupational Stress in relation to Age

Table 4.5 Occupational Stress in relation to Teaching Experience

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure: 4.1 Mean scores and S. D. of Occupational Stress of Secondary School Teachers (n=100)

Figure: 4.2 Mean scores and S. D. of Occupational Stress of Secondary School Teachers in terms of Type of School (n=100)

Figure: 4.3 Mean scores and S. D. of Occupational Stress of Secondary School Teachers in terms of Gender (n=100)

CHAPTER-I INTRODUCTION

Education is the process of instruction aimed to develop the knowledge skills, attitude or character of individuals for preparing them to live in a meaningful way. It is education that makes an individual rational. In fact, the training of human mind is not complete with it. The strength of a nation depends upon how well educated its citizens are. Teachers are arguably the most important group of professionals of a nation’s future. But, it has been observed over the years that the teachers are more prone to stress because dealing with students and caring for their better performance throughout the day is itself a stressful situation. School is considered a major source of stress in the lives of teachers. Teachers work daily with students; cope up with number of problems, student absenteeism and students with special needs, insufficient funding and lack of personal support. Moreover, teachers have to perform a lot of work after they reach home like preparation, correcting the note books, evaluation etc. All these indicate stress is always present among the teachers.

The success of any educational programme depends largely upon the effective way of the teacher works. The teacher forms the most important link in our educational system. They are called “Nation builders’’ as provide inspiration, direction and meaning to all the activities of the school. Hence, the place of teacher in our school system is of paramount importance. If the teacher is unable to do his part of work effectively, then the whole schooling would collapse. Due to advancements in schools, our educational system is undergoing a period of drastic change. Teachers have to play multiple roles i.e. an administrator, role models, friends, philosopher and counselor for the students which in turn increase stress in teachers. So, we can say that today’s teachers perceive lot of stress in their occupation.

Occupation is one of the important parts of our daily lives which cause a great deal of stress. Due to the competitive nature of the job environment, most of the people in the world are spending their time on job related work purposes resulting in ignoring the work and life. Usually people are more worried about the outcome of their work that can even affect the way they treat other people and how they communicate with their peers. In general, we can say that people with a higher percentage of occupation stress may not be satisfied with their job and therefore they will not feel happy working in the organization. So, we can say that it is very important for teacher to realize the stress that causes all the negative effects.

Today, we all are a part of globalizing era which is characterized by excellence, competitions, quality etc. along with stress, strain n human being and in a world that is changing at a tremendous pace, globalization had led to an increase in the growth of education institutions all over the world and the education scene in Zambia is no exception and especially with the current scenario of trying to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) of providing basic education for-all by 2015. To fulfill social, environmental, economical needs one has to face stress, strain and anxiety. One should accept that stress is reality of life. Thus, it should be considered as an important aspect of life without which life will become boring.

1.1 STRESS

The word stress is derived from the Latin word ‘Stringere’. It was popularly used in seventeenth century to mean hardship adversity or affliction. In eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it was used to dente force, pressure, strain or strong efforts with reference to an object or person. Stress is the ‘wear and tear’ our bodies experience as well as adjust to our continually changing environment; it has physical and emotional effects on us and can create positive and negative feelings. Stress is a system produced by emotional and social relations that are going on within an organization-economical, political, social, cultural or educational. It is an inexpiable part of life, a natural and inevitable factor of life. Complete freedom from stress for living individual is impossible. In relation to definitions of stress, it can be said that this is a type of acute or strong and fast change in outer environment due to which there is change in one’s tolerating power which takes the form of physical or mental disorder. It is the process that occurs in response to situations or events that disrupt or threaten one’s physical or psychological functioning.

1.2 DEFINITINS OF STRESS:-

Sarason, Johnson and Siegel (1978) define stress as a person’s assessment of what he or she finds is asked from the environment. In short, stress as the discomforting responses of person in particular situations.

Farmer, Monahan and Hekeler (1984) “Stress consists of any event in which environment demands, internal demands, or both, tax or exceed the adaptive resources of the individual, social system or tissue system.”

Lazarus (1984) “Stress is in harmonious fit between person and the environment, one in which the person’s resources are taxed or exceed, forcing the person to struggle, usually in complex way and to cope with.”

Ellis (1999) Stress is a feeling of tension that is both emotional and physical. It can occur in specific situations.

Robbins (2001) defines stress a dynamic condition in which the individual is confronted with an opportunity constraint or demand related to what he or she desires and for which the outcomes is perceived to be both uncertain and important.

1.3 MEANING OF OCCUPATION

The basic premise of an occupation is a type of work or job that may be found in number if different types of work or industries. Occupation focus on position that requires skill that may be used in numbers of different work settings, allowing the individual with that skill set to move with relative ease. From one industry to another as the need arises. In the world of work, new occupations take their birth and grow. A combination of similar jobs in several establishments is termed as an occupation. It travels in one or more establishments termed as an ‘occupation.’

According to Miller “Work is the general activity centering around subsistence. The specific routine of this activity is termed as occupation.”

1.4 IMPORTANT FACTS CONCERNING OCCUPATIONS-

Some facts which are important for occupations are given below

Importance- Strength of employment localized history, importance in social set up or widely distributed.

Nature of work- The type of work done. The type of labour put in i.e. intellectual or physical, numbers of persons employed, duties and place of employment.

Working condition- Working hours, work in standing position or sitting position, job permanent or temporary, duration of job etc.

Personal qualities- Some jobs like salesmanship need extrovert behavior while others like private secretary could be more introvert.

Qualifications- Schooling and training, sex, age, social and mental qualities, skills, tools etc. institution and duration with fee, and other expenditures and scholarships.

Promotion- Channel of promotion and its duration and scope, along with other avenues available after the experience in job.

Benefits- Earning, extra earning and medical and old age benefits, overtime, vocations etc. Advantages and Disadvantages- Important matters, chances of further higher studies, foreign trip, insurance etc.

1.5 OCCUPATIONAL STRESS

Teaching is considered as one of the most stressful occupation in these days because the modern world is full of stress. Stress is a feeling of tension which is both emotional and physical. It can occur in specific situations. Occupational stress occurs when workers perceive an imbalance between their capability and resources to meet these demands. It is that which derives from conditions in the workplace. Occupational stress, in particular, is the inability to cope with the pressures in a job. It is a mental and physical condition which affects an individual’s productivity, effectiveness, personal health and quality of work.

Occupational Stress leads to occupational health problems and a significant cause of economic loss. Teacher stress is a specific type of occupational stress. It is experience by a teacher of unpleasant emotions such as tension, frustration, anger and depression resulting from aspects of his/her work as a teacher. Occupational Stress may affect personal and low psychological well-being, as well as decreased job satisfaction. When occupational stress is considered, it is often accepted as an inescapable aspect of teaching. Some of the variables associated with occupational stress are: role ambiguity, loss of control, isolation, lack of administration support, emotional exhaustion and lack of accomplishment in the job. Nowadays teaching is regarded as a very stressful occupation. Increasing consciousness for education due to increasing competitions among students for achieving their goals added more pressure and stress on teachers.

1.6 DEFINITIONS OF OCCUPATIONAL STRESS

Rees (1997) stated, “Occupational stress, in particular, is the inability to cope with the pressures in a job.”

Comish and Swindle (1994) defined occupational stress as, “It is a mental and physical condition which affects an individual’s productivity, effectiveness, personal health and quality of work.”

Kyriacou (1987) stated occupational stress as, “It is the experience by a teacher of unpleasant emotions such as tension, frustration, anger and depression resulting from aspects of his/her work as a teacher.”

Beehr and Newman (1978) defined occupational stress as, “A condition arising from the interaction of people and their jobs and characterized by changes within people that force them to deviate from their normal functioning.”

Caplain, Cobb and French (1975) have defined occupational stress as “Any characteristics of job environment that pose a threat to individual.”

Thus, occupational stress is that which a teacher experienced while working. These stresses in turn affect teacher’s health physically and mentally.

1.7 SOURCES OF OCCUPATIONAL STRESS

Following are the areas of occupational stress

TASK DEMAND: - Task demand related stress directly related to the specific characteristics of the itself it involves role ambiguity, work overload, inadequate resource, support etc.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: - Physical demand of the workplace related to environment factors, temperament variation etc. Temperature can cause occupational stress among persons who are not familiar with the temperature of that place.

ROLE DEMANDS: Role demands are external to the tasks associate with a job-it develops as a result of flawed organizational structures, ineffective organizations etc.

INTERPERSONAL DEMANDS: Individual stress at work is concerned with the demands that are placed on us in developing working relationship with other people in our organization.

SYMPTOMS OF OCCUPATIONAL STRESS: Following are the symptoms of occupational stress among teachers-

FATIGUE: - A states where an individual gets tired easily. The individual has less energy in him to the extent that he cannot do much in terms of physical work.

IRRITABILITY: A burnout person gets irritated quite easily with the least provocation and acts wild some times.

ANXIETY: This is another symptom of stress. It is the vague fear. A stressful person feels that something is going to happen to him at anytime. This makes him to apply a lot of defense mechanisms.

HEADACHE: A teacher with stress experiences frequent headaches and this may lead to loss of appetite and sleep disturbance. This aggravates the already worsened conditions of the teacher.

LOSS OF CONFIDENCE: This also leads to loss of feelings of self-worth, loss of goals or optimism.

FEELING OF BOREDOM: A stressed teacher feels boredom and anger. This can result in tearfulness.

DIFFICULTY IN CONCENTRATION: A teacher finds difficulty in concentrating on his teaching in classroom.

1.8 CAUSES OF OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AMONG TEACHERS:

Teaching is regarded as a very stressful occupation. Increasing consciousness for education due to increasing competitions among students for achieving their goals added more pressure and stress on teachers. Following are the causes of occupational stress among teachers-

LOW SOCIAL STATUS: Though there is much lip-service in this profession, but in actual practice, the society does not grant even a reasonably respectful status to the teacher. The teacher does not get proper recognition from society. This produces the feeling of inferiority in teachers and causes stress among teachers.

LOW ECONOMIC STATUS: The salary of teachers is miserably low as compared to other professions. Moreover, the chances of promotion are extremely limited; for this reason, most of the teachers have no genuine interest in teaching. This causes feeling of frustration.

NO SECURITY OF SERVICE: A large majority of teachers work in private schools. In these schools, they have no security of service, and consequently, the teachers, never enjoy the feeling of self-confidence and get frustrated.

HEAVY WORK LOAD: In the schools, the teachers have to take thirty periods per week. They have also to take extra periods, when some members of the staff are on leave. The compulsory organization of a co-curricular activities added atmosphere of stress and strain.

WORKING UNDER AUTOCRATIC HEADMASTERS: Though, we prefer that there should be democratic system of administration in the schools, but in actual practice, the headmasters act as bosses, and their attitude towards the teachers is autocratic rather than democratic. This type of attitude is of great insult and injurious to the self-respect of teachers.

MONOTONY OF WORK: The teachers are required to teach the same topics year after year, which make their work boring and monotonous. There are no challenging situations and no variety in their work. The teacher keeps himself busy in preparing the students for examination. This causes stress among teachers.

THE PROBLEM OF INDISCIPLINE: In the schools, it is the responsibility of the teachers to maintain discipline; but the causes of indiscipline are numerous and most of these are beyond the control of teachers. Under these circumstances, the teachers feel helpless and frustrated.

SOCIAL FACTORS: Man is born in society. He has to shape his conduct in conformity with the customs and values of society. Sometimes teachers feel helpless to cope with social norms and feel stressed.

GASTROINTESTINAL: Loss of appetite, heartburn, miscellaneous i.e. anxiety, muscle pain, painful urination, etc. all these factors causes emotional disturbance and stress.

LACK OF PROFESSIONAL APTITUDE: Lack of professional aptitude and devotion to the profession causes stress among teachers.

OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS: Frequent criticism, restrictions, extra workload, high expectations of the members of society and leg pulling among teachers etc. create conflicts in the minds of teachers and leads towards stress.

AUTOCRATIC SUPERVISION: The supervision and inspection of the teachers work is autocratic. The higher authorities interfere unnecessarily in the work of teachers. They are generally in habit of finding faults only leads to occupational stress.

RECRUITMENT SYSTEM: In most of cases teachers are appointed on the basis of other considerations rather than teaching aptitude and teaching abilities. This situation creates conflict and jealousy among teachers which leads to frustration.

These are some of the important causes which are responsible for the occupational stress among teachers. These causes should be removed as far as possible.

1.9 PROGRAMMES TO REDUCE OCCUPATIONAL STRESS

It is very necessary to reduce teachers stress. So, certain measures must be undertaken to all eviate teachers’ stress and strain in order to enhance teachers’ role commitment. Following are the programmes to reduce occupational stress.

TRAINING OF TEACHERS: Teachers should be sent for training of refresher courses from time to time so that they may become acquainted with the latest teaching techniques this will save the teacher and make the attitude liberal and progressive.

KEEP ROUTINE TO MINIMUM: Unnecessary restrictions should not be imposed on teachers because they create tension in the mind of the teachers.

GRANTING FREEDOM OF WORK: The teacher should be allowed freedom far as their teaching and other duties are concerned. There should not be any undue inference in his method of work and teaching.

MEANS OF ENTERTAINMENT: In every school arrangement should be made for providing means of entertainment for teachers. This will help to reduce the tension in teacher’s mind.

HOBBIES: After finishing his teaching routine, each should spend his leisure time in some hobby. This will give him suitable opportunity for developing his power and capacities.

DEMOCRATIC ATMOSPHERE: The principal should take major decisions by holding discussions with the members of the staff. He should not impose his decisions on the staff in an authoritarian way. If there is misunderstanding between the principal and staff, it should be discussed and clarified by mutual discussion.

IMPARTIALITY: The principal should not do favour to any member on the bases of cast and creed. Selection of teachers should be done on the basis of the interest, attitudes, capacity, communication & high standards of academic pursuits.

HELPING NATURE: The principal can discuss school problem with staff in teacher’s club meeting. He should respect all teachers. He should not from cliques of teachers on the policy of ‘divide and rule’. The principal can support the teachers when they need his help. He should not create pet pets because other teachers will resent this attitude.

GIVE CRITICISM IN PRIVATE: The principal, if he has to correct any teachers regarding his method of teaching or behavior should call the teacher in private. No teacher should be criticized before the students and his colleagues.

BE FLEXIBLE: The principal should not be rigid and traditional in his thinking and way of dealing with teachers’ problems. He should change his strategy with the time. He should evaluate his own role as an administrator. He should set up an example for other to follow.

PLAN IN ADVANCE: Everything should be planned in the beginning of the academic year and should be communicated to teachers in advance for execution. He should work as a true leader of them. Team spirit should be encouraged.

[...]

Final del extracto de 58 páginas

Detalles

Título
A study of occupational stress of secondary school teachers
Universidad
Panjab University
Calificación
7.8
Autores
Año
2013
Páginas
58
No. de catálogo
V284351
ISBN (Ebook)
9783656840671
ISBN (Libro)
9783656840688
Tamaño de fichero
903 KB
Idioma
Inglés
Notas
The drops of words are few, but the ocean of feelings of gratitude is deeper in my heart for those who proved themselves to be lampposts in the way of accomplishment of my research project. Firstly, I express my heartiest devotion to ‘The Almighty God’ for his graceful blessings at every step without which nothing could have been accomplished. Next to the God come my parents who helped me a lot in every way.
Citar trabajo
Ruchi Sachdeva (Autor)Kulwinder Kaur (Autor), 2013, A study of occupational stress of secondary school teachers, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/284351

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