Examining the stress factors perceived by teachers in school: a phenomenological study

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Counseling Department, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran, Email: Anvardastbaz@uok.ac.ir. Orcid: 0000-0002-7402-5820

2 Counseling Department, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/trj.2024.139530.1846

Abstract

The present study was conducted with the aim of identifying stressful factors perceived by teachers in first secondary schools. This research was a qualitative and descriptive phenomenological method. The studied society was formed by all the first secondary teachers of Kermanshah city in 1402-1403. The sampling of this research was non-random and purposeful. In order to achieve the goal of the research, a semi-structured interview was conducted with the teachers and the data continued until saturation, that is, 12 teachers. Data analysis was done by Claysey method. Reviewing and analyzing the data from the conversation with 12 teachers in the field of their stress and concerns in the school, led to the identification of 6 general themes of student misbehavior, the problems of the principal and assistants, the problems of the teacher, the number of students, teaching in the outskirts of the city. And the educational base. The obtained themes of the misbehavior theme include 5 sub-themes of fear of the consequences of punishment, strict classroom management, rumination, teaching disorder, confusion; The problems of the manager and deputies include 5 sub-themes of the coalition, weakness in authority-seeking, insufficient support and support, excessive skepticism and lack of coordination and agreement; For the problems of the teacher's lesson, three sub-themes are not paying attention to the desire of the learners, stricter control and the content of the book; The themes obtained for the number of students are two themes: not respecting the distance with the teacher and making more noise; Teaching in the outskirts of the city includes two themes: few facilities and many negative emotions; In the main theme of the academic foundation, 4 sub-themes of communication with virtual networks, anti-social values, larger body and moral problems were identified. The results of the data showed that students' misbehavior, then teaching in the outskirts of the city, and then the principal and assistants are the most stressful factors for teachers.

Introduction: Teachers are one of the most key components and the most effective people in education and its educational programs (Datnow. 2020). The research background in this field shows the high impact of teachers on the academic performance and behavior of students (Pishkadam, Derakhshan & Jhaleh. 2019). There is no absolute and accepted definition of excitement to date (Chen. 2020) and many researchers have defined it differently. For example, Schutz et al (2006) have defined emotions as "socially constructed, personal ways of being". Emotions in education are considered as one of the important factors of students' learning and progress. Emotion is an important aspect of teachers' understanding and teaching, and studies on teacher's emotions show that teaching is an emotional activity and emotions Teachers are related to the well-being and quality of their teaching. Teacher emotions are defined as dynamic interactions between personal, professional and social environments, Research has shown that teachers' emotions may be triggered by various stimuli, including professional goals, educational policies, student behaviors, school climate, colleagues, and socio-cultural factors.

research method: The aim of the present study was to investigate the stressful factors perceived by first secondary school teachers. The studied community was formed by all the first secondary teachers of Kermanshah city in 1402-1403. In this research, a non-random and purposeful sampling method was used. In qualitative research, the number of samples is not known in advance, so data collection should be carried out until theoretical saturation. In the current study, the data reached saturation with 11 teachers, but the researchers interviewed another teacher for more certainty, so the researchers completed the sampling work with 12 samples. The participants were all primary school teachers who were present in the classroom. The researchers first entered into negotiations with the education and training of the entire Kermanshah province and explained the necessity of their research to the relevant department so that they could cooperate if possible. The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview. The first question asked to the teachers was "what is stress from your point of view". They were asked to specify that the phenomenon of stress is familiar to you and have you been involved in this phenomenon? Therefore, interviews were conducted with people who had struggled with this phenomenon and had a special view of stress in school, thus the essence of phenomenology is visible in the present research. The researcher encouraged the participants to talk freely about the phenomenon of stress in school as much as possible and express their views on the phenomenon openly. If necessary, the researcher would explain a specific view of the phenomenon to the teachers, then the participants would present their experiences and phenomenological world in the field of stress in school.

Discussion and conclusion One of the stressful factors for teachers is misbehavior of students. In the present study, teachers reported that students' misbehavior disrupts their teaching and disrupts the class and lesson process. Teachers reported that they react when faced with these problematic student behaviors. They reported that the misbehavior of the teacher in the classroom gives them more stress. They reported that they used punishment against behaviors that made them angry. Teachers reported that students' procrastination gives them the least stress. The teachers reported that these high stresses on the part of the students caused physical problems (such as hand tremors and digestive diseases) and psychological problems (such as depression). Data analysis showed that teachers' stress and anxiety are influenced by the teacher-student relationship. Teachers who had good relationships with students reported less stress and anxiety in the classroom. These teachers saw the students as worthy and had a good view of them. They reported less negative emotions and more positive emotions (such as pride and enjoyment of teaching). These teachers' reports indicated easier classroom management and suitable classroom atmosphere, and they had higher self-confidence in teaching and classroom management. These teachers believed in the relationship and in order to improve their relationship, they emphasized student involvement in lesson interactions, responsibility, mutual respect, emotional atmosphere and controlled humor, etc. it was difficult.

Also, another finding of this research showed that teachers with less experience have more stress and naturally experience more stress and frustration when facing problems at school and student misbehavior.

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