Education Advisors' Experiences of Stress and Coping in the Virtual Working Environment (original) (raw)
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Journal of Pedagogical Research
Mastering distance teaching imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic was challenging for many teachers. In the present cross-sectional survey, we assessed the level of stress that teachers experienced during the lockdown of schools in Germany, their strategies to cope with it, and external and internal barriers for distance teaching with an online questionnaire. Teachers were recruited for the study on the basis of nationwide professional networks (e.g. Eduserver-Education in Germany, The German Education Union (GEW)) as well as by advertising the study on homepages of associations for different special educational needs and in social networks (e.g. Facebook, Instagram). A total of 380 teachers from different school forms participated. They experienced medium to high levels of stress. More than 50 percent of them spent more than four hours daily on remote teaching, with secondary grammar school teachers experiencing significantly more stress and working more hours daily than special education teachers. The vast majority of them experienced technical barriers, but most of them felt able to cope functionally with the stress. Female teachers experienced significantly more stress, but coped with it more often in a functional way; teachers used more functional coping strategies when they expected external factors as barriers for distance teaching. The results imply that teachers' digital skills should be developed, schools should be better equipped with the necessary computer hard-and software, and more research on psychological factors contributing to teachers' willingness to use technologies for remote teaching in the pandemic and beyond should be done.
Educational Studies
The present study aimed to investigate the predictors of work stress in elementary and upper-secondary school teachers and school counsellors in the initial period of online education in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 964 school professionals (90.7% teachers; 9.3% school counsellors) participated in the study. The results indicated that school professionals who reported higher ICT self-efficacy, had more positive attitudes towards distance education and perceived higher level of supervisor support experienced less stress. In addition, the participants that reported taking care of their own preschool or younger school children during the schools' closure reported higher levels of stress.
Journal of Management & Organization, 2021
The coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic changed regular life and work around the world. Educational institutions moved to a virtual environment, in many cases without any experience and preparation. This paper explores the impact of institutional support on educators' subjective well-being during the pandemic lockdown. A quantitative study was conducted in Lithuania with 1,851 educators in April 2020. Institutional support was found to have a positive impact on work–life balance and well-being, as well as reducing work-related, client-related and personal burnout. This study begins a dialog on institutional support and its impact on employee well-being in unexpected work and life conditions.
The psychosocial work environment among educators during the COVID-19 pandemic
Occupational Medicine, 2022
BackgroundThe education sector has been heavily impacted by COVID-19. While the impact on school-aged children has received much attention, less attention has focused on the experiences of educators.AimsTo compare various dimensions of the psychosocial work environment and health outcomes between educators engaged in online learning to those engaged in in-person learning in the Canadian province of Ontario.MethodsResponses from 5438 educators engaged in either online or in-person learning were collected between 23 November and 21 December 2020; three months after the start of the 2020/21 academic year in September 2020. Psychosocial outcomes included quantitative demands, work pace, predictability, role conflicts, and social support from supervisors and co-workers; assessed using an abbreviated version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire. Secondary outcomes included burnout and sleep troubles. Ordinary Least-Squares regression models examined adjusted mean differences in the levels of outcomes for respondents in in-person versus online learning, after adjustment for a variety of covariates.ResultsCompared to respondents engaged in in-person learning, respondents engaged in online learning reported less predictability, higher role conflicts and less support from supervisors and co-workers. Statistically significant differences in work pace, burnout and sleep troubles were also observed across learning modes, although these differences did not exceed previously suggested thresholds for minimum important differences.ConclusionsImportant differences in the psychosocial work environment were observed between respondents engaged in in-person learning versus online learning. Addressing these differences is required, given the potential continued importance of online learning within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
Teachers' coping strategies in mitigating remote learning-related distress during Covid-19 pandemic
Indonesian Journal of Social Sciences, 2024
The sudden shift to remote learning during the Covid-19 pandemic has brought much distress to teachers. Since the teachers are considered as the major force that facilitates the learning process, their well-being should be given importance. The study used a survey research design to determine the level of distress among private school teachers in San Pablo City, Philippines, using the Covid-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (CPDI). It also analyzed the sources of distress and examined the different coping strategies the teachers are using to mitigate the distress related to remote learning. Results show that the majority of the respondents are experiencing distress, with most having mild-moderate distress, followed by severe distress. Preparation of learning materials, internet connectivity problems, limited teacher-student interaction, assessment of student's learning, tracking student's progress, inconducive working environment, and inadequate technical skills were identified as sources of distress. Most respondents prefer coping strategies that would promote their overall wellness and those activities that avoid the source of distress. These findings have implications for school owners and administrators, policymakers, and curriculum developers in addressing the needs of teachers by providing programs that would help them cope with the distress related to remote learning.
Teachers’ Experiences on Stress during COVID-19: A South African Case Study
E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
COVID-19 posed an obstacle to many teachers as they tried to master online teaching. This study sought to investigate teachers stress experiences in primary schools in South Africa during COVID-19. The study adopted the interpretivism paradigm in which thematically analysed data was collected through interviews. Fifteen (15) participants were selected purposely from primary schools of Chris Hani East District in South Africa for the interview. In the study, teachers attributed their stress to the lack of protective resources, lack of proper plans for remote teaching, and lack of skills. Students were not co-operating with the teachers during online lessons. The study recommends that the necessary protective resources be provided by the Department of Education to protect teachers from being infected with Covid-19 and provide teaching assistants so that teachers can find it easier to teach with less burden. Schools must be equipped with digital technology and train teachers on how to ...
Education Sciences, 2024
Teaching is a mentally and physically demanding profession that can be a source of stress and burnout. The COVID-19 pandemic put further pressure on teachers who had to face sudden challenges, such as online teaching and difficulties in holding students’ attention in virtual environments. Research has demonstrated that the negative effects of stress factors on teachers’ wellbeing can be modulated by coping strategies. This work explores the main sources of stress that jeopardized Italian teachers’ wellbeing after the COVID-19 pandemic and the coping strategies that they adopted. Eighty-six teachers, belonging to five school institutes located in Northern Italy, took part in three semi-structured group interviews, where their perceptions about wellbeing at school and occupational stress experiences were explored. Furthermore, they completed a survey with questions about recent stressful life events and the coping strategies that they had adopted in the last month. A thematic analysis revealed stressors related to four themes: adverse work conditions, a lack of support (from both school administrators and families), precariousness, and a demanding school system. A total of 22% of teachers experienced stressful events in the last month (e.g., health problems and loss), and 30% reported that they had adopted coping strategies, especially emotion-focused ones. The findings may drive educational policies to enhance protective factors for teachers’ professional wellbeing at school by reinforcing their individual resources and coping strategies, which can help them deal with challenging situations.
Sustainability, 2022
Although the ability to deal with stress is one of the key competences of people working in managerial positions in schools and educational establishments, principals in this area are very poorly diagnosed. The aim of this study was to consider the coping strategies used by headmasters and deputy headmasters of schools and educational establishments during the COVID-19 pandemic. For this purpose, Mini-COPE was used. The respondents (N = 159) obtained a higher mean for “active coping”, “planning”, “positive reframing”, “acceptance”, “use of instrumental support”, “venting”, and “problem-focused strategies” than the normative value. Compared to deputy headmasters, headmasters obtained higher mean results for “planning” and “religion”, and lower results for “behavioral disengagement”. Respondents with longer job seniority in a managerial position, obtained a higher mean for “use of instrumental support” and lower for “religion”. Compared to respondents employed in private schools, peop...
Perceived teacher stress during COVID-19 pandemic
Journal of language and cultural education, 2023
The rapid change in education in March 2020, triggered by the pandemic, prompted an equally swift response from stakeholders, managers, teachers, and, not least, pupils. Struggling with physical, technological, and methodological problems, teachers also had to contend with the social isolation of their pupils, as well as the emotional, technical, and learning challenges faced by the pupils, all of which, of course, had an impact on their own mental and physical well-being. The aim of the study is to investigate the extent to which the ability to use online tools influences the stress teachers faced during a pandemic, similar to the effect of school and government management support on stress intensity. The sample for this study comprised 72 male and female participants between the ages of 24 and 54 years. Convenient sampling was employed to collect data. The questionnaire with binary, Likert scale, and open-ended questions was administered to the sample. Correlation tests and t-tests were used to analyze the data in this study. The research revealed a statistically significant medium negative correlation between the intensity of stress and the ability to use digital tools, as well as a similar correlation between stress and the perceived support from the government. The results indicate that teachers' ability to use online tools significantly improved during the pandemic. However, it also highlights the urgent need for changes in teacher training education to equip pre-service teachers with 21st-century skills.