school management high workload stress . Then we had the behaviour-oriented school profile . This was composed mostly of teacher profiles with high student behaviour stress . The third was what we called the higher pressure school profile . This was composed mostly of teacher profiles with above-average high levels of all three sources of stress .
Not surprisingly , the higher pressure school profile had teachers who displayed the highest levels of work strain and the lowest work commitment .
What was really interesting was this differentiation between workload stress and student behaviour stress in two of those profiles at the teacher level , and two of those profiles at the school level .
At some schools , the stress experiences of individuals seem to mirror those of the teaching staff more broadly . So some teachers and some schools were higher in student behaviour stress and others were higher in workload stress . And , of course , there were some of those other profiles where they had similar levels across all three types of stress .
What these results tell us is that sources of stress at work are not necessarily specific to the individual but reflect a broader school climate as well .
So teachers ’ stress isn ’ t just an individual issue , it ’ s also related to the school more broadly . That means managing stress is not just the responsibility of individual teachers . Schools also have a really important role to play in developing a workplace that helps to minimise their teachers ’ stress .
How does student behaviour impact the teachers ? Student behaviour stress means that it can be very difficult for teachers to meet the learning goals that they have for a lesson . In some situations , it can also mean that teachers are concerned for their own or even their students ’ safety .
Challenging student behaviour has been linked in prior research with greater burnout among teachers and greater intentions to quit the profession . As our study showed , teachers experiencing greater student behaviour stress typically reported greater work strain and lower work commitment .
Would you say that stress is worsening the teacher shortage crisis ? The minute we have a shortage of teachers , there ’ s fewer people to get the work done . So when we think about helping teachers to have lower levels of stress , it ’ s important that we do reduce these stressors that they experience .
I think it ’ s also important that we not only reduce stressful experiences : we must also build on the factors that make teaching a great profession . This will help the teaching profession to retain good teachers , but also to attract new teachers , which is what the struggle is about at the moment .
It ’ s also important to boost wellbeing among teachers . To do this , my broader research highlights several factors . These includes things like providing teachers with input and decisions that are made in the school , offering teachers opportunities to receive constructive and targeted feedback that really helps them to develop their teaching skills , providing clear directions and guidance about roles and positions so teachers do understand what ’ s expected of them , and offering teachers choices and options over how they undertake their work .
These are all job supports that schools can implement to help teachers thrive at work and also to offer more engaging and supportive learning environments to students .
What are the long-term risks for teachers if they cannot reduce their stress level ? In our study we saw that there were these teacher profiles higher in the three types of stress and that they were linked with greater work strain and lower work commitment .
Although this study can ’ t speak to the longer term , in other research we could expect that staying in a profile with higher stress over a longer term may extend to outcomes like burnout and attrition .
How can schools help their teachers to manage their stress ? To reduce workload stress , research suggests that supportive mentors can be really helpful . Professional learning communities that share the loads of lesson preparation and marking moderation can also be helpful , and at a system level , decreasing teachers ’ face-to-face teaching time and administrative tasks have also been suggested as ways to help reduce teachers ’ workload .
For student behaviour stress , providing professional learning opportunities for teachers to develop the skills that they want to build their expertise in can be very helpful . And also developing a supportive school climate is also critical so that teachers have resources to turn to in the face of challenging behaviour .
For expectation stress , school leaders can seek out teachers ’ perspectives and convey their trust in teachers as professionals . This is really important . It ’ s also really important that positive school-home partnerships are developed because these can help ensure that teachers , school leaders , students , and parents are on the same page about student learning and achievement .
How can teachers reduce their own stress ? One that I ’ ve examined in my research is interpersonal relationships . Building strong relationships with colleagues and students is really so important for teacher wellbeing .
As humans , we ’ re relational creatures and when our place of work involves these positive interpersonal interactions , this is very beneficial for our wellbeing .
To build relationships with students , a positive classroom climate is an important place to start . When students feel supported and are more engaged in their learning , they ’ re less likely to be disruptive .
It ’ s important that students feel cared for in order to build this classroom climate , that they have opportunities to succeed in their learning , and that they ’ re given some choice and control over the tasks they engage in .
The school plays a really important role in building relationships among staff . For example , simple things like providing common planning time or establishing supportive professional learning communities , and even making efforts to cultivate a really supportive staff room .
Teachers can also make their own efforts by seeking out supportive colleagues and building formal or even informal mentoring relationships .
If we want to create learning environments that are supportive for students , we have to make sure that our teachers are thriving as well because a happy and healthy teacher is just naturally going to do a better job in the classroom . ■ educationreview . com . au | 21