INTRODUCTION

“It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.”

-Hans Selye

This module in the course Ed 14-Special Topics in Education 3 is design for college

students in the field of education in able for them to easily manage the stress along the

way. This contains facts and activities about stress management. This also includes ways

on how to manage stress.

Teachers are very good at thinking about the well-being of their students but they’re

not thinking about themselves. It is important for a teacher to take care of themselves

because they cannot take care of others if they’re in a bad condition. Taking time to

manage your stress is essential in order to teach effectively and to help students with

their stress around learning.

The stress teachers feel is often based on their individual perception of a situation and

this is why some people appear to suffer more than others. American psychologist Julian

Rotter describes this as 'locus of control' or the extent to which an individual feels that

they have control over a situation. Locus of control can be internal, in that we believe

we have control over our lives, or external, where we believe that the environment

controls events. Realistically most of us fall between these two dimensions but we may

favor a particular one. Unfortunately, our locus of control is very difficult to change

because it probably developed through a combination of genetics and early

socialization.

Remember that what we really need to understand in that successfully tackling stress

isn't just about individuals, it's about the whole school; and this requires a serious

combined initiative, not just another box to tick. Stress is a normal part of every

teacher's life. But left unmanaged, it can undermine effective teaching and learning.

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 Module Objectives

After completing this module, student should be able to:

 Know what stress is

 Describe largest source of stress

 Write the things they do in response to stress

 List down people who support during stress

 Evaluate own emotions

 Make a balance in different life areas

 Avoid negligence of basic needs while facing stress

 Value the importance of stress management

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 Big Ideas
Whether in the caring profession, a student, parent, business leader, pastor, or
teacher, you’ll live with stress at some point — most commonly, when your
commitments become overwhelming and too much is on your mind. But there’s good
news — stress can be managed.

Stress is an emotional and physical response to demanding situations, including

symptoms that may include worry, a feeling of being overwhelmed, increased heart
rate, headaches, sleep difficulties, procrastination, and more.

Despite some of life’s demands being difficult to handle, the use of effective
stress management techniques, make it possible for you to maintain good health,
overall well-being, and remain productive.

What are the causes of stress?

In school, stress is caused by load of works, problem with the student, parents
and co-teachers but typically, stress occurs when you’re faced with difficult life events
such as redundancy. And more often than that, it’s associated with feelings of having
little or no control over your circumstances. Though not a diagnosed medical condition,
if you experience too much stress, it can lead to more severe health problems, such
as depression.

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 Activities

Describe your largest source of stress in details

The first step in handling stress is to identify its key sources.

These may be behavioral (you're not getting enough sleep), situational 12
(lack of feedback from your supervisor), or mental/emotional (low self-
esteem).
List other stressors you’re experiencing

Write the things you do in response to stress

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 The negative effects of stress can be reduced with the use of
social support, emotional management skills, maintaining a healthy life
balance, and attending to basic needs.

List three people who you can turn to for support

Name How can they help?

How can you use social support to ease one of your stressors?

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 Stress can trigger many emotions such as anxiety, self-
doubt, and anger. When these feelings are ignored, they can
exacerbate the original stressor. Remember, emotional
management isn’t about eliminating emotions—it’s about dealing
with them in a healthy way.

When faced with unpleasant emotions, do you have any habits or

tendencies that worsen the situation?

What are the things you do in order to handle your emotions?

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 Stress can be especially destructive if your life is
heavily focused on one area. For example, a person who is
only focused on a relationship will struggle if their
relationship becomes rocky.

Arrange each of the following life areas. “Rank 7” means that you devote
little attention to this part of your life, while a “Rank 1” means that you
devote a high amount of attention to this area.

SPIRITUAL FAMILY INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP

EDUCATION SOCIALIZING

CAREER FUN/RECREATION

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Based upon your rankings, are there any areas you wish to devote more
attention? Why?

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 During periods of high stress, many people take
shortcuts when it comes to their basic needs. Examples
include sleep, a healthy diet, exercise, and other forms of
self-care. When basic needs are neglected, health and
mental well-being deteriorate, which contributes to
additional stress.

Cross out any basic needs that you tend to neglect during period of high
stress.

Personal
Exercise Sleep
Medications
Hygiene

Healthy
Sleep
Diet

Social/Love
Social/Love
Needs
Needs

Describe the steps you can take to protect your basic needs during
periods of high stress.

Teachers’ feelings are important

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 Take a moment and think about all the feelings you had yesterday, from
the time you got up in the morning, to the time you went to bed. What do you
notice? Probably a roller-coaster of powerful, overwhelming feelings which can
change dramatically in a second. You can be in the depths of despair one
minute and then elated the next. Why is this? You were probably dealing with
students all day who were experiencing wildly fluctuating emotions and trying
to help everyone. Teaching is about managing relationships in an intense,
public arena all day. Some emotions will be overwhelming and difficult to
manage. They will not be helpful for teaching and learning.

What are the triggers for the unhelpful feelings?

What were the triggers for those feelings which impeded teaching and
learning? Some of the common causes are:

1. We try to be perfect. Teachers tell their students that mistakes are good,

we learn from them. And yet, I meet many teachers who strive for
perfection in their own work and their own life. They get frustrated when
a lesson plan does not work perfectly, when pupils do not understand
enough. It is good for us to have high standards, but we must remember
that the pursuit of perfection is dangerous. It does not model what we
know about learning, that learning takes place when we make mistakes.
2. We always want to try harder. Teachers are often very hard workers,
always trying to do things better. If our students do not understand, we
spend longer planning our lessons. If we cannot finish our to-do list, we
stay up longer to get through it. Sometimes we spend a lot of time trying
harder in the wrong direction. We find things which blatantly do not
work, such as staying up late into the night to plan a lesson, which we
are then too tired to teach properly, and then we do more of what does
not work.
3. We always want to stay strong. Teachers hate to let people down, which
often means we go into work when we are sick, we don’t admit we are
struggling with a class, we push our personal and family problems to the
back of our mind. Again, this can be useful, we need to be reliable.
However, when we insist on always being strong, we ignore our needs
and the pressures build up inside us. That is why so many teachers get
sick in the holidays. We need to know when to stop.

So, how about if

 Instead of trying to be perfect, we acknowledge that mistakes can be

good.
 Instead of trying harder, we try something different.
 Instead of trying to be strong, we decide to be human.

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Developing our strategies to manage the stress

When we are stressed and tired out, we are not thinking or teaching at our best.
We need practical strategies for acknowledging and managing our own well-
being.

Some practical strategies

 Focus on what is in your control

We like to be in control of our day, we spend a lot of time planning to ensure

that our classes go smoothly. However, we cannot control everything as
schools are full of people and unexpected events. We often get stressed about
the things which are outside our control.

 Be your own best friend

Positive self talk is vital. Decide to talk to yourself as you would talk to your
best friend.

 Write down 6 highlights of the day

Decide to train yourself to see the positives. At the end of each day, write down
6 highlights of the day. A highlight can be quite a small thing. Get into the
habit of noticing what is working and do more of that.

 Offload in a safe way

Supportive friends and colleagues are very important. Sometimes we just need
to talk to someone. Be careful that you choose someone who is a good listener
and make it clear what you need from this person.

 Notice energizers and drainers

We need to more spend time with the people and on the tasks which energize
us and less time with the people and tasks which drain our energy.

 Learn to say no

Teachers are often very bad at saying ‘no’ to jobs and tasks. It is of course very
important to be co-operative and helpful, but if you are always overloaded,
think about how this is contributing to your stress. If you are taking on too
much, learn to say ‘no’ – politely of course!

And finally….
We all remember an inspiring, positive teacher and we all remember those
teachers who were stressed and not enjoying their teaching. Keep yourself
motivated if you want to keep your pupils motivated!

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References:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teacher-stress-well-being-stress-management-
taking-care-yourself-so-you-can-take-care-your

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/health/teachres/stress.shtml

https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/jul/08/psychology-stress-
school-teaching-impact

http://nicholasferguson.org/3-effective-stress-management-techniques/

https://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/stress-management-relieving-stress

https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-worksheet/stress-management/stress/none

https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-worksheet/stress-management-tips/stress/none

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