Meha Dalvi

Roll no -18
PGPDM BATCH 21

Qualitative Research Report

Title: Understanding Stress factors among school teachers and whether it affects their
performance

1. Abstract:
Purpose of the Study- We can find stress among all working class industries and sectors.
Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional and psychological
strain. Stress is our body’s response to anything that requires attention. Everyone
experiences some amount of stress, may it be children or adults, young or old, male or female
or third gender. Stress is termed as one of the social issue which we need to address. We
should not underestimate this social phenomenon as it can lead to lot of damage.

Workplace stress can be termed as harmful physical and emotional response when one is
unable to match his or her capabilities. It can lead to other health issues as well. WHO
termed it as – “Work-related stress is the response people may have when presented with
work demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which
challenge their ability to cope.”
Even school teachers experience stress. There are various factors that influence this and
create stress among the teachers. Which in turn may hamper their performance and
effectiveness of teaching. This study aims to identify various variables that may cause stress
among teachers and how it affects or causes impact on their performance.

Research Questions-

a) How extra activities affect their teaching ?

b) What factors contribute to stress among teachers ?
c) How has the rising demands of students and parents impact teachers mindset ?
d) What is the impact of teachers stress on the students?
e) How important it is for the teachers to express themselves ?

Methodology-
The research design for the study is Case study and focused group discussion will be used.
This will help us in understanding their issues at a personal level and how they try to cope
with it. The said methodology will be used so as to get in-depth understanding of their work
structure, how they interact with their colleagues, students and others, and how they behave
in stressful situations, also to understand are there any external factors that contribute to
stress. This will also help in. their personal background and how their own social, economic
and cultural background influences them.

Type of Sampling-
 Simple Random Sampling, wherein 2 males teachers were interviewed and 2 female
teachers.

Key Findings- Following ae the key findings of the study.

 Work overload hampers teachers performance and mindset.
 Teachers are not happy with the unfavourable working conditions.
 Lack of appreciation.
 Personal issues also lead to poor performance.

2. Introduction:
Stress is unavoidable in todays world. All of us suffer from it, may it be young or adult or
rich or poor, or for that matter any profession too. Hence stress management has become very
important. The teacher profession is not left out from this. Even teachers suffer from stress
which at times hamper their psychological wellbeing or professional life too.
Job stress is concerning factor in today’s world hence understanding it is important
3. Literature Review: (from other studies/ researches)
Now a days stress is very common. We can find stress among all working class industries and
sectors. Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional and
psychological strain. Stress is our body’s response to anything that requires attention.
Everyone experiences some amount of stress, may it be children or adults, young or old, male
or female or third gender. Stress is termed as one of the social issue which we need to
address. We should not underestimate this social phenomenon as it can lead to lot of damage.

UNICEF defines stress as, “Stress is a common feeling we get when we feel under pressure,
overwhelmed or unable to cope. Small amounts of stress can be good for us and motivate us
to achieve goals like taking an exam or giving a speech. But too much of it, especially when
it feels out of control, can negatively impact our mood, physical and mental well-being and
relationships.

Workplace stress can be termed as harmful physical and emotional response when one is
unable to match his or her capabilities. It can lead to other health issues as well. WHO
termed it as – “Work-related stress is the response people may have when presented with
work demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which
challenge their ability to cope.”
Even school teachers experience stress. There are various factors that influence this and
create stress among the teachers. Which in turn may hamper their performance and
effectiveness of teaching. This study aims to identify various variables that may cause stress
among teachers and how it affects or causes impact on their performance.

Causes of Teachers Stress - Mark Greenberg, a researcher on teacher stress, suggests that
teachers feel pressure from three main sources: student behavioural problems, standardized
testing and unstable school leadership. And some of other causes are:

 Student-teacher ratio and class size: which is rising everywhere

 Low pay
 Continuous changes in curriculum and courses
 Pressure due to inspections
 Excessive working hours and workload
 Risk of violence from parents, pupils and intruders
 Lack of support from bureaucracy, form filling and routine tasks
 Bullying at workplace
 Lack of job security and fixed term contracts
 Changes in assessment and testing requirements
 Poor working conditions

Researches revealed that 72% of education professionals describe themselves as stressed.

Conflicts, anxiety, depressions, workload, excessive changes and personal life balance with
work all leads to distress teachers. Some of the practical techniques may lead a helping hand
to manage stress to some extent:

 Work out priorities

 Identify your stress situations
 Don’t react to imagined insults
 Think before you commit
 Move on: don’t dwell on past mistakes
 Don’t bottle up anger and frustrations
 Set aside time each day for recreation and exercise
 Take your time
 Don’t be an aggressive on the road
 Think positively
 Cut down on drinking, smoking, sedatives and stimulants

Sometimes work can be tough, but with proper management and support from environment it
can be coped. Similarly teachers do expect a lot of support and a proper managerial life to
handle the daily routine stress.

4. Methodology:
Research Setting- The study was conducted in one school located in suburbs of Mumbai.
The selection criteria included school wherein children from marginalised community come
for studying whose parents are daily wages earners and their income is below one lakh.
Written consents were obtained from the participants.

Research Questions- The research participants were asked demographic details such as age,
gender, marital status, educational qualification, occupational information, family
background. The research is a qualitative research hence questions were open ended. The
main question was to understand the job stressors, its impact and how they managed it.

Sampling - A case study was conducted through Snowball method. The interviews were
conducted in a semi structured manner. The teachers were asked whether they would like to
participate in the study. Those who were interested were interviewed. The data was
collected by asking questions to the participants.

Data Collection - the sample was collected randomly. There were two males teachers and
two female teachers from same school. Th age group of these four participants was between
32 to 45. With average experience of teaching in school was of 6 years. All four are from
Mumbai suburbs region (born and bought in Mumbai).

5. Findings:
The main aim of the study was to understand the various factors that affect the teachers
performance in the school. The teachers were from Mumbai region only. They had been in
the teaching field for around 6 years. (average years of all four teachers).
The results showed that all four teachers experienced some amount of stress at a professional
level due to various reasons. The most common reason being work overload (extra work
other than teaching) followed by personal issues (undisclosed by them) and scarcity of
proper resources to teach. Two teachers also mentioned unfavourable working conditions.
They were not happy with the teachers room set up.
A study by Goth and Roth (1993) stated that unmarried teachers had higher stress than
married teachers. But in case of these four teachers, they all were married and experienced
same category of stress which was work overload. The female teachers also mentioned that
they also had to take care of household chores like cooking, taking care of family at home,
making sure their kids study well and in the evening they have to cook food after finishing
their school duties. The female teachers mentioned that they do not have a separate teachers
room (all male and female staff share the same teachers room) which at times makes them
feel uncomfortable. The teachers not only have teaching duties but other responsibilities too.
They have to prepare their classroom teachings in advance, if there is any circular by
government for the school to participate they have to enrol and prepare their students for it.
Apart from this the subject that they teach at times they would have to teach other teachers
subject, help in the school administration matters such as admissions and handle any issues
related to students. According to Rusli, Edimansy and Naing (2006) , high job demand has
increased exposures and over time work has resulted in increased stress level. This result was
also confirmed by Shankar and Famuyiwa (1991) stating that high workload increases the
stress level.
The work overload factor affects the performance in many ways. Teachers may suffer
burnout due to work overload. This can hamper their mental wellbeing. Work overload also
leads to low quality work and bad performance. It leads to decreased energy and which may
lead to increased stress. It may also lead to frequent absenteeism and tardiness.
The findings have not shown any correlation between teachers subject that they taught to the
students and what standard they are teaching. Also, there was no correlation between where
they stayed and how they commuted to the school. It been said that when employees get
burned out from their work they stop enjoying their work which affects their performance.
Whereas when the teachers were asked what they do to relieve their stress, they use following
techniques such as reading, listening to music or sharing with their closes colleague. None of
the teachers mentioned that they are involved in outdoor games or activity. The teachers also
mentioned that the techniques that they use help to reduce stress but cannot completely
terminate it.

Case Description-
Case 1 Female teacher
Stressors found  Work overload
 Unfavourable working conditions
 Personal issues
 Lack of appreciation
 House hold issues
Case 2 Female teacher
Stressors found  Long hours
 Work overload
 Personal issues
 Household issues
 Unfavourable working conditions
Case 3 Male teacher
Stressors found  Long work hours
 Personal issues
 Work overload
Case 4 Male teacher
Stressors found  Long work hours
 Extra responsibilities
 Work overload
 Personal issues

6. Conclusion:
Conclusion- The results of the study suggests that both male and female teachers experience
stress due to work overload. There did not seem significant differences in stress levels due to
gender, age or experience from the field. Thus, it can be concluded that teachers experienced
stress due to work overload.
Teachers must deal with stress as part of their job. In workplace small amount ofstress is
beneficial. The factors that are mentioned above seem to impact and the teachers
performance. The school authorities should understand such factors and create a contingency
plan for teachers to relive their stress in more positive manner which will not hamper their
performance.
Teachers should be enrolled for self -care program or some rejuvenating activities. The
school should improve their resource management. this will not lead to work overload.
Capacity planning will teachers and school both to be
Scope for future research- The study provides insights into how various factors contribute
to stress among the teachers. Teachers not only teach students but they have various other
responsibilities. We should also remember that they are also human beings and should be
given a balanced amount of work. Various other activities such as opportunities for
professional development and growth will help the teachers to end the stagnation and
frustration and lead a mentally healthy life which will not impact their personal and
professional life.

7. Limitations:

There are certain limitations of the study.

Sample Size- This research is a one-time study and on the selected target audience. We can’t
generalise the results on other teachers across the district, state or country. The sample size is
only four.

Duration- The duration of the study was less then 30 days.

Language- Teachers were allowed to speak in the their local language or mother tongue
“Marathi” and then the discussion was translated in to English language. The translation may
have affected the results or findings.

Other factors- we need to consider that students level of understanding, their exposure,
teacher and students ratio in the class, teacher and student relationship, workplace
atmosphere, relationship with the colleagues and the subjects that teacher teach are important
factors which are not included in the study. This is a qualitative research for which the
sample was selected randomly, the study has covered only one school from one district.
Hence we can’t generalise the results on other parts of the country. The study is based on
primary data collected which is subjective on an individual’s opinion.

8. Ethical Issues:

Confidentiality and Privacy- The informed consent form will be taken from each
participant before starting the interviews. The details will not be shared or disclosed and will
be utilised only for educational study.
Conflict of interest- I assure that not a single participant is related to the researcher in any
capacity.
Impact of the Research – The main aim is to understand the factors that contribute to stress
and provide the ways to manage it.

9. References:
1. Agyapong B, Obuobi-Donkor G, Burback L, Wei Y. Stress, Burnout, Anxiety and
Depression among Teachers: A Scoping Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022
Aug 27;19(17):10706. Doi: 10.3390/ijerph191710706. PMID: 36078422; PMCID:
PMC9518388.
2. Dr. S.S.Jeyaraj. (2013). Occupational Stress among the Teachers of the Higher
Secondary Schools in Madurai District, Tamil Nadu, IOSR Journal of Business and
Management (IOSR- JBM) E-ISSN: 2278-487X. Volume 7, Issue 5 Jan. - Feb, PP 63-
76

3. Sapna, Dr. Ved Prakash Gabha. (2013). Occupational stress among the engineering
college teachers in Punjab, India, International Journal Of Education And Applied
Research, ISSN: 2348-0033 (Online) ISSN : 2249-4944 (Print), Vol. 3, Issue 1, Jan –
June

4. Gold, Y., & Roth, R. A. (1993). Teachers Management Stress and Preventing Burnout-
The Professional Health Solution. London: The Falmer Press.

5. Rusli, B. N., Edimansyah, B. A., & Naing, L. (2006). Prevalence and Associated Factors
of Stress in Dental Healthcare Workers of a Higher Instituion of Learning in Kelantan,
Archives of Orafacial Sciences, 1, 51-56.

6. Shankar, J., & Famuyiwa, O. O. (1991). Stress among Factory Workers in a Developing
Country. Journal of Psychomotor Research, 35 (2/3): 163-171.