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There has been increasing professional and public interest in issues related to occupational stress carried out during the last two decades. While a number of studies have been carried out in developed countries on such issues, few studies have been conducted in Saudi Arabia, particularly in the field of education. This study is therefore important because there has been virtually no research that has focused on teacher stress in the country and no study, to-date, has compared teachers' stress at the primary, intermediate, and secondary school stages. This study therefore aims to fill the research gap and to conduct an investigation into an issue that is currently raising serious concerns in the education field.

This thesis examines stress experienced by teachers whilst using ICT in the classroom. This study approaches this problem from the point of view of a model called the 'Teacher-Technology Environment Interaction Model' of classroom technostress. The study also argues that job complexity is an important concept in understanding environmental stressors. The thesis reports on an empirical investigation conducted in London, which set out to: record and analyse teachers' technostress, investigate the nature of technostress, and whether forms of job complexity impact on stress. Two different studies were carried out. In the first, a survey about the technology and stress in the classroom was used and responses obtained from 136 teachers. This data was analysed using descriptive and correlational statistics. In the second study, nine teachers participated in a classroom investigation, in which approximately 32 hours of teaching activities were observed. Three types of data were collected in the classroom investigation: observation and videoing of the teachers in the classroom; recordings of their Galvanic Skin Resistance (GSR) taken whilst teaching; and interviews after the session. A thematic analysis was carried out using categories partly derived from theory and partly from the data itself. Additionally, four case studies were constructed to provide more detailed descriptions of technostress. The main results of this study were to clearly demonstrate the existence of technostress in the classroom; to describe the relationship between age, attitude towards technology, and amount of use and technostress; to describe the chief causes, symptoms, and coping strategies; to relate the causes to forms of complexity; and to provide evidence for the usefulness of the `Teacher-Technology Environment interaction model of Classroom Technostress'. The thesis concludes by arguing for the value of an approach based on an examination of technostress to complement other approaches for looking at the implementation of technology in the classroom.

In our daily lives we all experience forms of stress and as humans, we are equipped with internal mechanisms to react to the phenomenon. We utilize tactics that are recognised as `fight or flight' depending upon how we perceive the threat and we employ them accordingly. However, when we are unable to meet the challenges placed upon us, when they form a barrier to our achievement and progress, we become overwhelmed and are susceptible to the detrimental effects of stress. The past two decades have witnessed rapid technological advances and we are thus connected to a global set of networks. Education has had to change in order to compete with a global market that requires new skills. Teaching and what teachers do have come under scrutiny in terms of audit to ensure that a `World-Class' education system is being delivered. As a result there has been an increase in teacher workload and the profession has become re-defined in order to meet contemporary needs. Recent research by government led bodies supports the need to address teacher workload as a major cause of stress. One result has seen the development of the Workload Agreement (2003) aimed at easing the ever-increasing demands placed upon teachers. Whether this measure will be enough to address the difficulties surrounding teaching in a post-modern society remains to be seen. This inquiry focuses on teachers who have experienced work place stress which is a widely recognised phenomenon and has its own particular features. In revealing key issues surrounding teachers and their workload this study aims to uncover the particular features of teacher stress with specific emphasis on role, role conflict, change, management issues, age and workload. Furthermore the study hopes to expose how teacher's lives are changed as a result of their encounter with stress. The harrowing nature of the participants' stress narratives compelled me to chronicle the stories and unveil the impact of their experiences upon all aspects of their lives. Employing methods associated with the case study approach, I conducted unstructured interviews with eight participants. Each person provided me with stories that are narratives of their stress experiences. The nature of this work is grounded in the qualitative paradigm and I have approached this from an interpretative stance. I believe my study confirms issues surrounding teacher workload and teacher stress merits inquiry.

Text in Afrikaans / This study ascertains the extent of the experience of stress and the nature of stress management by educators. The literature showed that stress is defined from various theoretical perspectives; various approaches to stress management exist; and educators manage stress in various ways. This study defines stress from a cognitive-transactional perspective. A qualitative research method was used, descriptive data were generated by focus groups and inductively analysed. The results show that educators experienced stress ( much as seen in the literature) due to organisational, management and personal factors. According to this research, educators experience stress on the physical, emotional, social and intellectual levels. Educators' efforts to deal with stress reflect direct techniques such as seeking personal support and using confrontational techniques, as well as indirect techniques which encompass intellectual and physical techniques. Finally the development of a stress management program for educators is recommended. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Stress, a feeling of pressure, tension, strain or threat, is a problem for contemporary female participants in the primary and secondary educational milieus who automatically respond to stressors (causes of stress), in the same way as women and girls in the past, since human beings have not changed psychologically and biologically over the millennia. Like their ancestors many female educators, learners and caregivers today do not return to a calm mental and physical state after an initial stress reaction. They often remain under stress, which results in emotional, behavioural, physical and cognitive manifestations of stress. Moreover, females may be predisposed to stress because of psychological, biological and social factors that have underpinned their response to time-related stressors that have faced them throughout history. Yet, history has also shown that women and girls taught and learnt successful stress coping mechanisms. Insight into these universal truths may provide educational solutions to a universal problem / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (History of Education)

Stress, a feeling of pressure, tension, strain or threat, is a problem for contemporary female participants in the primary and secondary educational milieus who automatically respond to stressors (causes of stress), in the same way as women and girls in the past, since human beings have not changed psychologically and biologically over the millennia. Like their ancestors many female educators, learners and caregivers today do not return to a calm mental and physical state after an initial stress reaction. They often remain under stress, which results in emotional, behavioural, physical and cognitive manifestations of stress. Moreover, females may be predisposed to stress because of psychological, biological and social factors that have underpinned their response to time-related stressors that have faced them throughout history. Yet, history has also shown that women and girls taught and learnt successful stress coping mechanisms. Insight into these universal truths may provide educational solutions to a universal problem / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (History of Education)

Text in Afrikaans / This study ascertains the extent of the experience of stress and the nature of stress management by educators. The literature showed that stress is defined from various theoretical perspectives; various approaches to stress management exist; and educators manage stress in various ways. This study defines stress from a cognitive-transactional perspective. A qualitative research method was used, descriptive data were generated by focus groups and inductively analysed. The results show that educators experienced stress ( much as seen in the literature) due to organisational, management and personal factors. According to this research, educators experience stress on the physical, emotional, social and intellectual levels. Educators' efforts to deal with stress reflect direct techniques such as seeking personal support and using confrontational techniques, as well as indirect techniques which encompass intellectual and physical techniques. Finally the development of a stress management program for educators is recommended. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)