A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor Of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Zululand, 2018 / Teaching is regarded by many as one of the most stressful occupations, as evidenced by reports of academic results consistently poor in rural schools and teachers leaving the profession each day. Stress in general has always been a concern in many schools. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of teacher stress on learner academic performance in rural secondary schools. This study used both quantitative and qualitative research approaches in which questionnaires and interviews were used for data collection processes. Simple random sampling and purposive sampling procedures were used to select participants from rural secondary schools in Vhembe District with a matric pass rate of less than sixty percent over a period of five years. Quantitative data was analyzed using IBM Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 24 (IBM SPSS statistics), and Atlas.ti Version 6 programme for qualitative data. Results showed that teachers in secondary schools in the rural areas experience high levels of stress which has adverse effects on learner academic performance. These results guided me in developing the Three Pillars Teacher Stress Coping Model to assist teachers in rural areas to alleviate the stress they experience as they promote teaching and learning. The study contributed to the literature on the effect of the experience of stress by teachers on learner academic performance in rural secondary schools. / National Research Foundation Of South Africa (Grant Number CPT160513164973 and 105246

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-03-07T12:24:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 leonardopetrus.pdf: 1293998 bytes, checksum: 0a5d701ffb3ce20bec58db78a8d505af (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-04-24T01:57:55Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 leonardopetrus.pdf: 1293998 bytes, checksum: 0a5d701ffb3ce20bec58db78a8d505af (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-24T01:57:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 leonardopetrus.pdf: 1293998 bytes, checksum: 0a5d701ffb3ce20bec58db78a8d505af (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-11-27 / A pesquisa apresentada objetiva avaliar os impactos dos investimentos em infraestrutura escolar nas unidades escolares pertencentes à rede pública de ensino do Estado de Minas Gerais – SEE no desempenho das escolas aferido pelo Índice de Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica – IDEB. Para desenvolver as análises, foram utilizadas quatro extensas bases de dados: 1) investimentos em infraestrutura escolar realizados pela Secretaria de Estado de Educação no período de 2002-2011; 2) Série histórica do Índice de Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica, do período de 2005 a 2011 – INEP/MEC; 3) Situação do diagnóstico de infraestrutura escolar das escolas, período de 2008 a 2011; 4) Censo Escolar de 2011 – INEP/MEC. A partir da caracterização da rede de ensino em estudo e delineação das premissas inerentes ao financiamento da educação pública brasileira e de criação e funcionamento do IDEB, foram realizadas análises utilizando-se os dados analíticos das escolas de anos iniciais e de anos finais do ensino fundamental. Por meio dos tratamentos estatísticos realizados, foram demonstrados os vínculos existentes entre os desempenhos alcançados pelas escolas com o nível de investimentos e condições de infraestrutura escolar, cotejados sempre com o número de alunos atendidos em cada etapa de ensino oferecida. Importantes conclusões são apontadas, em especial quanto à maior probabilidade de escolas que contam com investimentos e infraestrutura escolar adequada configurarem entre as unidades de ensino que alcançam os maiores patamares do IDEB. Da mesma forma, escolas que contam com estruturas não tão favoráveis, têm menores probabilidades de alcançar patamares mais nobres nas escalas do IDEB. Uma proposta inovadora apresentada é a construção de um indicador de efetividade dos investimentos realizados, denominado Índice de Qualidade dos Investimentos em Infraestrutura Escolar – IQIIE, que pretende mensurar em que medida a alocação de recursos diretamente para melhorar as condições existentes nas escolas impacta positivamente na variação do IDEB para o período selecionado. Embora tratar-se de iniciativa desafiadora e merecedora de aperfeiçoamentos, a construção proposta indica novos caminhos para se olhar o desempenho das escolas face aos investimentos em infraestrutura escolar, abrindo novas possibilidades de pesquisa a partir dos impactos mensuráveis na evolução dos indicadores de desempenhos das escolas. Por fim, diante dos achados da pesquisa, é apresentado um Plano de Ação Educacional à Secretaria de Estado de Educação – SEE para sistematizar as decisões de alocação de recursos em infraestrutura escolar, pautado em variáveis concretas que possibilitaram a construção de uma Matriz de Planejamento dos Investimentos em Infraestrutura Escolar, que classifica, de acordo com critérios objetivos e parametrizados, as necessidades existentes de investimentos em uma rede de ensino. Espera-se que a implementação da metodologia constante no Plano de Ação Educacional apresentado gere benefícios reais ao sistema educacional do Estado de Minas Gerais. / This research aims to evaluate the impact of investment in infrastructure of Minas Gerais Educational State System’s schools in the performance of the schools as measured by the Basic Education Development Index – IDEB. In order to develop the analysis, the research used four extensive databases: 1) investment in school infrastructure made by the State Department of Education during the period of 2002-2002; 2) Historical Series of the Basic Education Development Index, between 2005 and 2011 - INEP / MEC; 3) Status of the school infrastructure diagnostic for the period of 2008-2011; 4) annual School Census 2011 - INEP / MEC. Starting from the characterization of the public schools object of study and delineation of the premises of the financing of the Brazilian Public Education and from the creation and operation of IDEB, analyzes were performed using the analytical data of schools of the early and final years of primary education. Through statistical procedures conducted, it was possible to shown the link between the performances achieved in IDEB and the level of investment and infrastructure conditions of the schools, always collated with the number of students served at each stage of education offered. Important conclusions are pointed out, especially as to the higher probability of schools with adequate school infrastructure and investment being more likely to set among the educational units that achieve the highest levels of IDEB. Likewise, schools with less favorable structures are unlikely to reach the noblest levels of IDEB. An innovative proposal presented is to elaborate an indicator of effectiveness of the investment, known as School Infrastructure Quality Investment Index - IQIIE, that aims to measure to what extent the direct allocation of resources to improve the infrastructure conditions of schools positively impact the variation IDEB for the selected period. Although being a challenging initiative and worthy of improvements, the construction proposed indicates new ways to look at the performance of schools considering the investment in school infrastructure and creating new possibilities of research based on the measurable impacts on the evolution of performance indicators of the schools. Finally, given the findings of the research, is presented an Action Plan for the Education State Department of Education - ESS in order to systematize the decisions of resource allocation in school infrastructure guided by concrete variables that allowed the construction of a Matrix of Investment Planning for School Infrastructure, which ranks, according to objective and parameterized criteria the existing needs for investments in a education network. It is expected that the implementation of the methodology presented in the Educational Action Plan can generate real benefits to the educational system of the State of Minas Gerais.