This diploma thesis focuses on the issues of occupational stress among vocational schools' teachers. The theoretical part of the thesis introduces the discipline of occupational health psychology, presents current definitions and theories of occupational stress, and then focuses on the concepts of coping and coping strategies. Next, the specificity of teachers 'occupation at vocational schools is discussed and a summary of existing research findings concerning teachers' stress, and especially vocational teachers' stress is presented. The empirical part of the thesis had two main research aims. The first aim was to examine the extent to with vocational school teachers experienced occupational stress and to identify main stressors at their workplaces. The second aim was to identify coping strategies and to explore whether these strategies were effective. The data were collected using a questionnaire which was distributed among teachers in three vocational schools. The results showed that more than half of the respondents experienced stress and that main predictors of stress were work-family conflict and job insecurity. Both effective and ineffective coping strategies were identified. Key words: stress, occupational stress, vocational schools, teacher, coping, coping strategies

Teacher attrition has continued to be problem across the United States, especially in urban, high-need districts. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to identify the coping strategies of alternatively certified teachers in urban, high-need schools in order to understand how teachers overcome factors contributing to attrition. Research questions centered on the perceived challenges and stressors of alternatively certified teachers as well as the coping strategies that support their retention. The conceptual framework was based on Bronfenbrenner's theory of ecological development. Criterion sampling was used to identify experienced alternatively prepared teachers who had persisted for at least 4 years within an urban, high-need district. Data consisting of in-depth, semistructured interviews, online journals, and documents were coded inductively, using pattern coding for the purpose of explanation building across cases. Four primary themes related to stressors were identified: student behaviors and motivation, workload, administrator stress, and colleague stress. The 6 main themes related to coping strategies were social activities, professional learning, wellness and exercise, avoidance behaviors, school community support, and recreation and pastimes. The implications are that teachers may use the findings to gain strategies that can empower them to persist in challenging placements, and students may have increased access to experienced teachers. In addition, school administrators and alternative preparation programs may use the findings to provide teachers with proactive strategies for retention before they begin to experience stressors.