published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

Career burnout has been recognized as a syndrome marked by mental, physical and emotional exhaustion which is especially prevalent among teachers. Teacher burnout is currently a widely researched phenomenon and controversy over its definition, causes and interventions has been great. Meanwhile, the burnout construct has gained little clarity. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether identifiable personality characteristics, as measured by the Personality Research Form, were consistently associated with burnout in teachers, as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Cognitive Burnout Scale. Moderately strong relationships were found between specific personality characeristics and reported levels of burnout. However, individual factors were not concluded to be as critical as the interaction between such factors and the environment. Future directions are discussed.

M.A. / Employee assistance program (EAP) is one service model that are designed to assist troubled employees in the workplace. Its feasibility has been experienced in many different contexts. However, the school is somewhat neglected in this respect, and few EAP’s are known to exist in the school system. This study will contribute to the introduction of EAP’s within the school environment because EAP is perceived as only applicable on the companies and organisations. The goal of the study is to conduct a need assessment of teachers regarding the feasibility of an EAP in the school environment. The objectives of the study is to conduct literature study of EAP models, to develop a questionnaire for data collection, conduct survey on the teachers of the target schools, analyse data and test hypothesis and make recommendations regarding the feasibility of an EAP. The study was conducted with teachers from the low veld region in northern province. 50 teachers have completed a questionnaire. In the results the researcher found that the teacher like any other employee has problems, which can affect their well-being and the school productivity. Most of the secondary teachers have a need for employee assistance programs. / Dr. W. Roestenburg

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Work in the field of Occupational Social Work, September 2017 / School violence over the years has been on an increase. It has been particularly known and researched that learners have been affected by such a persistent phenomenon (Burton & Leoschut, 2013). Notably, teachers themselves are increasingly becoming victims of school violence. It has been said that much of the school violence stems from the violent nature of society; violence in society being complex in nature (Mncube & Harber, 2012). Limited research has been directed towards exploring victimisation of teachers by their learners, hence the interest in the topic. In order for one to gain knowledge and insight in this topic, the qualitative approach and a case study design was used. The unit of analysis consisted of 5 high school teachers within the Johannesburg South Region. Snowballing, which is a type of non – probability sampling was used to identify participants. A semi – structured interview scheduled was used as a data gathering tool, during the face – to face interviews. The thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data collected, so as to find common themes and topics relevant to the study. As predicted, the study helped in gaining insights in understanding the consequences of school violence and bullying on teachers. It helped in understanding teachers’ experiences of school violence and the consequences it has in the workplace. Additionally, it assisted in gaining insight on what may contribute towards the creation of a healthier work environment. / XL2018

Teaching is stressful. The demands placed on teachers can result in emotional exhaustion and burnout, causing many to leave the profession. Teachers early in their careers seem to be at special risk, with desistence rates estimated as high as 40% in the first five years. This study was based on the notion that constructive coping can be a resource for teachers, and that teachers later in their professional lives may provide a model for adaptive ways of dealing with professional demands. The goal of the study was to examine whether the coping process utilized by teachers (including reported demands, appraisals, ways of coping, resolutions, and post-coping assessment) differed at different stages of their career. Participants (n = 57) were teachers (90% female) ranging in age from 28-63, teaching in grades 4 to 12. The current study utilized a portion of the baseline open-ended interview of a randomized waitlist control study conducted to explore the effects of a mindfulness-based program. After coding the interview data for each step of the coping process, frequency analyses revealed that: (1) as in previous studies, the most frequently reported demands were problems with students (40%), followed by workload (18%) and parents (15%); (2) the most frequently reported appraisal was extreme negative emotion (44%); (3) the most frequently reported ways of coping were adaptive, including problem-solving (65%), support seeking (35%), and self regulation (22%); (4) the most frequently reported resolution of the stressful episode was successful (51%); and (5) with regards to post coping assessment, teachers most frequently reported that they would do something differently in future episodes if they could (54%). A series of Chi-square analyses to explore whether there is an association between how the teachers responded to questions corresponding to each step revealed that (1) teachers who reported parents as a demand in teaching were more likely to report extreme negative emotion and the use of self-regulation, which was associated with a successful resolution; (2) teachers who reported the administration as a demand were also more likely to use support seeking as a way of coping; and (3) teachers who reported using more maladaptive ways of coping were also more likely to report an unsuccessful resolution. Finally, pairwise comparisons to determine which groups of teachers differed from each other showed that, in keeping with expectations, early career teachers reported "no negative emotion" less and "extreme negative emotion" more than other groups, while late career teachers mentioned "no negative emotion" more. In terms of demands, early career teachers mentioned the environment less whereas late career teachers mentioned parents less and students more often. In terms of coping, late career teachers reported using self-regulation less and cognitive accommodation more than the other groups. Finally, early career teachers were more likely to say that they would try different effective strategies in future coping episodes while late career teachers were less likely to report that they would do so. Applications of these findings are discussed for process-oriented theories of teacher stress and coping, for future studies examining how coping develops over the course of a professional career, and for preservice training and school-based interventions designed to promote adaptive coping for teachers at every phase of their profession.

A teacher's ability to foster and sustain high quality learning environments for their students relies largely on their own coping abilities and mental health. However, due to the emotionally taxing nature of their profession, teachers are at increased risk for developing elevated levels of occupational stress and burnout. To help teachers cope with their occupational stress and other negative emotions related to their occupation, mindfulness-based stress reduction programs for teachers have been introduced through schools. Evidence for the effectiveness of such programs is promising, however few studies have considered underlying mechanisms that may be driving these effects. Using data collected as part of a randomized controlled trial, this thesis examines the impact of mindfulness training on three coping resources, namely, somatic body awareness, executive function, and emotion regulation. Additionally, this thesis examines whether development of these resources translate into improvements in teachers' occupational well-being--specifically indicated through reductions in their anxiety, depression, stress, and burnout. Results suggest that the mindfulness training significantly improves teachers' somatic body awareness, with evidence for improvements in teachers' emotion regulation reappraisal as well. Additionally, some mediation results were promising, however, no significant mediations were found for any of the coping resources on any of the well-being outcomes for teachers. By addressing these topics, the results of this thesis contribute to the current field's understanding of how mindfulness training works to improve well-being in teachers.

The main problem under investigation was to determine whether or not statistically significant differences exist in the characteristics associated with stress-burnout tendencies and attrition rate of teachers prepared in a traditional elementary teacher education program and an experimental teacher education program.Secondly, the study examined the additional impact of an overseas experience in the experimental teacher education program. Results were analyzed to determine whether or not statistically significant differences existed between the experimental group and subgroup which went overseas.Population in the study consisted of the 1976 elementary education graduates of Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. Two instruments were sent to the subjects in the study. One was an 18-item questionnaire developed specifically for use in this research, The Class of '76 Follow-up Questionnaire, designed to gather data related to stress, burnout, attrition, and degree of satisfaction with the teaching profession. The second instrument, The Tedium Measure, was developed by Pines and Aronson (1980) and has been used to measure burnout. Questionnaires were mailed to the population sample of 248, with 194 returned (78.2%).The program used for the calculation of group variances and the t-value was the SPSS-X, on the VAX computer. The t-test was employed to determine statistical significance between the responses of the various groups. The .05 level of significance was used as the criterion for significance.Findings Statistical significance of the difference between groups within the elementary education program at Ball State University was found in eight areas of The Class of '76 Follow-up Questionnaire.These findings support a conclusion that graduates who participated in the experimental elementary education (EXEL) program held more positive views of professional teacher education, teaching experiences, and future years in teaching.

The present research study attempted to determine if special needs educators, who reported being engaged in their work, were more likely to appraise perceived stressful work situations as a welcomed challenge as opposed to an unwelcomed threat. This study was undertaken in order to build on the minimal body of existing empirical research in three areas: (a) the occupational stressors experienced by special needs educators, (b) work engagement among special needs educators, and (c) the relationship between work engagement and the appraisal of perceived occupational stress. It achieves these ends by determining: (a) which occupational stressors reported by special needs educators were perceived as being the most stressful, (b) if special needs educators were engaged in their work and the extent thereof, and (c) the impact of work engagement on the perception of occupational stress by special needs educators. A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional, ex post facto research design was employed for the collection and analysis of data. Data was gathered from seven special schools in the Umlazi District of KwaZulu-Natal. These special schools provide high levels of support to learners with severe intellectual (learning) disabilities. A sample of N = 86 voluntary participants was obtained, comprising N = 12 males and N = 74 females. Data was generated via self-report survey-type questionnaires, which were divided into three parts: (1) a section requesting biographical information, (2) the Occupational Stress scale – a survey instrument intended to generate data relating to the demands and resources perceived by participants, and (3) the Work Engagement scale – a survey instrument intended to generate data relating to the participants perceived levels of engagement at work. All data were analysed using SPSS version 15.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA). The results revealed that inadequate pay and benefits was a major source of perceived occupational stress, and that special needs educators were highly engaged in their work. Support for the hypothesis of an inverse relationship between work engagement and perceived occupational stress was attained. In addition, analyses of biographical variables in relation to perceived occupational stress provided support for the Transaction Model of Stress. Stress management interventions for special needs educators of severe intellectually (learning) disabled learners were recommended, the strengths and limitations of the present study noted and avenues for future research suggested. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

An integrated model of teacher burnout is presented as the backdrop to a personal history of one distressed teacher. Using a series of collaborative interviews, Sarah's experiences as a classroom teacher are explored as part of a search for the contributors to her feelings of distress and disatisfaction with teaching. A number of themes are identified which relate to Sarah's life in the classroom, her search for autonomy and proximity, and the diversity of her roles within the bureaucracy of the school and the network of her family. Sarah has developed an inventory of coping resources compatible with her values, goals, commitments and personal style. She includes problem-focused, emotion-focused, and preventive strategies. As the study progressed, we came to believe that the fundamental stressors in Sarah's life have arisen out of the fact that she is a woman, doing a woman's work of teaching and nurturing a family, and experiencing all of the expected and unique stressors that are a part of that experience. The complex role of women in teaching is discussed, and the suggestion is made that the nature of schooling would change if women had greater access to decision-making levels within their profession. Suggestions are also made regarding inservice and preservice training for teachers in order to increase their coping resources. / xi, 164 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm.

The main aim of this study was to gain an overall estimate of the incidence of self-reported burnout among Indian secondary school teachers. Other secondary, though closely related aims were: a) to determine whether teachers differ, with respect to selected background variables, in their perceptions of burnout; b) to investigate the differences, if any, in the responses of burnoutees and non-burnoutees to 25 selected role-related variables with a view to examining the relationship between such variables and burnout; and c) to examine the distribution of burnoutees and nonburnoutees on an internal - external locus of control dichotomy with a view to examining the relationship between this personality construct and burnout. The sample of Level One secondary school teachers in this study (N = 690) was randomly selected from a list of all Indian secondary schools in the greater Durban area (N = 59). Teachers responded to a four-part questionnaire designed to gather data relating to demographic characteristics, role-related stressors, locus of control and degree of burnout. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to determine whether a respondent was a "burnoutee" or a "non-burnoutee". It included 3 subscales relating to Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalisation and Personal Accomplishment. The major findings of this study were as follows: a) Approximately 1 in 4 teachers in the sample saw himself/herself as a "burnoutee". b) When teachers were grouped according to background variables, the incidence of burnout was found to be greater among female, married, younger, less experienced, graduate and low-salaried teachers. c) The majority of both "burnoutees" and "non-burnoutees" in this study were unhappy with teaching and found it to be only "moderately satisfying". Many also declared that teaching had not lived up to their expectations and that they would readily change to an entirely new kind of occupation if they had to start their careers afresh. The low degree of satisfaction was found to correlate with perceived feelings of burnout. Older teachers, however, enjoyed greater job satisfaction than their younger counterparts. d) No relationship was found between the personality construct of Locus of Control and burnout. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1992.