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.

Abstract not available

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.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

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 purpose of the study was to examine francophone high school teachers' motivation and to test the Job Characteristics Model, a model of factors that affect the satisfaction and motivation of workers, to determine its possible utility as a diagnostic tool in the field of education. / The study is based on a sample of 136 high school teachers from a francophone high school. The data collection instrument used in this study was the Job Diagnostic Survey developed by Hackman and Oldham (1980). / The findings revealed that the Job Characteristics Model and the JDS instrument have some utility in the field of education. Proposed relationships between job characteristics and psychological states, between psychological states and motivation and satisfaction outcomes were found to exist. Psychological states appeared to mediate between job characteristics and outcomes. Among core job characteristics, task significance was the most important motivating factor for teachers followed by autonomy, skill variety, task identity, feedback from the job and feedback from agents. Among the critical psychological states, the most motivating factor is experienced meaningfulness of the work followed by experienced responsibility and, lastly, knowledge of the results. For the outcomes, internal work motivation was the best motivator followed by growth satisfaction and general satisfaction. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

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.