This essay deals with the experiences of hospital school teachers, when teaching terminally and chronically ill children. Teachers form part of a multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, therapists, social workers and other caregivers. As a team they all share the same goal of assisting the child to better health with the minimum disruption to normal development and education. The effects on teachers personally; coping with emotional stresses of children being seriously ill and sometimes, unfortunately dying and professionally; by constantly adapting learning and teaching styles to suit the needs of these learners, are numerous when working in these conditions and often results in burnout. This essay explores these effects by inquiring into the lives of four teachers at one particular hospital school. This phenomenological study comes to a conclusion that hospital teachers need specific and distinctive characteristics to deal with issues out of the norm. They have to own extraordinary commitment and acknowledge the true value of teacher collaboration. Finally teachers needed ongoing support on a personal level; counseling, and on a professional level; teacher training and development in order to remain healthy, personally intact and at the spearhead of developments in the teaching profession. The essay ends with recommendations for hospital school teachers and hospital schools. / Dr. M.P. van der Merwe

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION in the Department of Educational Planning and Administration at the University of Zululand, 2005. / This study set out to investigate the prevalence of burnout among teachers. To this end, the following objectives were formulated: To (a) ascertain the incidence of burnout among teachers in KwaZulu-Natal. (b) determine the manner in which teachers manifest burnout, (c) find out whether there is any association between teachers' biographical factors and burnout. In order to investigate the aims of the study the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Educators Survey was used. This instrument was administered to a sample of 364 teachers who teach in traditionally black secondary schools in three districts of the Zululand region of the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Data was analysed by means of the chi-square one-sample test and the analysis of variance (ANOVA). After the analysis and interpretation of data was done, the study came to the following conclusions: (i) teachers differ in the extent to which they experience the incidence of burnout. There is a group of teachers who experience low burnout levels, there is also a group that experience moderate burnout levels and a group that experiences high burnout levels. However, the test revealed that the majority of teachers experience low burnout levels, (ii) There is a positive relationship between the variable of the level of education and emotional exhaustion, and between the variable of gender and personal accomplishment. This means that teachers who hold a postgraduate qualification experience high emotional exhaustion compared to their counterparts who hold lower qualifications. This further means that male teachers experience high personal accomplishment levels compared to their female counterparts, (iii) Finally the study revealed that there is no relationship between teachers' biographical factors (gender, age, marital status, level of education, position at school, work experience, average number of learners in classes taught, location of school) and burnout.

Dissertation / The aim of this study is to investigate teacher stress and to identify factors that contribute to the stress experienced by township secondary school teachers. Based on an extensive literature study, an inventory, the Teacher Stress Identification Test was developed. The inventory was completed by 368 teachers who live in townships and work in township secondary schools in the Free State. Information thus gained was analysed with the use of a statistical computer programme. It appears from the research that the inventory has both a high reliability coefficient and construct validity. The empirical research revealed that township secondary school teachers experience moderate to high levels of stress. It also gave a clear indication of the factors contributing to the stress experienced by these teachers, allowing the researcher to make several recommendations. Lastly, the manifestations of stress as well as the coping mechanisms of these teachers were briefly investigated. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

A three-phase study was conducted. In the first phase, individual interviews were conducted with 15 secondary school teachers to develop indigenous items for assessing teacher burnout and lack of reciprocity. In the second phase, 187 secondary school teachers were included to determine the items of newly-developed instruments and to examine their psychometric properties. In the third phase, the aims were to examine the validity and reliability of each measurement, to analysis the relations between teacher burnout and demographic variables, and to explore the relationship among lack of reciprocity, ERI, meaning of life and teacher burnout in a sample of 509 teachers from 25 secondary schools in Changchun, China. / According to the relationship between teacher burnout and demographic variables, results indicated that younger teachers reported more EE and DP. Teachers of junior rank reported more burnout. Teachers who taught Chinese, mathematics and English reported more experience of EE than teachers who taught other subjects. / Based on the social exchange theory of burnout, the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model, and the existential theory of burnout, the purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship among investment-reward imbalance, meaning of life, and burnout among Chinese secondary school teachers. As one of the key variables in this study, investment-reward imbalance included two operational definitions which were named lack of reciprocity and ERI. / Limitations, theoretical and practical implications of the findings were also discussed. / Results showed that, based on the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the newly-modified Burnout Measurement consisted of three subscales: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and reduced personal accomplishment (RPA). The self-developed Reciprocity Scale included three dimensions, namely, reciprocity in the relationship with students, intangible reciprocity in the relationship with the school, and tangible reciprocity in the relationship with the school. All measurements in this study were found to possess good validity and reliability. / Structural equation modeling was used to test a set of hypothetic models of the relationship among lack of reciprocity, ERI, meaning of life and teacher burnout. Results showed that, lack of reciprocity in the relationship with students positively influenced FE and RPA. Lack of intangible reciprocity in the relationship with the school was positively associated with RPA. Lack of tangible reciprocity in the relationship with the school was positively associated with EE. Among the three dimensions of lack of reciprocity, lack of reciprocity in the relationship with students is a more important predictor to teacher burnout than other components. ERI was positively associated with EE. Considering the two operational definitions of investment-reward imbalance in the prediction of teacher burnout, lack of reciprocity predicted RPA better than ERI, while ERI predicted EE better than lack of reciprocity. Meaning of life was negatively associated with EE, DP and RPA. In addition, results supported the hypothesis that EE influenced DP on the structure of teacher burnout. / 李歆瑤. / Advisers: Patrick S. Y. Lau; Alvin S. M. Leung. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-03, Section: A, page: 0875. / Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 138-153). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Li Xinyao.

The purpose of this study will show that teaching is a career that involves a relatively high degree of stress. Without the proper coping skills or strategies, educators can face the risk of burn-out. This study will provide a qualitative and quantitative look into the professions of a group of dual language educators, offering suggestions and insights into the stressors unique to this group of educators.

University of Macau / Faculty of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Dissertation / The aim of this study is to investigate teacher stress and to identify factors that contribute to the stress experienced by township secondary school teachers. Based on an extensive literature study, an inventory, the Teacher Stress Identification Test was developed. The inventory was completed by 368 teachers who live in townships and work in township secondary schools in the Free State. Information thus gained was analysed with the use of a statistical computer programme. It appears from the research that the inventory has both a high reliability coefficient and construct validity. The empirical research revealed that township secondary school teachers experience moderate to high levels of stress. It also gave a clear indication of the factors contributing to the stress experienced by these teachers, allowing the researcher to make several recommendations. Lastly, the manifestations of stress as well as the coping mechanisms of these teachers were briefly investigated. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Education

<p>The aim of this paper was to identify the sources of stress for teachers involved with inclusive education as well as whether there is a statistically significant difference in stress experienced by teachers based on their biographical details. In this research the focus was on intellectual disability.</p>