by Kim-Wan Mo. / Title also in Chinese. / Thesis (M.A.Ed.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1989. / Bibliography: leaves 88-96.

A teacher may say, "I have twenty years of experience," but just what does it mean? This study suggests explanations for the meaning of "Experience," not by looking at the number of years in a classroom, but at what teachers did in those years that could make the teaching experience equivalent to years of personal growth and development. Three Middle Level Science teachers' experiences were observed over two separate units of instruction. Teachers were engaged in conversations before, during and after every observation, such that their talk gave meaning to teaching. The teachers, early in their units, experienced tensions (stresses and anxieties) that affected their planning and implementation of teaching. The study determined that the teachers' learning experiences and personal growth were directly related to how they met the challenge of tensions. One teacher with very little science knowledge met the challenge of tensions in teaching by integrating her new science knowledge with her English and History knowledge and repertoire. She developed new practices that increased her energy and confidence in such a way that became self-sustaining experiences and growth. Two other teachers, despite science backgrounds, were less successful in meeting the challenge of tensions in teaching. Each found that the contents of the selected units required study and preparation, yet the teachers acquired information rather than truly learning the new subject matter. These teachers, in meeting the tensions of teaching, felt their energies wane, which reduced their dedication and effectiveness. As a result, neither teacher experienced personal growth. The negative experiences resulted in each teacher becoming more entrenched in a lecture mode of teaching to escape the tensions that existed. Learning new subject matter can produce tensions leading to experiences which affect teaching and potential for teacher growth. Incremental amounts of growth are possible, but only if a teacher responds positively to and meets the challenge of tensions in teaching, minute by minute, class by class. / Graduation date: 2003

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Sielkundige Opvoedkunde)

This study examined the phenomenon of multiple and continuous change and the adjustments teachers made in response to the phenomenon. The research questions posed by this study are: 1. Is there a phenomenon of multiple and continuous change and if so how is it characterized by the participants? 2. Is there an effect of multiple and continuous change on the participants, if so, how do the participants adjust to the phenomenon and how can these adjustments be described? Methodologically, the strategy for this study was designed to allow for the generation of theory since multiple and continuous change has not been examined as a phenomenon. In-depth interviews were conducted with an "n" of five to allow for in-depth exploratory questioning and comparison and analysis of complex divergent data. The study utilized teachers' descriptions of their lived experience to provide working definitions of multiple and continuous change. Change is experienced as planned change, and change is experienced as unplanned change. Teachers also described paradoxes that characterize their work milieu. The paradoxes create unanswerable conundrums such as classroom versus school focus, depth versus breadth, commitment versus letting go and fidelity versus rigor. The phenomenon of multiple and continuous change provokes adjustments that are behavioral and attitudinal. These adjustments impact the instructional domain, professional domain and personal domain. The adjustments teachers made did not resemble targeted outcomes. Rather, the adjustments teachers made served as metaprescriptions to assist in the navigation of multiple and continuous change. The composite suggests that multiple and continuous change is complex, interactive and exponential. The behaviors and attitudes that the participants learn mitigate institutionalization of innovations and favor simple adjustments that make teaching more manageable under the circumstances but not necessarily more effective. The significance of this study is that change has been misunderstood because the perspective of the teacher has been overlooked. The misunderstanding of what comprises change disrupts and alters strategic planning. Change in schools is experienced as a phenomenon that is continuous. Administrators, change agents, and policy makers must readjust their thinking about change and develop a paradigm for school improvement that reflects the real world of schools.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

在香港國際學校，相較于本地學校，更加激烈的崗位競爭、英語為工作語言的整體環境以及背景多樣化的學生等因素是否會導致教師們對職業的認同感和成就感有所不同呢？瞭解國際學校中文教師職業倦怠的情況對教師的個人職業發展、教學工作的有效開展和學校的教師管理都具有重要意義。 本研究旨在對香港國際學校中文教師職業倦怠的情況進行調查，通過Maslash（MBI-ES）問卷，分三個維度（情緒衰竭、非個性化、低成就感）對中文教師職業倦怠的程度進行描述；其次，利用訪談對倦怠的原因和影響因素進行探討和分析。 本次調查採取方便取樣的原則，隨機抽取國際學校中文教師30 人進行調查，利用SPSS17.0 對數據進行整理和分析，組間的差異性采用方差分析（單因素ANOVA）和t 檢驗，人口學特征和職業倦怠各維度的關系采用線性回歸進行分析。 研究發現，香港國際學校的中文教師在情緒衰竭和去個性化兩個維度上表現出中度倦怠，而在低成就感上得分較高，即有較高的成就感體驗。不同性別的教師在倦怠程度上無差異； 不同年齡的教師在低成就感維度上差異顯著（ P=0.000），本次調查中，20-30 歲的教師成就感最低，50 歲或以上的教師最有成就感；從入職時間上看，有1-2 年工作經驗的教師有相對高的情感衰竭情況（22.00±6.06）；不同入職時間的教師在成就感上差異顯著（P= 0.018），從事對外漢語教學工作3 年或以下的教師成就感低於有3 年以上工作經驗的教師。此外，學歷與成就感表現出顯著相關（B=3.195，P=0.034），學歷越高在教學上的成就感體驗也就越高；同時，香港以外的教學經驗與成就感呈現顯著相關（ B=2.253，P=0.05），即教學經驗豐富的教師擁有相對高的成就感。 This study assessed teachers' burnout from different genders, ages, working years, educational levels, working hours and working experience in a sample of 30 Chinese in-service teachers in Hong Kong International Schools by MBI-ES questionnaire and interviews and draw conclusions as follows: The general findings suggested that on the burnout components, indicating moderate levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, but high or nearly high levels of reduced personal accomplishment. Teachers' reduced personal accomplishment is significant in age（ P= 0.000 ） and working years（ P= 0.018): teachers of 20-30 years old have the highest scores in reduced personal accomplishment and teachers of 50 years old or above have the lowest scores; teachers with less 3 years working experience have the highest scores in reduced personal accomplishment. What's more, overseas teaching experience and educational levels are highly relevant with reduced personal accomplishment. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

There is growing concern over the large number of Indian teachers in South Africa resigning from the profession to seek alternate employment or to emigrate. Despite this concern, very little empirical research has been undertaken to investigate the probable sources of stress and dissatisfaction among Indian teachers in this country. The present study was planned to investigate the incidence and association between emotional distress, work-related stress and job satisfaction among South African Indian teachers. The research design involved the analysis of data on Psychological Stress, Event Stress and Satisfaction with Teaching, which was obtained from a sample of 75 Indian teachers drawn from schools in the Durban area. Informed consent was obtained from the subjects prior to participation in the research. The 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), a Teacher Stress Questionnaire consisting of a 25-item Event Stress Inventory and a 25-item Satisfaction With Teaching Questionnaire, were administered. The following were the major findings: 1. The degree of emotional distress experienced by Indian teachers was significantly high. 2. Although the overall levels of work-related stress were high they were not significantly related to the number of years of teaching experience or to the mental health of the teachers. 3. There was a positive association between psychological distress and job dissatisfaction. The older teachers experienced greater psychological stress and job dissatisfaction. 4. Secondary school teachers were found to be experiencing more severe degrees of psychological distress, much higher levels of work-related stress and lower levels of job satisfaction than primary school teachers. The findings highlight the need for further research and have implications for therapeutic intervention. / Thesis (M.Med.)- University of Natal, Durban, 1990.

There is little or no information regarding stress levels among teachers in semi-rural government secondary schools in South Africa. Furthermore, findings regarding the relationship between gender, age and teaching experience and teacher stress appear to be equivocal. The present study aims to examine the levels of stress among a group of semirural secondary school teachers, and whether there is a relationship between stress levels and gender, age, teaching experience and medical/psychiatric treatment. The researcher employed a survey using the Professional Life Stress Scale (PLSS) to assess teachers' stress levels. The demographic checklist consisted of the following items: gender, age, length of service in the teaching profession, psychiatric or medical treatment during the previous 3 months. Participants included 102 teachers, 38 of whom were males and 64 were female, from 9 selected government schools in the Durban semirural area. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample. T-tests were used to determine the relationship between gender and total stress scores, as well as to determine gender differences on individual items on the PLSS. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to determine the relationship between age and teaching experience and total stress scores. Chi squares were used to determine whether there was a relationship between gender and category of stress. In addition, reasons for obtaining medical/psychiatric services were examined. The research findings indicate that these secondary teachers are experiencing high levels of stress and that gender, age, teaching experience have no significant effect on their levels of stress. In addition, few participants seek psychological and medical services and most participants report psychosomatic symptoms. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

There is a growing body of evidence that occupational stress is a problem for a significant number of teachers. Teacher stress has a detrimental effect not only on the physical and mental well-being of teachers, but on their efficiency and productivity in the school setting as well. This study investigated teacher stress within the interactional framework. Its main aim was to determine the nature and extent of stress patterns in a sample of 360 Indian school teachers selected from ten secondary schools in the Greater Durban area. Other closely related aims were to identify the most important task-, situation- and role-based sources of stress among these teachers, their most common reactions to excessive stress, their common modes of coping, as well as their most important sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Furthermore, this study sought to investigate the influence of demographic characteristics on the teachers' experience of stress and coping. For this purpose intra-group comparisons were made involving six subsamples of teachers male - female, married - unmarried, younger - older, less experienced - more experienced, diplomates - graduates, Level One teachers - Heads of Departments. A self-administered questionnaire and in-depth interviews were used to obtain the quantitative and qualitative data required for this study. Among the most important findings of the study are the following: 1 . Over one-half of the number of the secondary teachers surveyed (54%) perceived their job as being very stressful. 2. The four most frequent and intense sources of stress were related to the working conditions of teachers rather than to the actual task of teaching. These stressors relate to poor career development prospects and a lack of accomplishment. More specifically, these are, in rank order: (1) the system of awarding merit notches; (2) the system of promotion; (3) the system of evaluation; and (4) a relatively low salary. 3. The four most important sources of role stress are, in rank order : (1) the volume and variety of tasks that teachers are expected to perform and the adverse effect this has on the quality of work they produce because of the limited time at their disposal; (2) being compelled to perform duties that appear to them to have little value; (3) having too heavy a workload; and (4) uncertainty about how superiors evaluate their teaching. 4. At least one-third of the teachers are "at risk" of developing more serious health problems. Finally, the limitations of this study are discussed, and various recommendations are made. It is argued that stress among teachers is a complex phenomenon arising out of the interaction of a whole host of factors and circumstances. Consequently, any attempt at amelioration should be multidimensional in nature and involve a variety of disciplines. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1992.