Occupational stress amongst Year 6 Maltese state school teachers

Abstract

This quantitative study sought to investigate stressors and coping behaviours amongst Year 6 Maltese state school teachers. The whole population, that is 188, was provided with questionnaires. Respondents amounted to 145. Findings indicated that the major stressor for these teachers was 'Time Constraints'. An examination of the demographic variables revealed that female teachers are more stressed due to 'Time Constraints' than their male counterparts. No differences were found for the variables teaching experience and type of class. Information dealing with manifestations of teachers' stress was acquired through a cross-sectional design. All categories correlated significantly with the relationship with pupils and with colleagues. 'Time Constraints' was the only category which failed to reach significance in relation to stress manifestations on the teaching and learning process. Manifestations of stress on relationship with friends and relatives were only significantly correlated to sources of stress originating from working conditions, class environment and from the system. All sources of stress failed to reach significance in relation to total job satisfaction. The most frequently used coping strategy by Year 6 teachers resulted to be 'Try to have realistic aims', whereas the least used was 'Take a day off to recover'. The coping strategy 'Try to relax after work' was significantly correlated with 'Sources resulting from the class environment'. The coping strategies 'Leave school problems at school', 'Share your problems with others after work', 'Try to relax after work', 'Leave some work to do at home' and 'Work harder and longer' were significantly correlated with 'Time Constraints'. Finally implications of the findings were discussed, through which various ways of how stress can be alleviated or prevented were put forward.