A Typology of Student-Teachers’ Coping with Stressful Classroom Events

Abstract

In teacher education programs, student teachers gain their first autonomous teaching experiences. While students regard the teaching practicum as the most valued part of their teacher education program, they also consider it to be the most stressful. Student teachers are most concerned about daily hassles in class, mostly related to poor student discipline. Yet they also consider direct interaction with students as the main source of their job satisfaction and a reason to enter the profession in the first place. This paradox could imply that feelings of stress do not so much result from the events themselves but from inadequate responses to classroom events. Based on cluster analysis of video-taped lessons and stimulated-recall interviews with 27 student teachers, a typology has been developed of student teachers’ coping with stressful classroom events in secondary education. Responses to classroom events have been grouped into four types of coping: Varying (a combination of problem-focused actions and teaching activities ignoring the problematic classroom event), Hestitating (hesitation to either approach or avoid the classroom event, arousing at the same time tension in the relationship with students), Problem-solving (a series of problem-focused actions), and Avoiding (avoiding or ignoring the problematic classroom event). These types vary along two underlying dimensions: avoidance-approach and calmness-agitation. The coping types particularly differed in the way student teachers approached, avoid or ignored the classroom event, how agitated they were and the length of the coping response. Implications for teacher education are discussed to support student teachers with more approach-coping strategies.

Influence of teaching activities, environmental conditions and class schedules on teacher stress measured with a smartwatch: a pilot study

“…The students' problem behaviors may relate to teachers' stress. Students' misbehavior of individual students or the whole class was with 43% the most reported stressful classroom event (Admiraal, 2020).…”

Peer cooperation during teaching in paired field placements: Forms and challenges

“…Although student teachers often view field experiences as the most valuable parts of teacher education, they also consider them as stressful experiences (Admiraal, 2020;MacDonald, 1993;Murray-Harvey et al, 2000). Stress in field placements can result from a lack of strategies for managing classroom interaction (Clunies-Ross et al, 2008;Heikonen et al, 2017).…”

Stop the Teaching Profession Eating its Young: Invest in Research on Novice Teachers

“…Searching and receiving help from supervisors, mentors and peers is one of the most mentioned coping strategies of beginning teachers (Lindqvist, 2019). Other coping strategies novice teachers apply to deal with stress are self-reflection, diversions, minimizing, positive reappraisal and avoidance as well as more logical analysis and problem solving (Admiraal, 2020).…”