Reducing teacher stress: improving humanized management of Chinese teachers

Abstract

Purpose To improve humanized management of Chinese teachers, the aim of this study is to, first, investigate the stress of Chinese teachers, and, second, to examine the relationship of teacher stress with coping strategies and social support. Moreover, an attempt is made to examine the moderating role of coping strategies in the relationship between social support and teacher stress. Design/methodology/approach Participants consisted of 363 teachers from 6 public primary and secondary schools (both regular and vocational schools), who completed 3 self-report questionnaires examining teacher stress, coping strategies and social support. The methodology used was t-test, correlation analysis and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Findings There are more than 50 per cent of primary and secondary school teachers suffering from mild to extremely severe stress. Working environment (regular or vocational schools), gender and age affect teacher stress. Social support and passive strategies have significant relationships with teacher stress, and passive strategies moderate the relationship between social support and teacher stress. Research limitations/implications The study is based on a sample taken from public primary and secondary schools, and the character of the research was cross-sectional. Therefore, we must be cautious in generalizing the findings. An important implication for management of the findings of this study is the importance of humanized management for teachers. To reduce teacher stress, more social support should be provided by educational administrators, and teachers should be trained to avoid using passive strategies. Originality/value Through the investigation into the teacher stress in both regular and vocational schools, this study provides a new point of view for human resource managers to control and reduce teacher stress in China by improved humanized management.

The Relationship between Challenge and Hindrance Stressors and Emotional Exhaustion: The Moderating Role of Perceived Servant Leadership

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A well‐slept teacher is a better teacher: A multi‐respondent experience‐sampling study on sleep, stress, and emotional transmission in the classroom

“…Female teachers reported greater stress than male teachers in the current study. Past studies have demonstrated that gender difference in teachers’ perceived stress might be in part due to the fact that female teachers have higher total workload (i.e., job and housework) than their male counterparts (Greenglass & Burke, ; Yu, Dong, Wang, & An, ).…”

Are they Stress-Free? Examining Stress among Primary School Teachers in Tanzania

“…Teacher stress is "the experience by a teacher of unpleasant, negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, tension, frustration or depression, resulting from some aspect of their work as a teacher" (Kyriacou, 2001, p. 28). As stated earlier, teaching as a profession is recognised as a stressful undertaking (Alhija, 2015;Yu et al, 2016). Some studies (e.g., von der Embse et al, 2016) have argued that teacher stress is a result of teacher job dissatisfaction and poor student outcomes.…”

“…Teaching is widely recognised as a demanding and stressful profession (Alhija, 2015;Kavita & Hassan, 2018;Shkëmbi et al, 2015;Yu et al, 2016). The challenges associated with the profession, such as administrative burdens, classroom management difficulties and lack of autonomy, contribute greatly to teachers' stress.…”