Mark G. Borg

Stress in Teaching: A Study of Occupational Stress and Its Determinants, Job Satisfaction and Career Commitment among Primary Schoolteachers.

Abstract A questionnaire survey of 710 Maltese primary schoolteachers revealed that the level of teacher stress, job satisfaction and career commitment was constituted differently in some of the teacher demographic subgroups. A principal components analysis of the stress ratings of 20 items covering various aspects of the teachers work environment yielded four factors described in terms of ‘pupil misbehaviour’, ‘time/ resource difficulties’, ‘professional recognition needs’ and ‘poor relationships’. Teacher sex and ability‐group taught interacted significantly with the stress factors. Results also showed that teachers who reported greater stress were less satisfied with their job and less committed to choose a teaching career were they to start life over again. Moreover, the association between the general measure of job stress and the stress due to each of the four stress factors was strongest for ‘pupil misbehaviour’ and ‘time/resource difficulties’. Of the four factors, ‘professional recognition needs...

Occupational Stress in British Educational Settings: A Review.

Abstract This paper reviews studies on occupational stress among teachers in British schools carried out over the last 15 years. Four major themes are considered: (1) the prevalence of self‐reported occupational stress; (2) sources of stress; (3) symptoms and effects of stress; and (4) coping actions. The reviewed studies have investigated these themes in various teacher samples ranging from mainstream to special schoolteachers, heads of departments, deputy heads and head teachers. It is argued that, in view of the recent and ongoing changes in schools and their curricula as well as the prevailing working conditions of teachers, our present understanding of stress in teaching needs to be based on updated information. Some recommendations for future research are also set out.

Occupational Stress and Satisfaction in Teaching.

Abstract Teacher stress, job satisfaction, absenteeism, career intention, career commitment and self‐image as teacher were investigated in a context which allowed many of the characteristics of an educational system to be incorporated in the design. A questionnaire survey of 545 teachers in Maltese secondary schools revealed that some of the demographic characteristics of the sample were related to self‐reported teacher stress, job satisfaction and career commitment. Results also showed that teachers who reported greater stress were less satisfied with teaching, reported greater frequency of absences and a greater number of total days absent, were more likely to leave teaching (career intention), and less likely to take up a teaching career again (career commitment).

Towards a model for the determinants of occupational stress among schoolteachers

The determinants of stress in teaching were investigated in a context which allowed many of the characteristics of an educational system to be incorporated in the design. Using a specially developed self-report instrument, 545 secondary schoolteachers in Malta reported the perceived levels of stressfulness of 35 items covering various aspects of the teacher’s work environment. One-third of the respondents rated being a teacher as either very stressful or extremely stressful. A principal components analysis of the data on the 35 sources of stress yielded a four-factor structure described in terms of ‘pupil misbehaviour’, ‘poor working conditions’, ‘poor staff relations’ and ‘time pressures’. Repeated measures ANOVA of the factor scores revealed a number of significant two-way and three-way interactions involving the demographic variables of sex, age, type of teaching post, type of school selectivity, type of single-sex school, size of school, and type of curriculum subject/s taught.

Occupational Stress and Job Satisfaction among School Administrators

A sample of 150 school administrators in state primary and secondary schools in Malta completed a self‐administered questionnaire on their perceptions of role‐related stress. About one‐fifth of the respondents found their job as school administrators either very stressful or extemely stressful; 80 per cent indicated that they were fairly satisfied or very satisfied with their job. Some of the demographic characteristics of the sample were related to the level of job stress and satisfaction. Results also showed that respondents who reported greater levels of stress were least satisfied with their role as school administrators. A principal components analysis of 22 listed sources of stress revealed four major stress factors, labelled “lack of support and resolving conflicts”, “inadequate resources”, “workload” and “work conditions and responsibilities”. The demographic variables of “sex”, “type of administrative post” and “type of school” interacted significantly with the four stress factors.

Streaming in Maltese primary schools

This article examines some of the effects of streaming in the primary school. Sex and age differences in stream placement and in stream transfer rate are investigated. The past three decades have seen the widespread introduction of mixed-ability classes in practically all European countries. In fact, very few countries still retain some form of officially imposed streaming practice before the age of eleven. Malta is one of those few European countries where the streaming of primary school pupils on the basis of attainment is practised on a national scale. As a result of the current schooling situation in Malta and in view of the dearth of empirical studies (during the last two decades) about the dynamics and effects of streaming, the present authors and a group of their B.Ed. (Hons) students! have embarked on a number of empirical studies. The purpose of these studies was to investigate some of the determinants and effects of the nationally based practice of streaming primary school children on the basis of performance in school subjects. This article proposes a synopsis of the major findings concerning age and sex differences in stream transfer.

Sex and Age Differences in the Scholastic Attainment of Grammar School Children in the First Three Years of Secondary Schooling: A Longitudinal Study

It is generally acknowledged that the determinants of scholastic attainment are many and varied. Of the person-based determinants, pupil sex and age have been found to be among the major ones. The study sought to investigate the role of these variables in the scholastic attainment of Maltese pupils in the first three years of their grammar school career. It is one in a series of studies charting the effects of sex and age on attainment from the primary school to university.