Schools under pressure : stress, coping and well-being among teachers, pupils and headteachers

Stress among diverse members of school communities has received differing levels of attention and research activity. Whilst teaching has been studied extensively and is consistently recognised as one of the top three most stressful occupations, stress among headteachers and pupils has received less attention from researchers. This submission includes a critical review of the current state of knowledge and research in respect of stress, coping and well-being in schools (considering headteachers, teachers and pupils) and the significant original contributions to the growth and development of knowledge in this field made by a book, four chapters and four journal articles. The corpus of the selected works is embedded in extensive research and project work spanning more than twenty years, carried out with over 3200 adults and pupils drawn from over 200 primary, secondary and special schools in the UK. As the work was oriented toward solving practical problems in the “real world” iii (Feilzer, 2010, p8), a pragmatic stance was a primary consideration for each of the projects. Research designs adopted were varied, including methods drawn from both quantitative and qualitative paradigms. A dual process transactional model of stress and coping is presented as the underlying framework for the studies. Results indicated that, despite the differences in the role and status of the varied populations investigated and the contrasting environments in which they operate, some consistencies were found in terms of levels of stress resulting from the impact of; organisational factors; interpersonal relationships; communication inconsistencies and daily hassles on coping and well-being. These findings informed key elements of the behaviour management training programme on the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses at the University of Cambridge, recognised as “excellent” and “highly distinctive” by Ofsted (e.g. 2008, 2011), and have been incorporated into the Teacher Training Agency guidelines for behaviour management training for all teachers (TTA, 2012).

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Ph.D.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Lancaster University

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Authors dc:creator

• Chaplain, Roland
• Jackson, Carolyn