11. Tarone, E. and Allwright, D. Second language teacher learning and student second language
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ОБРАЗОВАНИИ № 2, 2016 г.
learning: Shaping the knowledge base. Second language teacher education. ed. by Tedick D. J. Mahwah:
Lawrence Erlbaum, -2005. P.5–23.
12. Delaney, Y. A. Research on Mentoring Language Teachers: Its Role in Language Education //
Foreign Language Annals. -2012. №45. Vol.1 P.184-202. available from
doi/10.1111/j.1944-9720. 2011. 01185.x/full>
13. Andrew J. Hobson, Patricia Ashby, Angi Malderez, Peter D. TomlinsonHoson, A.J., Ashby, P.,
Malderez, A., and Tomlinson, P.D. ‘Mentoring beginning teachers: What we know and what we don’t
//
Teaching and Teacher Education, Volume 31, April 2013, Page 68Teaching and Teacher Education
-2009. №25. Vol.1. P.207–216. available from
S0742051X0800156X>
14. Bódoczky, C. and Malderez, A. The INSET impact of a mentoring course. In-service teacher
development: International perspectives. ed by Hayes D. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall, -1997. P.50–60
15. Diaz-Maggioli, G.H. ‘Professional Development for Language Teachers.
National Administration
of Public Education, Uruguay. -2003. available from < available from
doi/10.1111/j.1944-9720. 2011. 01185.x/full>
16. Aladejana, A., Aladejana, F. and Ehindero, S. An Analysis of Mentoring Relationships Among
Teachers: A Case Study
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Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring. -2006. №4. Vol.1 P.20-30. available from
uk/documents/vo l04issue1-paper-03.pdf>
17. Ehrich, L.C. and Hansford, B. Mentoring: Pros and cons for HRM // Asia Pacific Journal of Human
Resources. -1999. №37. Vol.3. P.92-107.
ЖАС МҰҒАЛІМДЕРДІҢ БІРІНШІ БІЛІМ БЕРУ ЖЫЛЫНДАҒЫ ҚИЫНДЫҚТАРЫ
Е.Оспанов
Түйіндеме.
Мұғалім мамандығы қиындықтарға толы мамандық, әсіресе бірінші білім беру жылы
жас мұғалімдер үшін өте қиын болуы мүмкін және жас мұғалімдердің қызметіне бірінші жылы
көп көңіл бөлу қажет. Бұл мақала кейбір жалпылама кездесетін мәселелерді, мәселен, сыныпты
басқару, сабақ уақытын ұйымдастыру және құжаттарды толтыру жұмыстары сияқты жайттарды
қамтиды. Сондай-ақ, мақала соңында автор аталмыш мәселелерді шешуге бағытталған кейбір
ұсыныстарды береді. Жас мұғалімдерді ұжым мүшелерімен өзара
қарым-қатынасы немесе оларды
дайындау арқылы қиындықтармен күресуге үйретуден тәлімгерлермен жұмыс жасау тиімдірек
тәсіл ретінде ұсынылады.
Түйінді сөздер:
қиындықтар, жас мұғалімдер,
сыныпты басқару, сабақ уақытын ұйымдастыру,
құжаттарды толтыру, тәлімгерлік.
ТРУДНОСТИ ПРЕПОДАВАНИЯ ПЕРВОГО ГОДА УЧИТЕЛЕЙ НОВИЧКОВ
Е.Оспанов
Аннотация.
Профессия учителя полна сложностей и первый год преподавания является
весьма сложным для новичков. Поэтому первый год требует особого внимания. Данная статья
посвящена таким общим проблемам как управление классом, организация времени урока и
административные обязанности учителей новичков. Автор предлагает менторство как одного из
способов эффективного преодоления вышеуказанных сложностей нежели общение преподавателей
в коллективе или проведение тренингов.
Ключевые слова:
трудности, учителя новички, управление классом, организация времени урока,
административные обязанности, менторство.
61
БІЛІМ БЕРУДЕГІ МЕНЕДЖМЕНТ № 2, 2016 г.
УДК 005.962.13:371.32
STRESS AND ITS IMPACT ON TEACHER’S EFFECTIVENESS
A.N.Mukhtarova
New Economic University named after Turar Ryskulov
Kazakhstan, Almaty
Abstract.
Teacher is a major human capital of any educational organisation, whose skills, abilities and
knowledge add value to the development of organisational capital. However, today teaching has become
one of the high-stress professions; teachers as leaders in the classroom may face many challenges in and
out of it. This paper discusses the phenomenon of stress and its impact on the teacher’s personal and pro-
fessional effectiveness. Author reviews critically literature on teacher’s stress and proposes some practical
recommendations to enhance effectiveness and cope with stress in order to raise effectiveness.
Keywords: stress,
teacher, effectiveness,
stress theory, well-being.
Nowadays stress is likely to be one of the most
widespread rueful feelings, which has a significant
impact not only on the psychological but also on
the physical health of the individual. It is nearly
impossible to avoid stress as life comes with no
promises and guarantee. The reason why stress has
become a matter of such immediacy deserves serious
examination. The concept of stress is considered
within the frames of the theory of emotions. There
are a considerable number of definitions given to
the term stress, but none of them covers all aspects
of stress.
A number of different approaches have been
discussed in the literature [1]. In the history of stress
research there have been three different approaches
to stress. They are: 1) stimulus-based, 2) response-
based and 3) stimulus-response based [2. According
to the stimulus-based approach person feels force,
disturbance and responses with tense reaction to
the environment. The environment, either physical
or psychological, creates conditions which are
considered to be causes of stress in the individual.
The question is what is defined as stressful and non-
stressful. The distinguishing factor is the intensity
of stressor. Hence stress can be defined as ‘intense
level of everyday life’ [3, p.7]. Furthermore Moore
and Cooper [4] classify stress into four categories:
1) catastrophic events; 2) major life events; 3) daily
hassles and 4) chronic circumstances. Similarly
Holmes and Rahe evaluate life stress events as
the highest, high, moderate, low, the lowest with
supporting examples into each type. The highest
and high stressful events are considered to be death
of the spouse, divorce, pregnancy; moderate can
be beginning or stopping to work; low and lowest
stress events can be change in school, change in
sleeping habits or minor violations of the law [5].
Too much pressure becomes dangerous because
stressful factors may destroy or shake the balance
or the state of equilibrium. Referring Cambridge
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary equilibrium is the
state of balance or the state of mental calmness.
There are some disadvantages of this approach as
Fisher suggests a) there is not an equal perception of
stress, stressful for one person will not necessarily
be stressful for another; b) ‘what is the point of
tolerance, or at what point a level becomes stressful’
may differ from person to person according to their
stress experience [3, p.8]. The response-based
approach considers the person in the disturbing,
stressful environment and his/her display of
physiological and psychological responses to the
stressor. In this approach, stress is described as a
‘dependent variable, as the response to a stressor
agent’, [2, p.4]. A psychological response concept
flight-or-fight (acute stress response) was developed
by Cannon and his student Bard [6]. Referring that
theory body instinctively prepares to confront
with threat, either by fighting or fleeing. Later the
theory was recognized as the first stage of General
Adaptation Syndrome developed by Seyle. Seyle is
one of the pioneer researchers known as the father
of the phenomenon stress [7]. His experiments
on laboratory rats found common and unique
reactions to various harmful influences: stressors
such as cold, heat, physical exercises and chemical
injections. The results of his research gave him the
grounds to formulate the original concept of the
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). On the basis
of his research, Selye proposed a three-stage model
of stress: (1) alarm reaction, (2) resistance, and (3)
exhaustion. He also differentiated three types of
stress depending on hormonal reactions: eustress,
neustress and distress. Neustress is a neutral stress,
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МЕНЕДЖМЕНТ В ОБРАЗОВАНИИ № 2, 2016 г.
which is neither helpful nor harmful. Eustress is a
positive stress, and distress is a negative one.
The right amount of eustress fuels and energizes.
It makes people want to live and achieve goals; it
stimulates. In contrast distress is harmful for both
mind and bodily health. Selye’s view of stress was
developed by Levi and Kagan [8]. Their model
reflected the relationship between psychological
and physical disease: psychosocial stimuli can
cause health problems. They argue that causative
factors of stress are psychosocial stimuli, genetic
predisposition and personal experience. Stimulus-
response based approach is concerned with the
relationship of the person and environment. It is
interactional as involves person’s response to the
environment demand. This approach generated
a transactional model of stress which possibly
best describes the active role of a person in the
environmental situation. From this perspective
Lazarus gives a definition of stress in terms of
person’s adjustment to the external demands: the
external agent/stimulus is stress, and resultant
effect is strain [1]. Later Cox and Mackay, authors
of the environment transaction model, pointed
out five stages: sources of demand - external and
internal; person’s ability to cope with the demand
– cognitive appraisal; response to stress – coping;
stress consequences; feedback – managing stress
effectively and coping with stress [2]. In fact, stress
can be described as a combination of a person’s
response to the environment’s demands. Initially
the person understands stressor and then analyzes
whether his/her potential resources are enough
to cope with the difficulty or not. If resources are
under the limit person feels stress, or if meets the
requirements he/she can cope easily. However,
research has yet to show that eustress and distress
can manifest themselves at the same time, can
coexist together in one stage of life.
Due to the fact that the word stress does not
belong to Kazakh or Russian culture it has been
researched widely only in the second part of 20th
century. Russian authors such as L.A. Kitayev-
Smyk R.A.Triganyan, L.M.Popova and I.V. Sokolov,
G.M.Breslav, G.G.Verbina, I.B. Kotova and others
have studied the emotional character of stress,
i.e. reaction. Understanding of the term stress
differs from culture to culture, as from the Kazakh
perspective, stress approach in this particular sphere
‘lacks indigenous knowledge base’ [20, p.185].
Nevertheless, it has been taken into consideration as
a part of psychology describing stress in the works
of A.Aldamuratov, T.Tazhibayev, K.Zharykbayev and
Zh.I.Namazbayeva. They discuss stress mainly as
a psychological phenomenon. Lazarus mentioned
a cross-cultural consideration in stress research,
‘… belief systems based on cultural values and
social experience differ, the precise conditions that
produce psychological stress in one culture may be
different from those that produce it in another’[1,
p.22-23]. Thus difference among stress perception
of personalities can occur in parallel with cross-
cultural stress understanding.
In spite of those cultural differences in
perception of stress there are number of
professions (e.g. prison service, social workers,
police, teachers, ambulance service, doctors and
so on) which are considered to be stressful all over
the world. Teaching might be is one of the high-
stress professions. Because nowadays the roles
of teachers are expanding, profession of teaching
becomes more mature. Teachers as leaders are
the signs of effective organizational behavior [9].
Teachers in a classroom are not only teachers, they
are leaders, significant people who motivate and
lead students. The causes of stress in teaching might
be relationships with pupils, colleagues, parents
and wider communities; innovation and changes in
education; school administration and management;
time pressures; low status [10]. Similarly, but more
detailed division of potential stressors in teaching
was done by Travers and Cooper [11]. They are:
stressors intrinsic to the job (e.g. poor physical
working conditions, work overload or underload,
working long hours); teacher’s role (e.g. role
ambiguity and conflict, role overload or underload,
responsibilities for others); relationship at work
(e.g. relationship with management, colleagues and
pupils).
The type of school can also be as a source of
teacher’s stress. Because there is a hypothesis
that types of schools such as difficult, deprived,
large, special education or inner-city are places
that leaders face stress [12]. According to the
research on School Analysis and Research Division,
Department for Children, Schools and Families
schools with pupils from deprived backgrounds and
schools with higher level of FSM (Free School Meal)
seem to experience less quality teaching. Teaching
in such schools itself might become stressful [13].
One of the measuring factors that indicate stress
level is turnover.
Teachers in more challenging schools are likely
to face more difficulties resulted in higher level of
stress. Coulter and Abney claim that teachers face
demands from administrators, students, parents
and peers every day [14]. In its turn intensification
of stress may lead to the excessive stress or burnout
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БІЛІМ БЕРУДЕГІ МЕНЕДЖМЕНТ № 2, 2016 г.
which was proved by empirical studies. Burnout in
leadership was identified in a three-dimensional
state by Maslach and Jackson (cited in Leithwood)
[15, p.49]. They include (1) ‘feelings of emotional
exhaustion or wearing out’, less devotion; (2)
‘depersonalization’, negative attitude to pupils,
parents and colleagues; (3) ‘reduced sense of
personal accomplishment and esteem’, believe in
less effectiveness. Thus Kyriacou defines teacher’s
stress ‘as the experience by a teacher of unpleasant
negative emotions, such as anger, frustration,
anxiety, depression and nervousness, resulting
from some aspect of their work as a teacher’ [16,
p.3]. But it might be appropriate to highlight again
that different people (teachers) perceive source of
stress differently, threatening by one teacher can
be challenging for another one, or sometimes it can
be neustress, neither helpful nor harmful. Usually
defining stress in teaching occurs mainly owing
to teacher-self reports of emotional and physical
symptoms. Furthermore, Dunham illustrates a
checklist of reactions to stress containing thirty-
three points [17, p.93].
Kyriacou suggests that the teacher needs to
take into account both working situation and own
personality [16]. Moreover, coping with stress should
take conscious control; it is more likely to involve
cognitive abilities of the personality. Reflection is the
first step in coping with stress because it combines
two levels: intellectual, understanding of situation;
and emotional, understanding of feeling about the
experience, accepting them and finding best ways to
deal with them (Gray and Freeman, 1988). Dealing
with stress as a challenge is a positive way of coping,
and its reflection may become a good experience in
the future.
Stress is an open concept; it changes in response
to different experience and is not bounded by logical
necessity that is why time and experience of the
world shape this concept. Coping with stress is the
experience. An important feature of experience that
two experiences can never be identical. Experience
is knowledge or skill gained from doing, seeing
or feeling things (online Cambridge Advanced
Learner’s Dictionary). Patterns of reactions to one
coping with stress is varied, Burgoyne classifies
into three: avoidance, defense mechanisms and
learning [18]. Avoidance is escaping stress; defense
mechanisms are conscious, unconscious and semi-
conscious operational processes. Learning is a
process of acquiring abilities to control situations
producing worry and anxiety. It results in improved
coping skills. In addition, Burgoyne concludes
that learning during stress - coping procedure is
‘preventative rather than remedial’ [18, p.30-31].
Thus learning is more avoiding future stresses,
making new discoveries and learning from our
mistakes.
Accepting stress as a challenge led to the
learning through stress experience, irrespective
of stress type: eustress, neustress or distress.
Presumably, the ability to learn from experience is
one of the the primary criterion in teaching; it might
give the opportunity to evolve hidden qualities.
Analyzing stressful events can broaden mind,
strengthen personality and expand understanding
the nature of stress and its impact to health and
quality of one’s life.
All people are likely to have their own personal
thresholds and curves of pressure. They consider
the key factors which may influence the individual’s
vulnerability: gender, personality, age, their coping
strategies, training, attitudes, past experiences and
social support degree, i.e. help of family, friends and
colleagues. Moreover, when physical and mental
symptoms of stress such as insomnia, high blood
pressure, frequent crying, poor concentration,
anxiety, difficulty in decision making, nervous
twitches, suppressed anger, apathy, loss of sense of
humor and so on occur it is very important to try or
make the situation visible and believe that you will
overcome difficulties. At this stage the individuals
themselves should be concerned with taking
measures to reduce or eliminate stress sources and
keep well-being.
Well-being can be a state of happiness, being
healthy or comfortable. Another significant
point is increasing self-awareness and getting to
know or improving your knowledge about stress
management skills. As Day, Hall and Whitaker
suggest stress eliminating skills may come in forms
of ‘joining a yoga class, a stress management course,
reading about the signs and symptoms of stress,
counseling, learning to meditate and so on’ [19,
p.123]. Furthermore they consider that ‘we cannot
always control our external world, it is possible
to develop greater control over ourselves and our
reactions’ [20, p.121]. Control, as a variable, is one
of the most important issues. The concept of locus
of control was developed by Rotter in 1966 [7]. It
refers to the extent to which people believe that
they are able to control life events that affect them.
Locus of control might be internal or external.
Internal means people can control their life and
external means people believe that environment,
external power or others can control them. Internal
locus of control has a direct link to behavior and
the results they acquire. Thus it means that self-
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МЕНЕДЖМЕНТ В ОБРАЗОВАНИИ № 2, 2016 г.
monitoring and ability to lead yourself are essential.
From personal perspective, I would define teacher’s
well-being as a combination of self-monitoring
and life style. These are two variables which can
be different to different people. Self-monitoring
for me includes self-parenting, mentoring, self-
caring and control of my physical (e.g. sleep, diet,
or daily exercise) and emotional state, although all
these can be constituents of life style. Defining life
style of a person is harder that defining stressor
or stress. Lifestyles are the ways we live and work,
and sometimes they can be determined by our
profession. The teacher’s well-being is essential
because teaching basically is strained; therefore
it is very difficult to avoid stressful situations.
Thus, being tolerant, patient and resilient are the
important factors in social adaptation to stress
situations.
We use of the term stress is widely spread in its
negative meaning, instead of distress. Thus, stress
is defined as an inability to cope with threats to the
person’s physical, mental and psychological well-
being. However, there is another type of stress called
eustress. A positive stress is that which fuels us. In
order to prevent or cope with stress one should
initially better understand the phenomenon itself,
identify causes of stress, then take preventative and
coping measures such as working with yourself on
intellectual and emotional levels; there is no remedy
for stress. Stress is an open concept which enlarges
its frames each time with every new experience,
furthermore the event seemed stressful once might
be less stressful the next time, and the importance is
to benefit from stress experience and learn.
Stress in teaching is likely to happen always, as
a continuous cycle throughout the academic year.
That is why adjusting to stressful situations and
well-being of teachers is crucial; teachers as leaders
in the classroom are contributors to successful
organizations (school) in general, and individuals
(students) in particular. The leader’s emotional
state may affect professional performance and
furthermore students’ achievements. Individual
differences (such as age, sex, experience and so
on) are not only determinants in perception and
coping with stress, but also sometimes cultural
characteristics which condition our stress
perception by cultural frames. Therefore, there
are different ways of preventing and coping with
stress, but reflectivity is one of the most effective
ways, especially for leaders because they are likely
to face only psychological stress and emotional
strains. Reflectivity and self-analysis lead to self-
understanding, learning, challenging for more
opportunities. Teachers should seek the best in
themselves to be a good example for surrounding
students or colleagues.
There might be different personal approaches
of teachers to overcome stress. One possible way
can be changing the learning style, to make it
more logical, reflective and cyclic. Teachers, as
professionals have experience and those lessons
gained from professional life should always be
reflected and analysed. Only when teachers
conclude with learning then they take maximum
positives from stress occurring in work. Moreover,
it will build resilience.
Teachers should be aware of potential
obstacles they may encounter in professional life,
they should encourage themselves not to give
up or feel frustration, instead they have to have
strategic thinking skills. What is more, they should
be emotionally and physically strong, resistible
personalities who are capable to overcome
vocational and professional strains. Similarly,
collegiality, cooperation, pastoral support and care
at the work place are more important and helpful
for novice teachers than the support of family and
friends in a professional situation. It is essential
for a teacher in the beginning of career path to be
confident of self-efficacy, competence and activities
they perform at work. Enthusiasm, motivation and
desire to do more should not fly away and disappear
with the lapse of time. Due to that there are some
practical issues for teachers to take into account in
daily life:
•
To enhance teacher’s self-awareness, to
nourish and renew themselves from time to time;
avoid of being uncharged, ensure that they are as
a group or class leader have enough energy for
challenges and to lead. Leaders should monitor
themselves, promote well-being, place themselves
on the top of the priority list;
•
To approach stress positively, develop the
strong sense of internal locus of control, believe
in personal improvement and continue to learn
from both positive and negative
experiences,
promote in themselves lifelong learning in order to
prevent stress and exhaustion;
•
All teachers face obstacles and may
sometimes fail, because those challenges might be
beyond their individual capabilities. In comparison
with experienced colleagues younger teachers may
suffer from failure and experience decrease in their
self-efficacy and self-esteem.
To prevent or avoid such outcomes educational
organizations should promote supportive school
culture where every teacher is welcomed in spite of
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БІЛІМ БЕРУДЕГІ МЕНЕДЖМЕНТ № 2, 2016 г.
his/her failures. But these challenges may not occur
in every single school and decisions of them cannot
be applicable for all educational organizations.
It is likely to be more fruitful in organizations
with power-centered management as in case of
Kazakhstan. From a personal perspective I believe
that all teachers need challenges: to lead others for
success and prosperity, to move forward and prove
their capability in overcoming obstacles. For without
stress experience in life, we would never really know
what it is like the challenge and ability to cope with
difficulties. As the father of the phenomenon stress
Hans Seyle wrote we (I) ‘cannot and should not be
cured of stress, but merely taught to enjoy it. Without
stress, there would be no life’. Teachers should
constantly learn from their challenges and grow
with them. While cultural aspects play a significant
role in understanding the stress phenomenon, the
stress and well-being of teachers are nearly equal
in level of topicality all over the world and impact
their professional effectiveness more or less in a
same way. All teachers may feel and experience the
same sort of difficulties. Thus, stress and well-being
will be of great importance in terms of teacher’s
professional challenge regardless culture.
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