DIMENSIONS OF OCCUPATIONAL STRESS IN WEST INDIAN SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

Difficulties associated with classroom instructional and management demands were perceived by the majority of teachers to be the most stressful aspects of their work, and problems associated with time management most clearly differentiated between teachers when compared on the basis of sex, qualifications, and years of experience.

Abstract

S ummary . Despite a growing body of research on teacher stress and development of stress‐management programmes, studies come almost exclusively from just a few industrialised nations and the applicability of their recommendations for teacher training in developing regions is difficult to ascertain. The present study helps to redress this imbalance, and reports on data from 444 secondary school teachers in Barbados using a 36‐item self‐report instrument. Individual item means indicated that difficulties associated with classroom instructional and management demands were perceived by the majority of teachers to be the most stressful aspects of their work. On the other hand, factor analysis and ANOVA computations revealed that problems associated with time management most clearly differentiated between teachers when compared on the basis of sex, qualifications, and years of experience. Findings are discussed generally with reference to the existing international literature, and more specifically in terms of living and working conditions in the West Indies.