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Relationships between sources of stress and level of burnout among JC teachers in Singapore
Author
Ng, Hui Leng
Supervisor
Tan, Wee Kiat
Abstract
Stress has become an international phenomenon, partly due to increased interest and research in the subject, and partly due to the rapidly changing and increasingly borderless world. Singapore, being a small and relatively young nation with limited resources, is a highly competitive society, and is becoming more so as competition in the 21st century extends beyond the confines of national borders to the international arena.
It was with this backdrop of societal stress that the present study look a closer look at the teaching profession, one that has been frequently featured among the top of stress league tables in international studies. While acknowledging the fact that all professions have their own challenges and sources of stress, the rapid and profound changes in many aspects of the education landscape in recent years warrant a closer look at the occupational sources of stress and feelings of burnout among Singaporean teachers.
The study involved 153 teachers from three Junior Colleges in Singapore. Participation at both school and teacher levels was voluntary. After an initial cleaning up of data, responses from 149 teachers (93 females and 56 males) were used in the analyses. The primary purpose of the study is to find out some of the major occupational sources of stress as well as the levels of burnout experienced by JC teachers in Singapore. Secondary purposes include investigating which sources of stress are highly correlated with the different symptoms of burnout shown by the teachers. Sources of stress were identified through an author-constructed questionnaire, while levels of burnout were measured using an author-modified version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Both measures, together with measures of demographic variables, were administered together as the Teachers Work Life Questionnaire.
The study indicated that some major sources of stress to JC teachers in the sample were Introduction of Project Work, administration of School Excellence Model, and the rate of changes within a short time. None of these were significantly correlated to any demographic variable included in the study, implying that these were equally stressful to teachers in the sample of any demographic characteristics.
The study also indicated that on average, teachers in the sample showed the same degrees of emotional exhaustion and reduction in sense of personal accomplishment as the teachers in the normative sample used for the development of the scales of the original Maslach Burnout Inventory. In addition, teachers in the sample also showed lower sense of depersonalisation than teachers in the normative sample. All three components of burnout were not significantly correlated with any demographic variables included in the study, again implying that the conclusions apply to teachers in the sample of any demographic characteristics.
Finally, the study showed that emotional exhaustion was significantly correlated with levels of stress from lesson preparation, classroom management, over-packed curriculum, marking, use of IT for administrative purposes and finding time for friends. While the correlations were expectedly positive for the last five sources of stress items, the direction of correlation between emotional exhaustion and lesson preparation is negative. The study showed little correlational relationships between individual sources of stress and depersonalisation or reduced personal accomplishment, indicating that factors other than those included in the study are in play with respect to these two burnout components.
It was with this backdrop of societal stress that the present study look a closer look at the teaching profession, one that has been frequently featured among the top of stress league tables in international studies. While acknowledging the fact that all professions have their own challenges and sources of stress, the rapid and profound changes in many aspects of the education landscape in recent years warrant a closer look at the occupational sources of stress and feelings of burnout among Singaporean teachers.
The study involved 153 teachers from three Junior Colleges in Singapore. Participation at both school and teacher levels was voluntary. After an initial cleaning up of data, responses from 149 teachers (93 females and 56 males) were used in the analyses. The primary purpose of the study is to find out some of the major occupational sources of stress as well as the levels of burnout experienced by JC teachers in Singapore. Secondary purposes include investigating which sources of stress are highly correlated with the different symptoms of burnout shown by the teachers. Sources of stress were identified through an author-constructed questionnaire, while levels of burnout were measured using an author-modified version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Both measures, together with measures of demographic variables, were administered together as the Teachers Work Life Questionnaire.
The study indicated that some major sources of stress to JC teachers in the sample were Introduction of Project Work, administration of School Excellence Model, and the rate of changes within a short time. None of these were significantly correlated to any demographic variable included in the study, implying that these were equally stressful to teachers in the sample of any demographic characteristics.
The study also indicated that on average, teachers in the sample showed the same degrees of emotional exhaustion and reduction in sense of personal accomplishment as the teachers in the normative sample used for the development of the scales of the original Maslach Burnout Inventory. In addition, teachers in the sample also showed lower sense of depersonalisation than teachers in the normative sample. All three components of burnout were not significantly correlated with any demographic variables included in the study, again implying that the conclusions apply to teachers in the sample of any demographic characteristics.
Finally, the study showed that emotional exhaustion was significantly correlated with levels of stress from lesson preparation, classroom management, over-packed curriculum, marking, use of IT for administrative purposes and finding time for friends. While the correlations were expectedly positive for the last five sources of stress items, the direction of correlation between emotional exhaustion and lesson preparation is negative. The study showed little correlational relationships between individual sources of stress and depersonalisation or reduced personal accomplishment, indicating that factors other than those included in the study are in play with respect to these two burnout components.
Date Issued
2003
Call Number
LB2840.2 Ng
Date Submitted
2003