ABSTRACT
Teaching is undoubtedly a stressful profession. Some intending teachers opt out during training, but once trained their commitment is, in the main, strong. In the inter-war years teachers were thought of as highly educated pillars of society. Teachers receiving specific in-service training talked positively about the elimination of inappropriate behaviours over a period of time with the help of other colleagues. The introduction of the National Curriculum has brought about tensions in other ways for teachers of pupils with severe learning difficulties. In small special schools most teachers are curriculum coordinators and it is not uncommon for an individual to be responsible for the development of more than one curriculum area. Many of the difficulties experienced by teachers stem from inadequate and irrelevant national, local and school policies. A number of attempts have been made to define stress in teaching. Stress is only negative in its effects when the pressures are significantly greater than the resources.
