ABSTRACT
In this chapter we shall consider teacher stress and the feelings of teachers who are working under stress. While concentrating on the classroom events which are causes of stress many teachers feel, we have to remember that there are stresses which teachers experience which have their origin outside the classroom itself. Some of these causes of stress are within teachers’ power to alter, such as inadequate communication between staff, a management style in the school which results in the exclusion of teachers from decision-making processes which affect them, a timetable which makes unreasonable demands upon them, the absence of an appropriate policy for the management of behaviour, lack of clarity about school rules and their implementation, or uncertainty about the ways in which the school approaches the children’s parents. But there are other sources of stress which teachers do not have the power to alter, so that their feelings of stress are compounded by frustration. These sources of stress include having to work in an unsatisfactory environment which is badly planned and poorly maintained; unsatisfactory heating and ventilation; inadequate storage space; lack of adequate funding so that materials are not available and equipment is inadequate; decisions which are made at local authority level which seem inexplicable or unreasonable, and lack of support from professionals whose skills are needed in the management and teaching of children who are disruptive or who have special educational needs. Stress may also arise because of the pace of change brought about by the 1988 Education Act and the demands of implementing the National Curriculum and administering the Standard Assessment Tasks.
