AN INVESTIGATION ON THE EFFECT OF JOB STRESS ON TEACHERS  TEACHING PERFORMANCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOL.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Teaching is often viewed as the oldest and noblest of all professions. Teaching is defined as any activity or set of actions that has the main goal of facilitating learning. According to Akindutire & Biliyan (2001), teaching is defined as the instructor's and learner's actions that make learning more successful than it would be otherwise. The teacher, together with the administrator, is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the school, as well as the development and promotion of quality education, according to Adiotomre & Adams (2005). The authors thought that the teaching force's abilities, efficacy, efficiency, and dedication influence the quality and success of any education system, regardless of location. The efficacy of a teacher is assessed by how successfully the lesson's objectives are satisfied. This is why, at the end of each class, every good teacher checks to see whether the learning objectives have been accomplished. In Delta state, teachers, on the other hand, seem to have been ineffectual in recent years. Many theories have been presented to explain why teachers are unproductive outside of the classroom, but the most prevalent appears to be the stress they are experiencing. In recent years, teachers' occupations have gotten increasingly stressful, which has a detrimental influence on teaching effectiveness.

According to Selye Anayo, any external or internal urge that threatens to disrupt organismic balance (1978). Stress, according to Akhlaq, Amjad, Mehmood, Hussan, and Malik (2010), is a psycho-physiological process that arises from an individual's interaction with the environment and causes disturbances in the physiological, psychological, and social systems, depending on the individual's characteristics and psychological processes. Developmental and social changes, financial and housing concerns, career obligations, and academic expectations all contribute to this stress (Busari, M.S. 2011).

Stress may be produced by a number of work environments, according to Murphy Murray (1995). The author provided the following instances of work pressures: (1) Each profession has its own workload, meaning of work, hours of labor, physical environment, and workplace isolation. (2) Organizational role, which involves job ambiguity, accountability for employees, and problems stemming from ill-defined organizational boundaries. (3) Professional progress; over achievement; underachievement; job insecurity; thwarted ambitions 4) Workplace connections; bad relationships with managers, subordinates, or colleagues; delegation difficulties, violent threats, and harassment. (5) Organizational structure and atmosphere, including involvement in decision-making and non-participation in decision-making, management style, and communication patterns. Stress has been linked to a variety of early and premature deaths, including heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, and a variety of other stress-related illnesses. Stress has been demonstrated without a shadow of a doubt to make people sick, and proof of the number of maladies and diseases caused by stress is growing. Heart disease, hypertension, and high blood pressure have all been related to stress, as well as immune system impairment. Strokes, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), ulcers, diabetes, muscle and joint discomfort, miscarriage during pregnancy, allergies, baldness, and even early tooth loss have all been related to stress.

An overview of the present state of education allows for the identification of some of the social and organizational elements that contribute to stress and burnout: The expanding complexity of the teacher's position, as well as the needs of the school environment, has resulted from a mix of societal and educational system developments. Surprisingly, these increasing expectations are coupled with a devaluation of the school system and a decline in support for it, which leads to serious occupational unhappiness (working conditions) and health issues among the teaching staff. In general, burnout in the teaching profession is caused by an imbalance between the demands of the job and the benefits obtained, as well as perceived self-efficacy in achieving this goal, monitoring student growth, and obtaining acknowledgment from others. There are various aggravating variables in the teaching profession that contribute to increasing teacher burnout: Teachers must be experts, show patience and sensitivity, and be useful; their work is constantly scrutinized and evaluated by a variety of people; they work with people who may not want to work with them or benefit from their efforts; salaries are lower than those in other comparable jobs; and teachers' expectations of different aspects of their work, such as its perceived value, are lower than those in other comparable jobs.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The quantity of work that a person or organization has to complete is referred to as their workload (Mbunda, N. R. 2006). The elements that increase teachers' workload were investigated in this research. They include the number of classes taught by a single instructor each week, the creation and marking of internal exams, the distribution of workload, and administrative tasks. The causes of stress experienced by a specific teacher, according to Kyriacou & Ebuean (2001), would, of course, be unique to him or her and will rely on the exact complicated interplay between his or her personality, values, talents, and circumstances. Furthermore, coping methods, personality factors, and the environment might interact to impact the teacher's emotional and cognitive well-being by influencing the degree to which stressful events are perceived. Burnout and stress at work syndrome refers to a set of emotions, bodily symptoms, and behaviors that arise as a result of the circumstances and features of so-called helping professions (Ben-Zur & Yagil, 2005). Although, for heuristic purposes, stress always involves a transaction between the individual and their environment, causal factors in teacher stress can be divided into three broad categories: factors intrinsic to teaching, cognitive factors affecting individual vulnerability, and systemic factors operating at the institutional and political levels. The term "systemic" refers to a large group of organizational characteristics that are not essential to the nature of teaching, but rather are influenced by the educational institution's atmosphere or the larger educational context, including the political realm.

The backdrop gives an outline of what stress and burnout in teachers implies. However, it does not specifically address the sources of stress among secondary school teachers. It is against this background that the study is set to  investigate the effect of job stress on teachers  teaching performance in secondary school .

1.3     OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The general objective of the study will be to investigate the effect of job stress on teachers  teaching performance in secondary school , specifically the study intends to:

i.             To find out the causes of job stress among teachers in Secondary Schools.

ii.          To evaluate the  effect of job stress on the teaching performance of teachers in Secondary Schools.

iii.       To investigate the  challenges of teachers in teaching of secondary school students.

iv.        To proffer recommendation on how job stress can be managed among secondary school teachers.

1.4     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

i.          what are the causes of job stress among teachers in Secondary Schools?

ii.        what are the  effect of job stress on the teaching performance of teachers in Secondary Schools?

iii.       what are the  challenges of teachers in teaching of secondary school students.

iv.      what are the recommendation on how job stress can be managed among secondary school teachers?

1.5       SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY

This study will investigate the effect of job stress on teachers  teaching performance in secondary school. Hence it will be significant to the following:

School management: this study is significant to the school management as it will be exposed to the causes of job stress among teachers and work on how to minimize the work load and still get effective performance, and there is need for school management to periodically carry out trainings for teachers on how to manage the stress that comes with teaching.

Academia: this study is significant to the academic community as it will contribute to the existing literature on job stress among teachers.

1.6       SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will  find out the causes of job stress among teachers in Secondary Schools. The study will also evaluate the effect of job stress on the teaching performance of teachers in Secondary Schools. The study will further investigate the  challenges of teachers in teaching of secondary school students. Lastly, the study will proffer recommendation on how job stress can be managed among secondary school teachers. Hence the study will be delimited to Delta State.

1.7       LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Just like any other research, unavailability of needed accurate materials on the topic under study, and inability to get data were among the constraints the researcher encountered in the cause of this study. Financial constraint was equally faced by  the researcher, in getting relevant materials  and  in printing and collation of questionnaires. Furthermore, time factor pose another constraint because the researcher have to shuttle between writing of the research and engaging in other academic work which made it uneasy for the researcher.

1.8       DEFINITION OF TERMS

JOB: a paid position of regular employment.

STRESS: pressure or tension exerted on a material object

TEACHER: a person who teaches, especially in a school

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