Taking the stress out of the teaching profession

A unique project of stress prevention for teachers was recently inaugurated by the Minister for Education, Dr Michael Woods. The Creating a Healthy Teaching Environment project is "designed in such a way to allow front-line staff to deal with occupational stress in a comprehensive manner while relying on state-of-the-art expertise", says Dr Richard Wynne of the Dublin-based Work Research Centre Ltd.

The centre developed the project in co-operation with the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland and the Teachers' Union of Ireland. Project partners also include the Department of Education and Science, the Joint Managerial Body, the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools and the Irish Vocational Education Association.

The project manual is a resource pack for second-level teachers aimed at preventing work-related stress.

It is divided into five phases: getting started; how to identify stress sources in your school; from analysis to actions; implementation; and evaluation and consolidation. Phase one: Getting started includes an overview, aims, actions or tools, a checklist, hints and tips.

The aims of the project are to raise stress awareness; getting agreement and support from management and all teaching staff; establishing a programme team; and establishing the scope of the stress programme.

Tools offered include: stress awareness-raising; meeting agenda; sample programme plans; identifying motivation and barriers; model contract; setting programme boundaries; communication strategies; assigning roles and responsibilities; and working as a team. Hints and tips offered include:

ensuring that the stress programme team is not perceived as a pressure group;

getting the message across that stress is not a taboo subject or a sign of personal weakness;

the suggestion that the principal might be better included in the programme team "at a later stage rather than in the initial phase of the identification of the sources of stress".

Phase two: How to identify stress sources in your school follows the same structure of overview, aims, actions, checklist, hints and tips.

It aims to identify the main stress problems in the school; to report about school-specific stress problems; and to get a clear idea of potential solutions.

Tools offered include a stress identification questionnaire, survey guidelines, questionnaire-automated analysis and an example of a table of contents. Hints include the need for confidentiality, communications and feedback.

The stress identification questionnaire comprises 33, mainly multiple-choice, questions with six more optional questions. It includes possible stressors to be ticked such as too much work, lack of time, poor student motivation, inadequate school disciplinary policy and ineffective consultation. Phase three: From analysis to actions aims to review and prioritise identified stress problems; generate and prioritise solutions; develop a stress-prevention programme; and gain agreement from school management/principal on implementation plan.

Hints for the third phase include problem-solving groups to generate creative solutions; testing proposed solutions for feasibility; and flexibility during problem-solving. Tools include a model for describing problems and a table showing the frequency with which a solution is suggested, thereby enabling the team to quickly establish the most desired solutions in the school. The Solutions Box tool comprises a list of the problems matched with suggested solutions.

For instance, work overload could be solved by getting the person responsible for drawing up the timetable to consult with teachers before planning it. Poor pupil motivation could be addressed by developing a rewards system to support and acknowledge good behaviour.

For example, the problem of school discipline can be solved by a comprehensive review of the discipline policy document and immediate action on persistently disruptive students by way of suspension, detention and bringing in parents/guardians.

Case studies from Irish, Spanish and Dutch schools are included. Phase four: Implementation - this includes a feasibility checklist and recording the implementation of activities/solutions.

Recording implementation of activities looks at various areas. Are activities running on schedule? Are they attracting the participation of teachers and management? Is further communication required to inform teachers and management?

Phase five: Evaluation and consolidation assesses if the process has worked. It deals with programme outcomes, provides feedback to teachers and management and initiates a new cycle of stress-prevention activities.

For details, contact the Work Research Centre Ltd. 1 Greenlea Drive, Dublin 6W. Telephone: 01 492 7042. Email: wrc@wrc-research.ie jmarms@irish-times.ie