Professional development training can help teachers to build resistance against teaching associated stress

Abstract

AbstractThis study examined the possibility of integrating resilience strategies into the TPD-R curriculum to help teachers develop resistance to stress and enable them to thrive under the pressures of teaching. Drawing on theoretical and empirical insights, the social ecological theory of resilience provided the theoretical framework for this research. The study employed a quantitative research design and utilised a quasi-experimental approach for data collection. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 50 female participants from 2 pedagogical excellence centres located in Astana, Kazakhstan. These participants were randomly assigned to either the TPD-R group (25) or to the control group (25). The Teacher Stress Scale (TSS) (α = .81) and the Resilience for Adults Scale (α = .89) were employed for data collection to assess job stress and resilience. The data were analysed using the analysis of covariance and independent t-tests. The TPD-R training intervention significantly improved the resilience ability of female teachers, as indicated by their pre-test and post-test mean scores of 36.25 (36.25%) and 27.13 (27.13%) respectively. The participants exposed to TPD-R (mean = 43.52; SD = 13.86) demonstrated greater improvement compared to those in the control group (mean = 27.97; SD = 2.31). Furthermore, the study found a significant interaction effect between the treatment and years of service. In conclusion, TPD-R training effectively helps reduce teacher job-related stress and promotes resilience, especially among female teachers. However, the resistance against job stress may be dependent on years of experience.

Keywords

• Female teachers
• professional development training
• resilience
• teaching job-related stress
• years of service
• Lawrence Jun Zhang, Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of Auckland Faculty of Education and Social Work, New Zealand