Should I Stay or Should I Go? Stress, Coping, and Retention among Novice Teachers

1 online resource (138 pages) : PDF

2009

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

There are many factors that lead to stress and burnout of teachers that ultimately result in up to half of teachers leaving the profession before their sixth year of experience. This study is a mixed-method approach to the problem that began with surveying n=385 secondary teachers of all content areas. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to measure the teachers' burnout levels, the Classroom Appraisal of Resources and Demands (CARD) was used to measure stress, and the Preventive Resources Inventory (PRI) was used to determine the teachers' preventive coping skills. An independent t-test was conducted that found the stress and burnout levels between new and experienced teachers are not statistically different. Additionally, multiple regression tests were conducted with various combinations of independent and dependent variables. It was found that stress and burnout were significant predictors of job satisfaction. It was also revealed that years of experience, job satisfaction, and burnout are significant predictors of stress, while job satisfaction, preventive coping skills, and stress were significant predictors of burnout. This project aims to further research mathematics teachers as they are teachers in one of the most critical needs area of education. After the collection and analysis of the surveys, four mathematics teachers were chosen for follow-up interviews where they were questioned about their stressful occasions, coping mechanisms, and their ideas on mathematics teacher retention. The teachers were chosen randomly from groups that were stratified based on their preventive coping skills and stress levels.

doctoral dissertations

Mathematics--Study and teaching
Education
Education, Secondary

Ph.D.

Burnout
Coping Skills
Mathematics Education
Mixed Methods Research
Stress
Teacher Retention

Curriculum & Instruction

Royster, David

Cifarelli, Victor
Lambert, Richard
Pugalee, David
Harbaugh, Adam
Lunsford, Ronald

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2009.

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