1

WORK RELATED STRESS AS PREDICTOR TO COPING STRATEGIES

AMONG TEACHERS

A Thesis
Presented to the
Professional School
UNIVERSITY OF MINDANAO
Davao City

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements in
Master of Arts in Education
Major in Educational Management

(FULL NAME OF RESEARCHER)

Contact No. ______________
Adviser: _________________
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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Rationale

The experienced instructional challenges, and uncertainties of the new

normal in the academe brought additional stressors to the teachers (Ozamiz-

Etxebarria et al., 2021). Teachers were found to have elevated levels of

stress. In addition, majority of the teachers experienced difficulties in coping

with stressors resulting to poor performance. Worst is that the inability to cope

with stressors have been found as significantly linked with anxiety and

depression (Francisco et al., 2022; Oducado et al., 2021; Vargas-Rubilar &

Oros, 2021).

Coping strategies are known to be one of the fundamental

interventions in addressing teachers from negativities (Cooper, Dewe, &

O’Driscoll, 2001). Stress cannot be eliminated from work place, but it can be

reduced with the help of coping strategies. Coping skills are a critical

individual-level aspect of the stress regulation response. Taking active steps

to remove or circumvent the work related stress or to ameliorate the effects

that posited as an adaptive, positive way of dealing stress, especially when

individuals view the stressful event controllable (Folkman and Lazarus, 1988;

Compas, et. al., 2001, Clark, 2006). Coping is capable of mediating the

emotional outcomes from the beginning to the end of stress. Personal coping

mechanism would mediate the relationship of stress and teachers’ well-being

(Lazarus, 1993). Coping is always necessary whenever humans are faced

with challenges, adversities or difficulties. Thus, it helps individuals to lessen

or lose the burden of stress and do their work productively.

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As to the international scene, specifically in United States, most

teachers now report being under great amounts of stress several days per

week, and teacher ratings of job satisfaction recently reached a very low level

among K-12 teachers in U.S. public schools. It leads that educators’ own

social-emotional functioning and wellbeing have been largely overlooked.

Educators are constrained by the physical confines of a classroom,

performing under a constant spotlight from students and administrators. With

that, educators must cope effectively with their own emotional reactivity to

student behaviors and a variety of physical and psychological stressors (Kaur,

2016).

In Tacloban City, Division of Tacloban,a certain study was conducted

about the stress experienced by the public elementary teachers. The study

found out that there are many sources of stress of teachers such as lack of

teaching guides and learning materials, working under deadline pressures,

pupils’ lack of interest and poor study habits, having to deal with students’

misbehavior/misconduct, and financial burden. The teachers’ level of stress

was generally high. Corresponding to the sources and level of stress felt by

the teachers, they employed positive coping mechanisms. It is then

recommended that a classroom intervention program be developed in school

to lessen stress if not eradicated (Pagayanan 2016).

Recognizing the varied tasks of teachers, specifically the public school

teachers, stress is undoubtedly inherent and regardless of other factors, the

process of teaching is, in itself, stressful. Many teachers find the demands of

being professional educator, especially in today’s generation, difficult and very

stressful. Teachers stress, according to Pettegrew and Wolf (2014), arises

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from the societal expectations on what education can do and the variety of

specific tasks which teachers perform to meet these expectations.

Due to insufficient inquiries of researches both quantitative and

qualitative conducted about work-related stress and the coping strategies of

teachers, the researcher will try to pursue this study. In Mawab district, it is

being observed that work-related stress of teachers is one of the existing

problems where education is concerned. This study is designed to investigate

the factors which could be considered a problem to the coping strategies of

teachers and one of which I believed to be is the work-related stress.

Furthermore, this study will provide relevant and useful recommendations to

be made based from the results of this study.

Research Objectives

This study will attempt to determine the relationship between the work

related stress and the coping strategies of teachers in Mawab District.

Specifically, this study will seek answers to the following:

1. To determine the level of work-related stress of teachers in terms of:

1.1 discipline and motivation;

1.2 professional distress;

1.3 professional investment;

1.4 time management?

2. To determine the level of coping strategies of teachers in terms of:

2.1 dysfunctional coping;

2.2 emotion-focused coping; and

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2.3 problem-focused coping;

3. To determine if there is a significant relationship between work

related stress and coping strategies of teachers.

4. To determine which domain of work-related stress significantly

predicts to coping strategies of teachers.

Hypotheses

The hypotheses will be tested at 0.05 level of significance.

1. There is no significant relationship between the work related stress

and the coping strategies of teachers.

2. There is no domain in the work related stress that predicts the

coping strategies of teachers.

Review of Related Literature

Presented in this section are readings from the related literature,

different books, journals, articles, and internet written by different authors

relevant to the present research. Several approaches, point of views, theories,

findings from research and publications, and valuable insights from different

authors relevant to related topics of the study are discussed which is essential

for the manifestation of understanding in the study. The independent variable

is work-related stress. This has five (4) indicators: discipline and motivation;

professional distress; professional investment; and time management (Fimian,

1984). These are taken into consideration in the choice or selection of

variables used in the study. The dependent variable of this study is the coping

strategies. The following indicators are taken into considerations: problem-

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focused coping, emotion-focused coping and dysfunctional coping (Carver et

al., 1989). Theories, opinions and concepts of various authors to this study

are discussed in this chapter to provide a strong frame of references about

the variables treated under study.

Work Related Stress

The teaching profession is an occupation with a high prevalence of

work related stress. This may lead to sustained physical and mental problems

in teachers. It can also negatively affect the health, wellbeing and educational

attainment of children, and impose a financial burden on the public budget in

terms of teacher turnover and sickness absence. Most evaluated interventions

for the wellbeing of teachers are directed at the individual level, and so do not

tackle the causes of stress in the workplace. Organizational-level

interventions are a potential avenue in this regard (Montgomery et. al., 2015)

According to Sharit & Salvendy (1982), stress can be segmented into

physiological, psychological and social types, by integrating the concept of

coping strategies. They acknowledged the problem of defining stress as either

a stimulus or a response. They further hypothesized that the degree to which

an event is stressful, it depends on a complex interaction of factors that

include genetic predisposition, early social experience, cultural factors and a

lifelong conditioning process. Cox (2014) defined stress as “a complex

Psychological state deriving from the person’s cognitive appraisal of the

adaptation to the demands of the work environment.” In view of Cox, the

absolute level of demand would not appear to be the important factor in

determining the experience of stress. More important is the discrepancy that

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exists between the level of demand and the person’s ability to cope (personal

resources).

In addition, teachers’ stress not only affects his or her own health but

also negatively affects the students and even the organization. Studies among

teachers have indicated that stress has alarming negative effects on their

psychological, physical and behavioral responses The negative effects

include irritability, anger, fatigue, anxiety, depression, headaches, loss of

concentration, sleep disturbances, persistent negative thoughts, low appetite,

gastrointestinal problems, musculoskeletal problems, blood pressure, heart

disease, stroke, cancer, suicide, etc. to highlight a few from the exhaustive list

(Nagra& Arora, 2014).

Also, stress affects people, whoever or whatever the status is. It affects

the person’s decision-making, even with the highest position in the country

down to the jobless. Stress is found everywhere in the surrounding and in the

environment a person is in. Stress is a part of every single person and a lot of

people are experiencing it daily. The work-related stress comes in different

forms which can be a demanding boss, annoying co-workers, rebellious

students, angry customers, hazardous conditions, long commutes and a

never-ending workload. Job stress is negatively related to performance. In

other words, the higher the stress, the lower the performance. Workplace

stress derives from many sources. Your work performance is also affected by

stressors such as family relationships, finances and a lack of sleep stemming

from fears and anxieties about the future. How you handle the effects of

stress depends on whether it is easier to change the situation or change your

attitude toward it. In order to maximize the return on investment organizations

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are empowering employees to work to their fullest potential (Kotteeswari and

Shareif, 2014).

A research about work-related stress conducted by Newberry and

Allsop (2017) showed that the timing and intensity of challenges like high

workloads and pupil misbehavior matter for teachers’ stress that may lead to a

decision to stay or leave, but the effects are mitigated by the strength of

personal and professional relationships. The researchers argue that it is not

necessarily the challenge of the job nor the characteristics of the individual,

but the structure of the social-professional support that determines whether

teachers stay or leave the profession. It definitely highlights the importance of

social-professional support and its relationship with staying or leaving the

teaching profession.

Similarly, Kelchtermans (2017) argues that with work-related stress of

teachers, professional core relationships, like with students, colleagues,

principal, operate as ‘double-edged swords’ as they are the most important

sources for positive job outcomes, as well as for negative job outcomes that is

stress burnout. Through orientation programs including workload reduction;

which will reduce high psychological task demands and therefore indirectly

reduced the experienced tension. In fact, it was confirmed in a certain

research indicating that workload reduction decreases the level of perceived

high psychological demands (Harmsen, Lorenz, Maulana& Veen, 2017).

Subsequently, it is argued that the reduced experienced task demands might

lessen the expected effect on teaching behavior. Additionally, experiencing

tension during a short period of time might not necessarily affect teaching
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behavior significantly, whereas experiencing tension over a longer period of

time might be more powerful to determine negative changes in behavior.

The first indicator is time-management. Time management is the

process of identifying needs, making goals to meet those requirements, and

organizing one's efforts to do so. Time management is a common practice.

The art of planning, organizing, and budgeting one's time in order to attain

goals is just as important as the process of identifying needs and prioritizing

tasks (Vaisanen et al., 2018). Time management (TM) is a crucial component

of university organization because professors are expected to carry out

additional tasks in addition to educating students. They occasionally handle

student behavioral issues, communicate with parents, attend meetings, and

manage extracurricular activities. As a result, they must effectively and

efficiently manage their time. Time management is crucial, and academicians

and researchers are increasingly interested in learning more about

specialized time management techniques for instructors. The purpose of this

study is to look into how teachers' workload affects their ability to manage

their time (Hester et al., 2020)

Also, the amount of paper that teachers must manage that has nothing

to do with teaching in the classroom have gotten the most difficult in recent

years. Other factors include the students' lack of discipline and the

extracurricular activities that have become increasingly popular. In maintained

schools in England and Wales, the 2010 Teachers' Workload Diary Survey

offers data that was independently gathered on working hours and schedules.

The study also considers how teachers feel about their workload. Less than

5% of the instructors who responded to the survey said they were frequently
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required to perform tasks that were outside the scope of their duties. A slightly

higher percentage believed they were frequently unable to perform tasks that

should be a part of their work. Less than a quarter of full-time teachers

believed their workload allowed them to almost always pursue hobbies and

interests outside of work (Ali et al., 2021).

In addition, professor at Harvard University in the United States

mentioned the following techniques for successful time management:

Establishing short-, medium-, and long-term goals and ranking them

according to relevance is essential for management and administration in

order to fulfill organizational objectives. Planning an excessive amount of work

for a day or a week can prepare you for a panic attack. Recognize when

you've overscheduled yourself with common sense. Stress and work load are

significant determinants of how well one manages their time. Findings in a

study showed two factors—workload and poor time management—are the

primary causes of anxiety and depression. Turning down offers and staying

focused on the task at hand are the best strategies to save time since people

can finish their allotted work on schedule (Gul et al., 2021).

The second indicator is work-related stressors. Iqbal and Kokash

(2016) stated that work-related stressors trigger the adverse reaction people

have due to excessive pressure or other types of demand on them.

Occupational stress and its effect have been amongst the most popular topics

in research literature. This is because many researchers believe that stress is

becoming a major contributor to absenteeism, low employee morale, high

accident and turnover rates. The cost of these stress consequences has

become huge burden on many organizations.

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Consequently, workplace stress varies depending on the profession.

The profession of teaching is increasingly turning out to be somewhat

demanding. Teaching is more difficult than ever these days because of the

increased obligations and strict deadlines. Teachers are known to regularly

endure work-related stress, and this fact has been the subject of intensive

research for several decades (Hester et al., 2020).

Moreover, studies have shown that teaching is a relatively demanding

profession. There are numerous studies that support the claim that teachers

are under more stress than many other professionals. Compared to those in

other occupations, teachers experience the highest levels of work-related

stress. Growing worry has been expressed about the costs and effects of

teacher stress that are steadily rising. More focus must be given to this

spreading epidemic of stress in order to lessen the detrimental consequences

it has on educators (Vaisanen et al., 2018).

The third indicator is professional distress. The epidemiological context

in which teaching is practiced today creates additional concerns that are not

inherent to the teaching role but may have a catalytic effect, such as the

physical distance from social support networks, fear of contagion, uncertainty

about the pandemic's duration and potential effects on the economy, and

others. As a result, depending on the circumstance, psychophysical signs of

discomfort may arise, with more or less serious repercussions. There was a

rise in headaches, muscle cramps, exhaustion, worry, misery,

lightheadedness, nervousness, and eating and sleeping issues throughout the

pandemic, according to studies conducted with educators (MacIntyre et al.,

2020; Sánchez Mendiola et al., 2020).

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Also, the sources of work-related stress is thought to have a fairly

negative impact on their ability to educate. Job satisfaction among instructors

revealed to be highly correlated with organizational support. It is extremely

noteworthy that there are deemed harmful working conditions. Conflicting

instructions from unofficial sources and a lack of resources to complete their

job cause confusion in this situation. The instructors also claimed that they

were subjected to intense supervision from the administration of their schools,

which caused them additional stress. Teachers experience emotional burnout

resulting to professional distress (Shen et al., 2018).

In support, the teaching profession involves a lot of stress. Poor health

consequences including burnout and psychological anguish are linked to high

levels of stress. Therefore, it becomes crucial for teachers to utilize coping

mechanisms. Teachers' high rates of psychological discomfort and burnout

require immediate treatment. To prepare teachers for the work, training

programs should cover interpersonal skills development, stress management

techniques, and resilience. Additionally, interventions for promoting mental

health should be included in teacher training curricula (Pretorius &

Padmanabhanunni, 2022).

Coping Strategies

Having positive strategies to cope up with stress, on the other hand,

there are people; either intentionally or unintentionally, employs negative

coping strategies to deal with it. Negative coping strategies are common

responses to stress and feelings of being overwhelmed. Although these

strategies can provide temporary stress relief, they can cause more stress
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later on in the process (Crisis Intervention & Suicide Prevention Centre of

British Columbia, 2010).

In fact, since teachers are responsible for providing a stimulating

learning environment to facilitate student academic outcomes and to provide a

positive emotional climate to support student social-emotional functioning,

they must cope effectively with their own emotional reactivity to a variety of

physical and psychological stressors (Day and Qing 2016). With this,

educators’ experiences of work stress may lead to decreased performance

and burnout as well as poor student outcomes (Jennings and Greenberg

2016).

The first indicator is problem-focused coping. Problem-focused coping

involves attempting to change the stressful event through direct action or

active problem solving. When people perceive a situation as being under their

direct control or amenable to improvement, they choose problem-focused

coping strategies that concentrate on changing the problems or situational

causes. Instructors who use emotion-focused coping are more likely to seek

emotional support and express their thoughts with peers than teachers who

employ problem-focused coping, who may seek assistance from colleagues

who have handled similar challenging experiences (Ciuhan et al., 2022).

In addition, in a study, teachers found a similar relationship between

disengagement coping mechanisms and increased teacher aggression in the

classroom and engagement mechanisms and more appropriate disciplinary

measures. Further, who embraced problem-focused disengagement were

linked to higher levels of anxiety and were more likely to leave the teaching

profession. Overall, research indicates that problem-focused engagement is

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most adaptive for teachers, emotion-focused engagement has conflicting

impacts while disengagement techniques typically result in unfavorable results

(Wang & Hall, 2021).

Moreover, when an issue is solved or more knowledge about the

situation can be obtained, problem-focused coping techniques are applied.

Problem-focused coping techniques can put an emphasis on one's

environment or on oneself. Unlike their emotion-focused counterparts,

problem-focused coping methods are specific to the context in which they are

used. The use of emotion-focused coping, on the other hand, occurs when a

challenge seems insurmountable or when nothing can be done to alter the

situation. Emotion-focused coping can be cognitive such as extending or

reducing distress, reassessing the situation, choosing what to focus on, or

avoiding it or behavioral such as exercising, and relaxing (Aulen et al., 2021).

The second indicator is emotion-focused coping. Emotion-focused

coping attempts to lessen the strength of negative feelings and is predicated

on the idea that it most frequently takes place when people perceive their

circumstances as being out of their control, forcing them to tolerate

unpleasant emotions in order to avoid psychological harm. For instance,

teachers who choose emotion-focused coping are more likely to seek

emotional support and discuss their concerns with peers, whereas teachers

who employ problem-focused coping may seek guidance from colleagues

who have overcome similar unfavorable situations (Ciuhan et al., 2022).

Further, learning stress-coping techniques like yoga and mindfulness,

fall under the category of emotion-focused coping. These coping mechanisms

were employed by the teachers to maintain their composure under pressure.

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When faced with a growing workload, for instance, using methods that

emphasize processes like heightened awareness and breathing exercises can

serve as a kind of coping and stress management. Self-regulation of attention

can operate as a protective factor in the interaction between stress,

aspiration, and professional burnout, according to research on teachers. Yoga

and mindfulness are well-established practices for controlling one's health and

quality of life. A break is an emotion-focused method that can momentarily

boost motivation and re-energize a person, but it doesn't address the

underlying issue that underlies the stress ((Tharaldsen & Stallard, 2019).

The third indicator is dysfunctional coping. This type of coping attempts

to escape the problem or any associated emotions, dysfunctional coping is

frequently emotion-focused since it entails an effort to get away from negative

emotions. A couple of these tactics are denial and avoidance. Since

disengagement coping does not lessen the existence or eventual impact of

the problem, it is typically inefficient in reducing discomfort over the long run

(Cruickshank et al., 2021)

Also, dysfunctional coping mechanisms might spare male primary

teachers from awkward staffroom interactions. However, this may also

prevent them from developing bonds with their coworkers that might lessen

this awkwardness. Despite the possible drawbacks of these tactics, several

participants seemed to find them helpful in overcoming the social isolation

they encountered at their schools (Ciuhan et al., 2022).

On the other hand, social support can reduce the impact of stressors

on teachers’ well-being, job satisfaction, and physical illness risk. Teachers

seek support from family, friends, and colleagues in order to receive advice,
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discuss feelings, get emotional support, get sympathy and understanding, and

to talk about their feelings. Teachers who have more support within their

personal lives tend to experience less stress in the workplace. Active

planning, although a part of the normal workload, allows teachers to take their

mind off stress and focus on their work. The process of active planning

involves concentrating efforts, developing a plan, taking some action, coming

up with strategies, trying to take steps, and doing what has to be done in

order to keep their attention on the students rather than the stressor (Cropley,

Griffith, & Steptoe, 1999).

The consequences of a stressor or stressors will depend on the type of

coping mechanisms the teacher has developed. In many instances, teachers

have not been trained either to handle their stressors or to develop a variety

of successful coping mechanisms. Blona (2005) pointed out that one must

know what it is and its causes, in order to deal with it well. He coined stress as

any event or circumstance that strains or exceeds an individual ability to cope.

Hence, stress is not an ordinary thing that may be set aside and ignored.

Taking action while its symptoms are not yet severe is very important to have

a great perspective in life.

Meanwhile, one coping strategies one can apply towards work related

stress is to consider challenges positively. People can be motivated by the

challenges encountered within their work environment. However, when

pressure due to work demands, and other so called stressors becomes

excessive and prolonged in relation to the perceived ability to cope this can

lead to the experience of stress. The concept of stress is often confused with

challenge; sometimes leading people to refer to good and bad stress.

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However, these concepts are not the same. Experiencing challenges in our

work can energize us psychologically and physically, and encourage us to

learn new skills. Feeling challenged by one’s work is an important ingredient

in developing and sustaining a psychologically healthy work environment.

However, excessive and prolonged pressure and demands that exceed the

worker’s perceived resources, capabilities and skills to cope should not be

understood as a healthy pressure or good stress, but rather as the defining

components of work-related stress (Hassard and Cox, 2014).

Another coping strategy that teachers can apply in dealing with work

related stress is the interpersonal skill which is very much valuable. Training

to become more assertive in the classroom and the staff room is useful, but

so is a climate of support. A caring and compassionate working environment

is an important protective factor. Empathic listening and supportive mentoring

are interpersonal antidotes to the adversarial relationships teachers often

experience in working with colleagues, students, and parents. Instrumental

and emotional support are essential in both problem solving and

psychological well-being (Herman & Reinke, 2015).

Meanwhile, work engagement is considered as a coping strategy for

teachers with their work-related stress. It refers to a positive, fulfilling, work-

related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and

absorption. It is particularly emphasized the experience of energy and the

perception of the work as a significant and meaningful pursuit. Previous

research shows that teacher engagement is positively predicted by teacher

self-efficacy and negatively predicted by emotional exhaustion. Work

engagement is also associated with positive outcomes, for instance lower

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intentions of leaving the teaching profession. In turn, engagement to predict

motivation to leave the teaching profession is expected at the least (Skaalvik

& Skaalvik, 2014).

Moreover, teacher self-efficacy is in contemporary educational

research founded on social cognitive theory (Bandura, 2006). According to

(Zimmerman and Cleary, 2006) self-efficacy is a belief about what a person

can do and how well he or she can do it. It is one great coping strategy of

teachers as it is seen as a multidimensional construct and as the most central

mechanism of human agency, and the ability to influence intentionally one’s

functioning and life circumstances (Bandura, 2006). It determines how

environmental opportunities and impediments are perceived and therefore

influences peoples’ goals, values, and behavior. Bandura also emphasizes

that people with low self-efficacy tend to magnify possible problems and

threats and dwell with their shortcomings. Thus, having high of it will lead to a

positive mindset in dealing different challenges and even stress.

Social support can also reduce the effect of stressors on teachers

result in positive outcome like well-being, job satisfaction, eliminating physical

illness risk. Teachers seek social support from their family, friends, and

colleagues to get advice, discuss their feelings and problems, get emotional

support, understanding so that they can talk about their feelings without any

hassle. It has been observed teachers who strong support in their personal

life tends to experience less stress in the workplace (Griffith, Steptoe, &

Cropley, 1999).
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Stress factors have a medium to extremely strong impact on people, so

finding solutions to reduce or eliminate the stress in teaching should become

a priority for the improvement of the teaching process quality. In order to cope

with the accumulated stress at their job, teachers call for some solutions:

discussing problems with their family members, friends or colleagues (Aldrup

et al., 2017), psychological counselling, taking part in training programs for

personal development and resilience (Sandilos et al., 2018), self-examination

of the life style (Fengler, 2016) avoiding situations or persons who generated

the stress, spending free time in nature, practicing physical relaxation

exercises (Fengler, 2016).

Furthermore, one most easy and straight method to deal with stress is

eliminates the sources of stress. Stressful situations if treated with proper care

and seriousness can easily be changed to pleasant situations or

circumstances. To eliminate stress in school teachers the education

department and private school management should act properly. Various

seminar should be organized to guide the teachers to detect and deal with

stress, group meditation sessions, various recreational activities such dance

competitions, painting competitions and singing competitions etc. should be

perform at different levels in schools (Kaur, 2016).

Correlations Between Measures

Teacher stress is defined as a negative state held by a teacher that

includes unpleasant emotions, such as anger or sadness, as a result of their

work and it appears when events and responsibilities exceed one’s coping

mechanisms (Kyriacou, 2001). Teacher stress is common and universal

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across cultures (Harney, 2008). Teacher stress related to teacher absences,

turnover, and early retirement (Kipps-Vaugn, 2013).

Teachers have a very important responsibility in educating their

students thus dealing with stress is a must in today’s generation. It is

important to assess the level of stress in teachers in order to examine their

coping strategies that directly deal with stress (Fimian, 1984). Fimian (1984)

described an instrument known as the Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI) that

validly and reliably assessed the level of stress in teachers. Fimian’s (1984).

TSI defined four factors that relate to stress: Personal/Professional Stressors

(time management/work-related stress); Professional Distress; Discipline and

Motivation; Professional Investment; and three manifestations: Emotional

Manifestations; Biobehavioral Manifestations; and Physiological-Fatigue

Manifestations (fatigue, cardiovascular, gastronomical).

Teaching work-related stress is described either as “the teacher

experimenting some negative emotions as tension, frustration, anxiety, fury

and depression, resulted from some teaching aspects” (Sandilos et al., 2018).

In order to cope with the accumulated stress at their job, teachers call for

some solutions like discussing problems with their family members, friends or

colleagues, psychological counselling, taking part in training programs for

personal development and resilience, self-examination of the life style,

avoiding situations or persons who generated the stress, spending free time in

nature, practicing physical relaxation exercises, changing jobs, eating healthy

food and taking pills, isolation and reflection on the situation (Fengler, 2016).
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Stress is an event in the work environment engages the cognitive

appraisal process, or primary appraisal. This consists of an evaluation of

whether the event is a threat to the individual’s well-being, or whether it can

be dismissed as benign or perhaps challenging. If the individual perceives a

threat to well-being, the secondary appraisal process is engaged to determine

if anything can be done to handle the situation. In this secondary appraisal

stage, individuals are said to evaluate their available options for coping with

the stressor (Lazarus,1985). Folkman and Lazarus (1985) developed The

Transactional Model of Stress and Coping which is a basis for evaluating the

processes of coping with stressful events. Stressful experiences are

interpreted as person-environment transactions. These transactions depend

on the impact of the external stressor. The dual approach in appreciating the

stressor involves firstly through the person’s appraisal of the stressor and

secondly on the social and cultural resources at his/her disposal. The

transactional model suggests that an imbalance of greater environmental

demands than resources to cope with these demands produces strain.

On later years, Carver and Weintraub (1989) used Ways of Coping

Mechanisms based on Folkman & Lazarus’ Tranactional Theory. This

consists of problem-focused coping include active coping, planning, restraint

coping, seeking social support for instrumental reasons, and suppression of

competing activities; emotion-focused coping: positive reinterpretation and

growth, religion, humor, acceptance, and seeking social support for emotional

reasons. Moreover, he added one more model named dysfunctional coping,

which contents focus on, and venting of emotions, denial, behavioral

disengagement, mental disengagement, and alcohol/drug use

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Teacher work-related stress must be given with solutions or coping

strategies, so that teachers at the education institution or work environment

will experience happiness in doing their job while giving quality education in

the teaching and learning process. In fact, the conceptualization of the

professional stress itself influences directly the way it is managed and brings

with it a series of measures to reduce the phenomenon (Cooper, 2003).

The purpose of coping with stress is not avoiding stress completely but

is to create an optimal, middle level stress. When the stress management is

handled in educational organizations; it becomes important to find a way to

decrease stress level in educational environment in line with perspectives of

students, teachers and families. According to Pehlivan (2014), the outcomes

of inefficiency of the teacher working in stressful environment might be

reflected upon students, co-workers, families and steadily to the whole

society. In this sense, it is important to know sources of stress for teachers

that are causing stress most in order to intervene with those sources.

Additionally, revealing how teachers will cope with the stress might enable to

develop solutions in order to initiate the effects of stress (Aydin & Kaya,

2016).

Arikewuyo (2014) stated that teachers should separate their lives at

home and workplace and should actively manage the stressful problems, thus

managing the problem is the best way to cope with stress. Training in stress

management skills and interpersonal problem solving skills helps in coping

with stress. Job stress may result from the presence of negative experiences

as well as the absence of positive conditions at workplace. Both the presence

of negative aspects and absence of positive factors may lead towards the
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tediousness, attitudinal and emotional exhaustion (Aziz, Quraishi, &

Siddiquah, 2018). Common positive strategies used by teachers to reduce

stress include exercise, social resources, avoidance, reading, hobbies,

movement, and meditation (Gulwadi, 2006). Yussuf and Popoola (2016)

concluded the results of their descriptive cross sectional survey study in

Nigeria and reported high prevalence of stress and reported job

dissatisfaction and poor mental health have as big determinants of stress.

Past research generally has been limited to only identifying sources

and consequences of stress for teachers. There is a need to further

understand why these sources of stress affect teachers and why they choose

particular responses to stress. Considering why particular sources of stress

affect teachers will allow the health educator to suggest positive stress

management programs and coping mechanisms that can be made within the

organizational structure of schools that will lessen work-related stress.

Understanding why teachers respond the way they do to stress can allow for

adaptive strategies to be used in order to help teachers address and cope

with stress. This literature explains in detail the most common coping

strategies used by teachers; however, this literature does not clarify why

teachers choose particular coping strategies. There is a need to investigate

the reasons as to why teachers choose particular coping strategies as a way

of handling stress. Understanding why these strategies are used will provide

teachers with the opportunity to better understand how to cope with stress

and provide the tools and resources for effective stress management

programs designed to alleviate attrition.

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The above readings are all about the essential information about how

work-related stress affects the coping strategies of teachers. This will be given

bases whether what indicator of work-related stress could predict the coping

strategies of teachers. It also provides the explanations and understandings

on the support of work-related stress experienced by the teachers.

Furthermore, those information above provided the research an intuitive and

more progressive findings.

Theoretical Framework

This study was anchored on Folkman & Lazarus’ (1985) Transactional

Theory of Stress and Coping. The theory identifies the process of coping as

critical mediators of stressful person-environment relations and their

immediate and long-range outcomes. Stress considers being the experienced

condition or feeling when individuals perceive that the demands of a situation

exceed their perceived resources and endanger well-being (Lazarus, 1966,

1999; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). According to the model, an event in the

work environment engages the cognitive appraisal process, or primary

appraisal. If the individual perceives a threat to well-being, the secondary

appraisal process is engaged to determine if anything can be done to handle

the situation. The same concept showed in Cox’s Model of Stress (1985) in

which the individual becomes stressed when a discrepancy occurs between

the perceived level of the stressful demands and his/her perceived ability to

respond to and to cope with the demands. In addition, Cox (1985) maintains

that stress is an imbalance between a perceived demand and a perceived

capability, with the demands changing at various levels of appraisal during the

phases of the stress process.

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Stress was thought to be a physical condition as well as psychological,

and it could have physical symptoms associated with it. Kennedy Paine

(2009) explained that there are cognitive, physical, affective, and behavioral

warning signs of stress. Teacher stress directly effects teachers’ physical,

academic, and social performance (Sears, Urizar, & Evans, 2000). It is

important to assess the level of stress in teachers in order to examine their

coping strategies that directly deal with stress (Fimian, 1984). These factors

were described in Fimian’s Teacher Stress Inventory (1984) in which validly

and reliably assessed the level of stress in teachers. TSI defined four factors

that relate to stress: Professional Stressors such as time management;

discipline and motivation; professional investment.

Stress factors have a medium to extremely strong impact on people,

finding solutions to reduce or eliminate the stress in teaching should become

a priority for the improvement of the teaching process quality. Stressors

experienced by one teacher are unique to him or her and are reliant on the

specific interaction between the teacher's personality, values, skills, and

circumstances. In addition, many factors, such as means of coping and

strategies, personality traits and characteristics of the environment can

interactively affect teacher's perception of the degree to which situations are

stressful (Kyriacou, 2001).

In order to deal with stressful events and to alleviate feelings of

distress, teachers use means of coping that include cognitive, emotional and

behavioral strategies of comforting and adaptation to the stressful situation

(Admiraal, Korthagen, & Wubbles, 2000; Kyriacou, 2001). Carver, Scheier, &

Weintraub (1989) adapted Folkman & Lazarus’ Transactional Model of Stress

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and Coping. These coping strategies that would help teachers lessen stress

and deal with stress include problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping

and dysfunctional coping. Problem-focused coping include active coping,

planning, restraint coping, seeking social support for instrumental reasons,

and suppression of competing activities; whereas emotion-focused coping are

positive reinterpretation and growth, religion, humor, acceptance, and seeking

social support for emotional reasons and the dysfunctional coping, which

contents focus on venting of emotions, denial, behavioral disengagement,

mental disengagement, and alcohol/drug use.

Conceptual Framework

In this study, the independent variable is Work-Related Stress (Fimian,

1984) which includes time management, work-related stressor, professional

distress, discipline and motivation, and professional investment. Time

management refers to the planning and controlling the time to spend on things

to be done; work-related stressors refers to the conflict between the work

demands on teacher and the amount of control the teacher has over meeting

the work demands; professional distress refers to the external and temporary

cause of great physical or mental strain within the teacher’s workplace;

discipline and motivation refers to the students’ behaviour and response to the

teacher inside the classroom; and professional investment is the teacher’s

growth and development within the teaching field and how one improves

oneself professionally.

On the other hand, the dependent variable has the following indicators:

problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and dysfunctional coping.

Problem-focused coping refers to the individual’s way of dealing with the

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problem at hand or eliminate the stressors through problem solving that

assumes the situation can be changed. This includes active coping, planning,

restraint coping, seeking social support for instrumental reasons, and

suppression of competing activities. Whereas emotion-focused coping refers

to the tendency to make themselves feel better about a problematic situation

particularly those that an individual has no control over. This includes positive

reinterpretation and growth, religion, humor, acceptance, and seeking social

support for emotional reasons; and dysfunctional coping refers to the

tendency to focus on venting of emotions, denial, behavioral disengagement,

mental disengagement, and alcohol/drug use. Presented in Figure 1 of the

next page is the conceptual framework of the study.

Significance of the Study

Identifying one’s stress plays a significant part in coping strategies that

could help overcome or reduce the stress experienced by individuals. Stress

must be dealt properly through the coping strategies for it lead to better

teaching performance of teachers in which is very essential in the teaching-

learning process.

This study will benefit the following:

DepEd personnel and School Heads since they are responsible to

innovate for better plans about the things which will benefit those who are

involved in the educational process. The results of this study will provide

concrete data to which improvements to the existing system be based upon.

Teachers will be monitored on the performance in school.

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Independent Variable Dependent Variable

WORK-RELATED STRESS

OBJECTIVE

Coping strategies
Work related stress  problem-focused coping;
 emotion-focused coping;
 time management; and
 work-related stressors;  dysfunctional coping
 professional distress;
 discipline and motivation; and
 professional investment

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework of the Study

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The teachers, parents and students who need to be coordinated and

interconnected. The teachers, as they will benefit to this study as it may serve

as the guide for them to experience a stress free environment in which they

can perform their tasks at their best in the academic endeavour. The parents

who will assist the teachers in the teaching-learning process, especially those

whose children have problematic behaviors. Together with the teachers, they

have to monitor their children holistically. The students, who are the center of

the educational process. They should be provided with the best experiences

so they will have better chances of success.

Definition of Terms

Work-related Stress. As used in this study, it is the adverse reaction

people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them

at work which are the time management, work-related stressors, professional

distress, discipline and motivation, and professional investment.

Coping Strategies. As used in this study, it refers to the specific

efforts, both behavioural and psychological, that people employ to master,

tolerate, reduce or minimize stressful events. This includes the problem-

focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and dysfunctional coping.

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Chapter 2

METHOD

This chapter discusses the research steps and procedures to be

employed in this study. It includes the research design, the research locale,

the population and sample, the research instrument, the data collection

procedures, the statistical tools to be used and the ethical consideration.

Research Design

In this study, non-experimental, quantitative research methods will be

used to identify correlations between variables. It is definitive in its intent since

it seeks results that can be extrapolated to a larger population in order to

quantify the issue and understand how pervasive it is. It is also non-

experimental since the study's variables will be investigated in their natural

contexts without manipulation or modification (Bloomfield & Fisher, 2019).

The descriptive-correlational design will be used to describe the

significance of the relationship of work-related stress as predictor of the

coping strategies employed by the teachers. Further, linear regression will be

utilized to model the relationship between the two variables.

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Research Locale

This study will be conducted in the schools of Mawab District Division

of Davao de Oro. This will cover the entire municipality of Mawab in which the

sample population of public elementary school teachers will be considered as

respondents. Most of the schools are located in rural areas hence the schools

are found mostly in agricultural locations. The study will be conducted from

November 2022 to December 2022.

Population and Sample

This study's participants will be the elementary school teachers in

Mawab District. They will be coming from the clustered schools in public

elementary schools in Mawab District, Division of Davao de Oro. The total

population is 374. Using the database web survey software of Raosoft, Inc.,

the researcher will consider 190 respondents. The sample size is appropriate

for a 95% confidence level with 5% margin of error. To determine the sample

per school, stratified random sampling technique will be utilized. Creswell

(2015) described this method as a means of determining the sampling size

wherein a population is divided into smaller groupings called strata. Table A

below presents the distribution of respondents.

Table A. Distribution of Respondents

Cluster Schools Population Respondents

A 43 22
B 60 30
C 46 23
D 62 32
E 163 83
Total 374 190
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Random sampling will be used in selecting the specific respondent of

this research from among the identified schools. The use of this type of

sampling ensures that the results obtained are approximate to what would

have been obtained if the entire population had been measured (Elfil &

Negida, 2017). To identify the specific respondent per school, random

selection using the random function in MS Excel will be utilized. Figure 2 on

the next page presents the map of the research locale.

Research Instrument

The survey questionnaire which will be used as an instrument in the

study will be composed of two (2) parts. The first part of the survey will be the

Work-Related Stress (Fimian, 1984). This is composed of 20 items that will

measure five constructs namely time management, work-related stressors,

professional distress, discipline and motivation, and professional investment.

Each item will be scored using a five-point Likert Scale which will range from

Not Noticeable to Extremely Noticeable. The original questionnaire will be

validated by experts to determine the probability of contextualizing it to the

schools’ setting.
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Figure 2. Philippine Map Showing the Location of Mawab, Davao de Oro.

The following parameter will be used to determine the level of work

related stress of teachers.

Range of Means Level Interpretation

4.20-5.00 Very High This means that the work-related

stress of teachers is very much felt.

3.40-4.19 High This means that the work-related

stress of teachers is much felt.

2.60-3.39 Moderate This means that the work-related

stress of teachers is sometimes felt.

1.80-2.59 Low This means that the work-related

stress of teachers is rarely felt.

1.00-1.79 Very Low This means that the work related stress

of teachers is not felt at all.

The second set of questionnaire will be based on Carver, Scheier, &

Weintraub’s (1989) COPE Scale, which will be utilized to measure the style of

the teachers’ coping strategies. It asks teachers indicate what he/she

generally do when he/she experience stressful events by encircling the

appropriate choice on a 5-point scale of (5) always, (4) very frequently, (3)

occasionally, (2) rarely, (1) never.

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The following parameter will be used to determine the coping strategies

of teachers.

Range of Means Level Interpretation

4.20-5.00 Very High This means that the coping strategies of

teachers are always observed.

3.40-4.19 High This means that the coping strategies of

teachers are very frequently observed.

2.60-3.39 Moderate This means that the coping strategies of

teachers are occasionally observed.

1.80-2.59 Low This means that the coping strategies of

teachers are rarely observed.

1.00-1.79 Very Low This means that the coping strategies of

teachers are not observed.

To provide items for response which are accurate for a questionnaire,

the researcher will be requested to validate the instrument by the panel

members. The comments and recommendations of the validators will be then

followed to have the final draft of the research tool. After which, the validated

questionnaires will be administered to the identified respondents of the study.

Data Collection
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In order to gather the necessary data for the research, the following

steps will be considered. After the thesis committee approved the proposed

study, the researcher will construct the data gathering instrument. The

researcher will modify three sets of questionnaires which will be presented to

the adviser for comments and corrections. Then, the questionnaires will be

checked; these will be finalized and submitted to the panel of examiners for

validation. After the committee validated the questionnaires, the researcher

will seek permission to the conduct the study among teachers in Mawab

District, Mawab, Compostela Valley.

The researcher will make a letter of permission to conduct the study.

The letter of permission and appearance will be signed and granted by the

Department of Education, Compostela Valley Division’s OIC Superintendent,

Dr. Reynante A. Solitario, CESE. Upon the permission of the SDS, a copy of

the approved letter will be furnished to the District Supervisor of Mawab

District. The approved letter will be disseminated to the principals in order to

the researcher to distribute the survey tool. After the approval of the

principals, the researcher will give the questionnaires to the respondents and

give instructions and let the respondents answer the questions. The

researcher will answer queries if necessary.

Lastly, the data gathered in this study will be interpreted by the

researcher with the assistance of the statistician.

Statistical Tool

For more comprehensive interpretation and analysis of the data, the

following statistical treatments are utilized:

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Mean. This will be used to determine the level of work related stress

and the level of coping strategies of elementary teachers in Mawab District.

Pearson r. this will be used to determine the relationship between the

level of work related stress and the level of coping strategies of elementary

teachers in Mawab District.

Regression Analysis. This will be used to determine which domain of

work related stress significantly predicts to coping strategies among

elementary teachers in Mawab District.

Ethical Consideration

There are considerable ethical issues and concerns that have specific

ramifications for this quantitative inquest. Such issues and concerns may

arise primarily from the methodology involved on this study. The ethical

contests that are pertinent to this research concern the issues of the right to

conduct the study, confidentially and anonymously.

The researcher observed and followed full ethical standards in the

conduct of the study, following the study protocol; assessments and

standardized criteria, particularly in managing the population and data such

as, but not limited to:

Voluntary participation. The teachers of the selected schools were

given free-will to participate without any form of consequence or penalty or

loss of benefits. Therefore, the purpose of the benefits of the study will be

described and presented to the participating school. Then, the rights of the
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respondents to contribute to the body of knowledge will be carefully

considered and adhered upon.

Privacy and confidentiality. The research kept private and with

utmost confidentiality the respondents’ personal information that may be

required in the study.

Informed consent process. The research questionnaires were free of

technical terms that make it easier for the respondents to understand. It gives

the respondents a clear view of the benefits they may get after the conduct of

this study. The research questionnaires were administered with the consent of

the school principal.

Recruitment. The distribution of the respondents showed how the

respondents were disseminated. Furthermore, the data collection procedures

indicated, as well as how the questionnaires were administered, and the

manner of respondents involved in the study.

Risks. The study did not involve in high risks of situations that the

respondents may experience in physical, psychological or socio-economic

concerns. The study just involve in their field of motivation towards learning.

Benefits. The result of the study benefits the DepEd officials of

Compostela Valley Division and Mawab District teachers in terms of acquiring

information as to the level of teachers can identify the work related stress and

coping strategies.
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Plagiarism. The study has no trace or evidence of intentional

misinterpretation of someone else’s work as her own. The study undergone

plagiarism detector like grammarly or Turnitin software.

Fabrication. The study has no trace or evidence of intentional

misinterpretation of what has been done. No making up of data and results or

purposefully putting forward conclusions that are not accurate.

Falsification. The study has no trace of purposely misrepresenting the

work to fit a model or theoretical expectation and have no evidence of over

claiming or exaggeration.

Conflict of Interest (COI). This study has no indication of conflict of

interest involves and validity of research tends to be influenced by other

factors such as financial or academic gains or recognitions.

Deceit. The study has no indication of misleading the respondents to

any potential harm, tampering and changing of the results just to show on

what is favorable.

Authorship. The researcher of the study is a graduate of Bachelor of

Elementary Education. This study followed the standards and guidelines by

the University of Mindanao Ethics Review Committee. The researcher

undergone series of revise on the paper based on the comments, suggestions

and recommendations of the panel and adviser. Further, data collection

procedures stated the necessary preliminaries before conducting the study.

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