THE IMPACT OF TEACHERS’ STRESS AND FRUSTRATION ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF JSS STUDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background to the Study

Globalization has led to an increase in the growth of educational institutions all over the world and the education scene in Kenya is not an exception especially with the current scenario of trying to achieve Vision 2030. According to Aikaman and Unterhalter (2005), globally, educating a nation remains the most vital strategy for the development of the society throughout the developing world. In essence, teachers are the key stakeholders in the teaching profession. This means that any factor that affects the teaching profession affects teachers like stress.

Stress is a word that is gotten from the Latin word called “stringere”, which means hardship or draw tight.The dictionary define stress as pressure, tension, worry strain resulting from problems in one’s life.  Stress has to do with the social, physiological and psychological make up of man.  It is a major factor of weakness of both physical and emotional disorders.Frustration can prevent one from achieving his goal.  It can be seen as disappointment or defeat.The word stress is different from frustration Stress occurs as a result of a demanding situation (Selyes, 1956).  Frustration on the other hand is an intervention situation with an on going activity (Welman, 1975).

Stress is a common occurrence among teachers both in private and government sectors.  The behavioural manifestation of stress are lack of adequate concentration and thinking, minor physical ailment like headache, sleepless night and stomach upset.  Norfolk (1977) pointed out that people under stress become irritable and over react to things.

Educators stress is defined by Kyriacou (1987) as the experience by a teacher of unpleasant emotions, such as tension, frustration, anxiety, anger, and depression, resulting from aspects of work as a teacher. Teaching can be a stressful occupation.  The interactions with students and co-workers and the incessant and fragmented demands of teaching often lead to overwhelming pressures and challenges which may lead to stress. Where work stress is unrelenting, some negative physiological, psychological and behaviour consequences may result (De Robbio and Iwanicki 1996).

Many teachers would agree that teaching is not only hard work, it can be full of stress. Pressure due to school reform efforts, inadequate administrative support, poor working conditions, lack of participation in school decision making, the burden of paperwork, and lack of resources have all been identified as factors that can cause stress among school staff. In the multicultural region, contact between cultures could be a cause of workplace stress, for teachers who are more familiar with cultures, acculturative stress can cause lowered mental health (e.g confusion, anxiety, depression) and feelings of alienation; Those who feel marginalized can become highly stressed. Teachers from very different cultures might neither understand nor appreciate the cultural differences of the communities in which they are placed.  Since novice teachers are often reluctant to ask for help, they may be afraid to let anyone know that they are having problems in the classroom.  This could then lead to additional stress.The teachers’ welfare is therefore very important for the success and achievement of educational goals. The role and responsibility of a teacher is multitasked in the present school system, the teacher has additional managerial responsibilities which include planning and executing instructional lessons, assessing students based on specific objectives derived from the set curriculum and communicating to parents, accountability for students’ performance, supervisory role, classroom management and discipline and extracurricular activity. Teaching profession occupies important and prestigious place in the society, teachers are considered as the creators of knowledge, scientists, philosophers, advocates, politicians and administrators. A teacher is the principle means for implementing all educational programmes (Kaur, 2011)

Frustration is the blocking of one’s goal.  Frustration could be caused by the condition of work and the environment of work.  Okoye (1981) pointed out that frustration occurs when there is an interference with an on going action.

All these and many more causes stress in the activities of teachers both in the classroom settings and outside the classroom. It is believed that a stressed up teacher cannot carry out his activities effectively and efficiently, that is effectiveness and efficiency which are good qualities expected of the teachers will be lost, and when both are absent in teaching, the teacher can not impart the real information to the students, hence, the academic performance of the students might be low or poor.  Therefore, in order to avoid poor academic performances in the of students, the numerous causes of stress in teachers should be looked into and checked for quality teachers begets quality students.  It is hoped that the result of this study will provide remedy concerning how teachers’ stress and frustration could be checked in relation to the academic performances of students.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

In the world of work stress is a commonplace and now major concern of managers and administrators of institutions. Teachers like other workers in different professions do experience stress. According to Kyriacou (2001), teaching is one of the top five most stressful careers. Stress affects the output. Performance is the function of administration. School Administration often blames performance on stress. A stressed teacher experiences fatigue, irritated easily, makes irrational decisions and this affects the teacher’s as evidenced in stude school factors and employment factors are management factors that influence teacher stress. The influence varies from one teacher to another, from one region to another, from one school to another and therefore consequences al or failure of any educational system depends on the teacher. Cole (2004), when an organization’s employees suffer from stress, results are likely to take one or more of the following forms: high level of sickness and absenteeism, reduced productivity and failure to meet targets, increased accidents and error rates, increased number of internal conflicts between individual and undesirable high rate of staff turnover.

1.2   Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of teachers’ stress and frustration on the academic performance of jss students.  Specifically, this study aims at the following:

i.          Identifies the various forms of stress and frustration among teachers

ii.        Determines the factors contributing to the causes of stress and frustrations among teachers

iii.      Establishes the consequences of stress and frustration among teachers on the overall performance of students

iv.      Highlight the measures to be taken in order to help reduce stress and frustrations among teachers in Nigeria Junior Secondary Schools.

1.5   Research Questions

The following questions are to be tested

v.        What are  the various forms of stress and frustration among teachers?

vi.      What are the factors contributing to the causes of stress and frustrations among teachers?

vii.    What are the consequences of stress and frustration among teachers on the overall performance of students?

viii.  What are the measures to be taken in order to help reduce stress and frustrations among teachers in Nigeria Junior Secondary Schools.?

1.5   Significance of the Study

Teachers are very important components in the life of any school organisation, pupils, students and the all round development of our society and the country at large.  Stress and frustration on the other hand are destructive instrument in the life of the teacher.  It is therefore, necessary to carry out the impact of stress, on students academic performance and proffer solutions to the problem.  The study will also help in minimizing stress and thereby maximizing teaching job satisfaction, thus leading to high level of academic performance on the part of the students.

1. 6  Scope Of The Study

The scope of this study borders on the impact of teachers’ stress and frustration on the academic performance of jss students.The study however delimited to private and public  secondary schools in  Ikeja, Lagos State  in Nigeria.

1.7 Limitation Of The Study

Like in every human endeavour, the researchers encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. The significant constraint was the scanty literature on the subject owing that it is a new discourse thus the researcher incurred more financial expenses and much time was required in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size covering  private and public  secondary schools in  Ikeja, Lagos State  in Nigeria.Thus findings of this study cannot be used for generalization for women  in other  States within Nigeria. Additionally, the researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work will impede maximum devotion to the research. Howbeit, despite the constraint  encountered during the  research,  all factors were downplayed in other to give the best and make the research successful.

1.8 Definition of Terms

Stress:  means the difficulties encountered by teachers in carrying out their work successfully

Frustration:  Is the inability of teachers to adjust positively to a demanding situation in their teaching profession

Teacher:  Is the person trained and certified to impart skills, knowledge, values and norms to students

Academic:  Academic in relationship to education is an educational study, an educational institution and/or the educational system.

Performance:  Performance is defined as the students’ accomplishment of something, the act of carrying out or accomplishing something. 

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