empowering teachers[1]

Empowering Teachers 1

Empowering Teachers: Eliminating

Burnout and Stress

A Classroom Management

Program Proposal

Annie Clavon


Keiser University

EDR742

Dr. Jackie Booth

l. Introduction

The Center for the advancement of Mental Health Practices

in Schools (n.d) contends that “The incidence of stress and

burnout are usually high for human service professionals,

including teacher” The demand for increased accountability and

improved outcomes has not been exclusive to the field of general

education. Demand after demand is being made on teachers, but

little is being done to lessen their stress and burnout. Teaching

can be a stressful occupation with daily interactions with

students and coworkers; not mentioning the unremitting and


disjointed demands of teaching often lead to overwhelming

pressures and challenges, which may lead to stress and burnout.

“Where work stress is unrelenting, some negative physiological,

psychological, and behavioral consequences may result,” (Derobbio

& Iwanicki, 1996, p. 1).

Kyriacou (1987) defined teacher stress as being when a

teacher experiences unpleasant emotions, such as tension,

frustration, anxiety, anger, and depression, resulting from

aspects of work (p.146). He defined teacher burnout as “the

syndrome resulting from prolonged teacher stress, primarily

characterized by physical, emotional and attitudinal exhaustion”

(p.146).

Stress has been identified as one of the factors related to

teacher attrition and is believed to be a cause of high teacher

turnover and absenteeism in parts of the Pacific (Hammond &

Onikama, 1997). Empowering teachers is a program that is meant to

assist teachers in alleviating stress and avoiding burnout.

Teachers will have an opportunity to share their own stress

reducing techniques, and learn new and better ways to cope with

stress. During the eight hours of the program, teachers will


interact with other teachers and find out how they cope with

stressful situations.

This Empowering program is designed to introduce new

teachers K-12, not only how to deal with their stress, but also

how to assist students to deal with stressful situations. The

information that is covered in this program will provide

participants with coping skills that can be used in real life

situations. the focus of teaching this course will assist

teachers in alleviating some of the main sources of teachers’

stresses such as: helping students who lack motivation;

maintaining discipline; time pressures and workload; coping with

change; and dealings with colleagues (Kyriacou (2000).

The program will be presented by the staff development

department. Staff development personnel will need to make

necessary copies and prepare folders for attendees. Other

resources will include pencils, a comfortable room, with adequate

lighting and comfortable seats, an over-head projector and a

computer. The program will consist of five group exercises that

will require participants to write short paragraphs on how they

deal with classroom disturbances, their view on cognitive


restructuring techniques, techniques they use to motivate

students, dealing with colleagues, and how participants deal with

workload and time pressure.

The program will not create a big expense for the

educational institution, but will be an asset. Conduct management

is said to be “an orderly, task-oriented approach to teaching and

learning,” (Froyen, & Iverson, 1999, p. 217). "Conduct

management refers to the set of procedural skills that teachers

employ in their attempt to address and resolve discipline

problems in the classroom" (Froyen & Iverson, 1999, p. 181).

II. Program Objectives

This empowering program will use content management, conduct

management, and covenant management as a framework with a focus

on the following objectives:

Identify coping strategies to be use in the classroom.

Identify and discuss cognitive restructuring techniques

to be used by teachers.

Discuss motivation techniques that can be used by

instructors.


Identify strategies to deal effectively with

colleagues.

Discuss strategies to deal with workload and time

pressures.

Content Management can be defined as a framework to make,

to manage (organize and prepare), to allocate and to construct

possibilities of using and dispensation electronic content,

whether it is located on the Internet, Intranet or incorporation-

wide systems. Consideration is drawn on authenticity, consistence

and convenience of the content (Empirical Aspects on Content

Management, n.d). As one can see, content management “does not

refer to skill peculiar to teaching a particular subject but

rather to those subjects skills that cut across subjects and

activities,” (Froyen & Iverson, 1999, p. 128). Content

Management can be defined as a framework to generate, to

administrate (organize and prepare), to distribute and to create

possibilities of using and processing electronic content, whether

it is located on the Internet, Intranet or incorporation-wide

systems. Attention is drawn on actuality, consistence and


accessibility of the content. Covenant management focuses on the

classroom group as a social system that has its own features that

teachers have to take into account when managing interpersonal

relationships in the classroom” (Froyen & Iverson, 1999).

III. Sessoions : Five group exercises will be done prior to

lecturing on each topic. Participants will share techniques they

use to cope with each topic.

Classroom Strategies: Coping: Group Exercise 1

Stressful situations and how to cope with stress has been an

everlasting concern for teachers. Some experts say that stress

and burnout are destructive for, teachers, students and other in

the education arena (Griffith, Steptoe & Cropley, 1999). If

combined, stress and burnout could result in teachers abandoning

their teaching careers for less stressful jobs. What teachers

need are better coping strategies, such as:

Identify the stressor

Join a stress support group

Engage in networking with colleagues and find out how they

cope

Inform administrators about the stressor


Create a therapeutic rapport with students , colleagues and

superiors

Give up the “super teacher” notion

Cognitive Restructuring Techniques: Group Exercise 2

Strayhorn (n.d) says cognitive restructuring is a way to

give a person more control over their thoughts, feelings and

behaviors. Cognitive therapy is usually used in the treatment of

mood disorders, but may be beneficial for teachers to relieve

classroom stress. According to the Center for the Advancement of

Mental Health Practices in Schools (n.d, p. 2) techniques

borrowed from cognitive therapy may be one type of palliative

technique that can help teachers reduce job-related stress. It

has been demonstrated that much of what teachers who work with

difficult children do to reduce their own feelings of stress

depend more or less on how they think of stressful situations at

school (Howard & Johnson, 2004).


Cognitive restructuring techniques may assist teachers

in preventing burnout. According to the University of Maryland,

2010) (Table 1) some cognitive techniques include Table 1:

Table 1 Cognitive Restructuring Techniques

Cognitive Restructuring-substituting negative, self-

defeating thoughts with positive, affirming thoughts,

changing perceptions of stressors from threatening to non-

threatening.

Behavior Modification- the adoption of assertive behaviors

to increase self-esteem and decrease the likelihood of

perceived stress

Journal Writing- expression of thoughts, feelings, memories,

and ideas in written form, either prose or poetry, to

increase self-awareness.

Art Therapy- the creative use of art to provide for

nonverbal expression and communication through which to

foster self-awareness and personal growth?


Humor Therapy- the use of humor or comedy to relieve a

stressful situation; self-parody is thought to be the most

effective.

Creative Problem Solving- utilizing creative abilities to

describe a problem, generate ideas, select and refine

solution, implement the solution, and evaluate its

effectiveness.

Time Management- the prioritization, scheduling, and

execution of daily responsibilities to a level of personal

satisfaction. Effective time management does not mean you

have more time; it means you make better use of the time you

have.

Social Support Groups- those groups of friends, family

members, and others whose company acts to buffer against and

dissipate the negative effects of stress.

University of Maryland, Baltimore. (2010). Cognitive

restructuring techniques.

Motivation Techniques: Group Exercise 3


Many students seem obviously excited about learning, but

many need-or expect-their instructors to encourage, challenge,

and arouse them: "Effective learning in the classroom depends on

the teacher's ability ... to maintain the interest that brought

students to the course in the first place" (Ericksen, 1978, p.

3). This writer believe that no matter what level of motivation

students bring to the classroom will be changed, for better or

worse, by what happens in the classroom. Davis (1999) says one of

the main keys to motivation is the dynamic participation of

students in their own learning because getting students involved

in activities, group problem solving exercises, helping to decide

what to do and the best way to do it, reminds students that the

teacher is interested in what they are learning. Davis (1999)

Table 2) provides some strategies for motivating students:

Table 2 Motivation Techniques

Hold high but sensible expectations for students.

Assist students to set attainable goals for themselves

Teachers should strengthen students' self-motivation. Avoid

messages that stress your power as an instructor or that


emphasizes extrinsic rewards.

Inform students what they need to do to do well in a

particular course.

Ask students to share their feelings about the course, their

expectations, and then work from students' strengths and

interests.

Ask students to share their feelings about the course, their

expectations, and then work from students' strengths and

interests.

If possible, let students have some input in choosing what

will be studied. Give students options on term papers or

other assignments (but not on tests).

Increase the difficulty of the material as the semester

progresses.

Provide feedback for students as soon as possible. Emphasize

mastery and learning rather than grades, and avoid using.

Davis, B.G. (1999). Motivating students.

Dealing with Colleagues: Group Exercise 4


The work environment, like anyplace a group of people congregate together, is a

hodgepodge of many different personalities. For the many coworkers who are easy

to work with, there will also be some difficult people at work. What make the

workplace different from other places is that everyone -- even the hard to get alone

with people -- must work together in order to accomplish what need to be done.

McKay (n.d) (Table 3) says refrain from doing the following:

Having loud telephone conversations Not cleaning up after yourself in the staff

kitchen

Showing up late for meetings Looking at a co-worker’s computer screen

over his or her shoulder

Taking supplies from a co-worker’s

desk

Neglecting to say please and thank you

Wearing too much perfume Chewing gum loudly

Taking the last of something without

replacing it

Talking behind someone’s back

Asking someone to lie for you Blaming someone else when you are at fault

Taking credit for someone else’s

work

Asking a subordinate to do something

unrelated to work, i.e. run errands

Trying to convert others to your

political or religious beliefs

Opening someone else’s mail


Sending unwanted email Telling offensive jokes

Smoking in common areas Not pulling your weight

Complaining about the company, boss,

and co-workers

Having a condescending attitude toward

others

McKay, R. (n.d). How to get along with your colleagues

Dealing with Workload and time Pressure: Group Exercise 5

“Teachers assume a wide range of roles to support school and

student success,” (Glatthorn, Boschee and Whitehead, 2009, p.

127). Workload issues lie behind much of the stress that many

teachers experience. Issues such as grading papers, tutoring,

staff meetings, preparing lectures, attending staff development

events and classroom present a heavy workload for teachers. These

duties sometime leave teachers little time to deal with the

emergencies that arise from time to time in the classroom.

Conquering workload management is therefore essentially important

for job satisfaction, and to alleviate stress and avoid burnout.

The following suggesting is put forth to assist the teacher with

workload and time pressure: (1) Assess the long term stress in

your life; (2) reduce stress by managing your workload; (3) find


out what your time is worth; (4) identify where time is wasted in

your working life; (5) focus your efforts on the most important

tasks; (6) manage the intense stress of complex projects; (7)

delegate work to others (Coping With Work Overload, n.d).

IV. Program Assessment

In the evaluation of the Empowering program a three-

step process will be used, which include measurement,

assessment and interpreting results (data will be

collected, interpreted and disseminated (CID). Assessment

gives you a starting position point (baseline data), also

ongoing assessment of the program will support the setting

of goals & objectives. After the program is presented, the

participants will be asked to complete an evaluation form.

The assessment process will be reassessed after

presentation of the program. Questions that will be

answered when assessing the program are:

What are the instructional objectives?

Are the objectives clearly stated and measurable?

What is the total number of hours of instruction


provided?

How many instructors presented the program?

What are the qualifications and experience of the

instructors?

Did the program meet the participants’ needs?

References

Center for the Advancement of Mental Health Practices in

Schools. (n.d). Coping with teacher burnout. Retrieved from

http://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/resources/educ/

camhpos/coping%20with%20teachet. burnout.pdf

Coping With Work Overload. (n.d). Retrieved from

http://www.mindtools.com/stress/workoverload/valuingtime.h

tm.

Davis, B.G. (1999). Motivating students. Retrieved from

http

://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guide


bk/teachtip/motiv.htm.

DeRobbio, R. A., & Iwanicki, E. (199. Factors accounting for

burnout among secondary

school teachers. Paper presented at the annual conferenceof the American Educational

Research Association, New York, NY.

Empirical aspects on Content Management. (nd.). Definition of content management. Retrieved

from

http://slideml.bitflux.ch/filesets/487/slide_3.html

Ericksen, S.C. (1978). “The lecture.” Memo to the faculty, no. 60.

Ann Arbor: Center for

Research on Teaching and Learning, University of

Michigan.

Froyen, L.A. & Iverson, A.M. (1999). Schoolwide and classroom management: The reflective

educator-leader. (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Prentice-Hall.

Glatthorn, A.A., Boschee, F., Whitehead, B.M. (2009).

Curriculum leadership: Strategies for

development and implementation. (2nd ed.). Los Angeles:


Sage.

Hammond, O. W., & Onikama, D. L. (1997). At risk teachers. Honolulu, HI: Pacific Resources

for Education and Learning

Howard, S. & Johnson, B. (2004). Resilient teachers: Resisting stress and burnout. Social

Psychology of Education, 7, 399-420.

Huba, & Freed. (2000). Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses. Boston: Alyn and Bacon.

Kyriacou, C. (1987). Teacher stress and burnout: An international review. Educational

Research, 29, 89-96.

McKay, R. (n.d). How to get along with your colleagues.

Retrieved from http://careerplanning

about.com/od/bosscoworkers/tp/get_along_with_collegues.htm

.

Strayhorn, J. (n.d). Cognitive Restructuring .Retrieved from

http://www.psyskills.com/cogther01.htm

University of Maryland. (2010). Coping Techniques to for stress.

Retrieved from


http://www.umaryland.edu/counseling/selfhelp/coping.html.

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