Teacher stress can be defined as experiencing negative emotions, which result from some of the aspects of teacher work (Kyriacou, 2001) therefore the question arises whether there is a difference in perceived stress between teachers working in regular educational institutions and those working in specialized educational institutions. Boujut, Dean, Grouselle and Cappe (2016) examined stress in teachers working with students with an autism spectrum disorder in regular schools and those working in specialized schools. It was found that perceived stress was significantly higher in the group of teachers who work in regular educational conditions than in the group of those who work in specialized institutions. Presumption is that this difference is due to the special education teachers from specialized institutions received, which in return serves them as some as a protective factor.  

In a study of stress in teachers who work in specialized educational conditions it was found that teaching children with autism poses major stress to them, which was followed by teaching students with behavior difficulties, those with ADHD than those emotional difficulties. Speech-language difficulties were in eight place, and hearing impairments were in the last, tenth place (Kokkinos, &  Davazoglou, 2009). Although working with children with hearing and/or speech-language difficulties is relatively low on list of stressful categories of children to teach, the assumption is that there will be difference in the perceived stress between teachers who work with children with those types of difficulties in different educational settings. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to compare levels of teacher stress in the group of teachers who work in regular educational institutions and in the group of those who work in the institution that provides special conditions for education. Three potential sources of teacher stress will be considered; those related to inappropriate behavior of students, need for professional recognition, and workload, as well as overall level of teacher stress. Predictive value of demographic and professional characteristics in each group of teachers will also be examined.

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