Teacher Stress In Regular And Specialized Conditions Of Education Of Children With Speech And/Or Hearing Difficulties

Main Content

Author(s):

Katarina Pavičić Dokoza(submitting)Adinda Dulčić(presenting)Koraljka Bakota Lidija Čilić Burušić Maja Ribar

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

10. Teacher Education Research

Format:

Poster

Session Information

10 SES 04.5 PS, General Poster Session

General Poster Session

Time:

2017-08-23

12:00-13:30

Room:

W4.corridor (Poster Area)

Chair:

Contribution

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.

Method

A sample of teachers who work in specialized institution with students with hearing and/or speech impairments will be consisted of 40 verbotonal teachers from the Primary School of the SUVAG Polyclinic. In the sample of teacher who work in regular educational conditions there will be 100 teacher who work with students with hearing and/or speech impairments in regular primary schools. Demographic and professional characteristics will be examined using short questionnaire designed for purpose of this research. The questionnaire will include questions related to age and sex of participants, their level of education, training and experience in working with students with hearing and/or language difficulties, as well as questions on the availability of expert associates in the institution in which participants work. For the assessment of teacher stress Sources of Teacher Stress Questionnaire (Boyle, Borg, Falzon, & Baglioni Jr., 1995) will be used, which was previously translated and adapted by Mikulandra and Sorić (2004).

Expected Outcomes

It is expected that teachers who work in school providing special conditions of education will have better adjustment due to their education and experience, and that they have haigher level of adaptation to conditions in the classroom. Research that examined attitudes of teachers toward integrated students with voice, speech-language communication and specific learning difficulties suggest that teachers are aware of their limitations and generally think that they lack qualifications to meet requirements imposed by educational integration (Dockrell i Lindsay, 2001; Sadler, 2005). It was also found that teachers who work with children with cochlear implant think that they lack sufficient knowledge about cochlear implant and specificity of educational process when they have a student with cochlear implant in their classroom (Dulčić, & Bakota, 2009). Assuming that teachers in regular educational conditions have less knowledge and that their competencies needed to work with children with difficulties are developed to a lesser extent, it is expected that higher level of teacher stress will be present in this group of teachers. The results of conducted research will provide clearer picture of teacher stress in education of students with hearing and/or language difficulties in regular schools compared to shool that provides special conditions of education.

References

Boyle, G. J., Borg, M. G., Falzon, J. M., & Baglioni Jr., A. J. (1995). A structural model oft he dimensions of teacher stress. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 65, 49-67. Boujut, E., Dean, A., Grouselle, A., & Cappe, E. (2016). Comparative study of teachers in regular schools and teachers in specialized schools in France, working with students with an autism spectrum disorder: Stress, social support, coping strategies and burnout. Journal of Autism and Developmental disorders, 46, 2874-2889. DOI:10.1007/s10803-016-2833-2 Dockrell, J., & Lindsay, G. (2001). Children with specific speech and language difficulties: The teachers’ perspectives . Oxford Review of Education, 27, 369-394. Dulčić, A., & Bakota, K. (2009). Views of elementary school teachers towards students with cochlear implants inclusion in the process of education, Collegium Antropologicum, 33, 495-501. Kokkinos, C. M., & Davazoglou, A. M. (2009). Special education teachers under stress: Evidence form a Greek national study. Educational psychology, 29, 407-424. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410902971492 Kyriacou, C. (2001). Teacher stress: Directions for future research. Educational Review, 53, 27-35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00131910120033628 Mikulandra, I., & Sorić, I. (2004). Skala za mjerenje izvora nastavničkog stresa. In A. Proroković, K. Lacković-Grgin, V. Ćubela Adorić, & Z. Penezić (Eds..), Zbirka psihologijskih skala i upitnika: svezak 2 (pp. 62-68.). Zadar: Sveučilište u Zadru. Sadler, J. (2005). Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of the mainstream teachers of children with a preschool diagnosis of speech/language impairment. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 21, 147-163.