Jour of Adv Research in Dynamical & Control Systems, Vol. 10, 05-Special Issue, 2018 Nature of Stress Teachers Face and the Ways in which they Cope with IT (An Empirical Study with Special References to Coimbatore City) G.P. Selvi, Ph.D. Research Scholar, Commerce, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore. Dr.K. Jothi, Associate Professor, Commerce, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore. E-mail:jothikrishnasamydr@gmail.com Abstract--- School teachers are usually burdened with multiple roles and responsibilities that cause stress among them. This study aims to analyse the nature of stress the teachers of Coimbatore city face and how they cope with it. The study has found that a majority, i.e., 73.61 percent of teachers surveyed are female and most of them are aged between 41-50 years. The teachers surveyed have claimed that they face stress due to high pressure in their work environment. Teachers face stress due to long working hours, pressure from management to produce good results, pressure from school administrators and also stress faced while dealing with adolescent students. A majority of the teachers have claimed that they face constant stress, which is unavoidable in their job. Sample teachers say that they maintain patience when they feel they are in stress. While some have the habit of shouting at others due to stress. A few teachers turn religious whenever they are in stress, some consult psychiatrists and some others practice yoga. Keywords--- Stress, School Teachers, Perception, Causes of Stress and Working Environment. I. Introduction Teaching has become a more challenging profession worldwide because teaching is also becoming a stressful profession like many other professions. School teachers are usually burdened with multiple roles and responsibilities that cause stress. The teacher plays a vital role as an academic planner, curriculum and students’ developer, information provider, facilitator and resource developer. Moreover, these days teaching is more stressful because teachers have many deadlines to meet as well as more responsibilities to shoulder. Due to increasing work load the teachers face and issues in balancing many roles, stress is always a part of the teaching profession. Generally, it has been observed that stress among teachers is caused by many factors including poor working environment in schools, lack of teaching materials and resources, heavy workload and lack of senior and family support system. II. Statement of the Problem With teachers faced with increasing stress these days, it is important to understand what kind of stress teachers they are facing. Teacher stress is influenced by the job demand and their difficulty in coping with it. Depending on the nature of stress the coping practice also changes among individuals. The way they face stress in the school environment affects them psychologically. Stress coping behaviours and the resources available to deal with them come in the form of physical, psychological, social, or material factors both in the work place and at home. Most common positive strategies teachers use to eliminate stress are exercise, social resources, avoidance, reading, hobbies, outdoor activities and meditation. III. Objective of the Study This study aims to analyse the nature of stress faced and the ways in which the school teachers in Coimbatore city cope with it. IV. Review of Literature A brief review of literature on the causes of stress and its impact on the physical and mental state of teachers is discussed below. Jenitta and Mangaleswaran (2016) study found that stress among teachers were caused by heavy work load, difficult working conditions, personal problems, environment and problems related to the curriculum. Dua and Sangwan (2017) study found that female teacher working in high schools were usually burdened with multiple roles and responsibilities, so stress levels were high among them. ISSN 1943-023X Received: 15 Mar 2018/Accepted: 20 Apr 2018 1076 Jour of Adv Research in Dynamical & Control Systems, Vol. 10, 05-Special Issue, 2018 Sing and Katoch (2017) study concluded that secondary school teachers occupational stress could be categorised as high, moderate and low levels. Sunanda (2017) claimed that high level of stress increased health problems, led to reduced productivity and impacted other teachers, students and the school as a whole. The reviews discussed above provided a prelude to the nature of stress faced by the school teachers at different levels and its impact on their work and health. V. Research Methodology This study is both explorative and descriptive in nature. The study has been conducted in two phases. In the first phase, a large number of literature reviews were collected and assessed. This stage of the research was quite quantitative in nature, followed by the second phase of data collection, which was mostly based on detailed interviews from the sample respondents with the support of well-structured questionnaires. To examine the hypothesis of the study, the researcher conducted the quantitative research, which was descriptive in nature. The study considered a small sample of 80 teachers from government and private schools in Coimbatore, who were surveyed for the conduct of the study i.e., 40 teachers from each category of schools were approached for data collection. At the end of the data analysis it was observed that only 72 questionnaires were returned by the sample subjects. Thus, the study constitutes only 72 teachers as sample. VI. Results and Discussion The empirical survey was conducted among 72 teachers, of whom 73.61 percent were female and the rest (26.39) male. It was observed that 40.28 percent of the respondents were aged between 41 and 50 years and 97.22 percent married. It has been inferred that 38.89 percent of the respondents have completed M.Phil degree and 34.72 percent post-graduation with B.Ed. Similarly, 15.28 percent of the respondents have completed post-graduation with M.Ed. and the remaining 11.11 Ph.D. degree. The study observed that 29.17 percent of the respondents have six to ten years of experience in teaching. Table 1: Higher Secondary School Teachers Perception on the Factors that Causes Stress Sl. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. Stress Work Environment Supervision Work Group Social Injustice Total No. of Respondents 30 14 11 17 72 Percentage 41.67 19.44 15.28 23.61 100 Source: Primary Data Table above reveals that 41.67 percent of the school teachers have experienced high degree of stress due to pressure of the school environment, followed by 23.61 percent of the teachers who have experienced social injustices like gender bias and caste discrimination. Similarly 19.44 percent of the respondents have experienced pressure from the superiors and the remaining 15.28 percent from work group i.e., stress caused by colleagues. Percentage Series1, Work Environment , 41.67 Series1, Supervision , 19.44 Series1, Social Injustice , 23.61 Series1, Work Group, 15.28 Causes Stress Chart 1: Higher Secondary School Teachers Perception on the Factors that Causes Stress ISSN 1943-023X Received: 15 Mar 2018/Accepted: 20 Apr 2018 1077 Jour of Adv Research in Dynamical & Control Systems, Vol. 10, 05-Special Issue, 2018 Table 2: Higher Secondary School Teachers Opinion on Demanding Factors that Causes Sl. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. Stress Related Demand Dealing with Students Administration Producing Good Results Long working Hours Total No. of Respondents 10 16 22 24 72 Percentage 13.89 22.22 30.56 33.33 100 Source: Primary Data 30.56 35 33.33 It is evident from the above table that, 33.33 percent of the sample respondents have felt stressed due to long working hours. Similarly, 30.56 percent of the respondents have felt the need to produce good results causes stress among them. Further, 22.22 percent of the respondents feel that they are stressed due to pressure from the administration and 13.89 while dealing with adolescent students. 22.22 30 20 13.89 Percentage 25 15 10 5 0 Dealing with Students Administration Producing Good Results Long working Hours Opinion on Demanding Factors Chart 2: Higher Secondary School Teachers Opinion on Demanding Factors that Causes Table 3: Teachers Opinion on Nature of Stress Faced by them Sl. No 1. 2. 3. 4. Variable Constant and Unavoidable Temporary and Avoidable Constant and Acceptable Permanent Total No. of. Respondents 16 49 4 3 72 Percentage 22.22 68.06 5.56 4.17 100 Source: Primary Data The table above reveals that a majority, i.e., 68.06 percent of the teachers have claimed that they faced constant and unavoidable stress in their job, followed by 22.22 percent who faced temporary and avoidable stress. Further 5.56 percent of the sample teachers have said that they face constant and acceptable stress and 4.17 percent of them face permanent stress in their work environment. ISSN 1943-023X Received: 15 Mar 2018/Accepted: 20 Apr 2018 1078 Jour of Adv Research in Dynamical & Control Systems, Vol. 10, 05-Special Issue, 2018 4.17 Nature of Stress Permanent 5.56 Constant and Acceptable 68.06 Temporary and Avoidable 22.22 Constant and Unavoidable 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Percentage Chart 3: Teachers Opinion on Nature of Stress Faced by them Table 4: Teachers Opinion on Stress Coping Practices Sl. No 1. 2. 3. 4. Variable Maintain Patient Turing Religious Consulting with Psychiatrist Doing Yoga /Meditation Total No. of. Respondents 34 14 5 19 72 Percentage 47.22 19.44 6.94 26.39 100 Source: Primary Data Opinion on Stress Coping Practices The above table clearly depicts that, 47.22 percent of the sample teachers maintain patience when they feel they are in stress. Similarly 26.39 percent of the respondents have said that they do yoga or meditation, followed by 19.44 percent of the respondents who turn religious and 6.94 who consult psychiatrists whenever they are in stress. Series1, Doing Yoga /Meditation , 26.39 Series1, Consulting with Psychiatrist , 6.94 Series1, Turing Religious , 19.44 Percentage Series1, Maintain Patient , 47.22 Chart 4: Teachers’ Opinion on Stress Coping Practices ISSN 1943-023X Received: 15 Mar 2018/Accepted: 20 Apr 2018 1079 Jour of Adv Research in Dynamical & Control Systems, Vol. 10, 05-Special Issue, 2018 VII. Findings of the Study The major findings of the present study are as follows • • • VIII. Most of the teachers are of opinion that poor working environment leads to stress 33.33 per cent are of opinion that long working hours and pressure from management to produce cent percent results leads to stress In order to reduce stress most of the teachers maintain patience and regularly practice yoga/meditation. Suggestions to Reduce Stress The Various Stress Sources identified among the Teachers in Coimbatore are inappropriate work environment and heavy work load. In the study it is seen that the teachers practice yoga/meditation, turn religious, have hobbies, spend time with Nature or consult psychiatrists to overcome stress. Measures such as reducing the strength of the class room, increasing material resources to the Teacher to educate the adolescent students, reading, listening to music and participation in co-curricular activities may reduce the stress among teachers. IX. Conclusion The result of the study reveals that poor working environment, long working hours and pressure from management to produce good results lead to building up of stress among teachers. Further, it is observed that most of the faculty practice yoga/ meditation to overcome stress. The success of any educational institution depends on commitment and dedication of teachers. 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