like an iceberg floating alone

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Like an iceberg floating alone:

A case study of teacher stress at

a Victorian primary school

Rosaria Burchielli

Timothy Bartram

Latrobe Uniersity

!ntroduction

The sub"ect of teacher stress has attracted considerable attention in both Australian

#$%onnor & %larke' ())*+ $tto' (),-+ .arros & .arros' ())/+Thomas' %larke' &

Laery' /**0+To1nsend' ()),2 and international literature #Bartlett' /**3+ %lark'

/**/+ 4uglielmi & Tatro1' ()),+ 5yriacou' /**(+Troman' /***26This literature'

ho1eer' clearly states the need for further research to e7plore the sources of

teacher stress and the coping actions used by teachers and schools'and especially to

disentangle the stress caused by difficult or e7cessie demands being made on a

teacher'and stress being triggered by concerns linked to ones self8image#5yriacou'

/**(26 Based on current understanding of stress' including the contributions of

La9arus and olkman #(),32'this paper proides a greater insight into the comple7

relationship bet1een sources of teacher stress and coping mechanisms6This paper

also responds to La9arus #/***2' 1ho calls for greater research that is focussed on

obserations that are day8to8day' microanalytical' and in8depth' and that are

compatible 1ith a holistic outlook6

Research for this paper began as a collaboratie pro"ect bet1een the

researchers and staff of an inner suburban primary school6

T1o ;uestions guide this research: first' 1hat are the ma"or issues associated

1ith teacher stress and lo1 morale at the school< And second'ho1 does the school


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respond to these stressorsournal of ?ducation' Vol6 @*' o6 0' /**-' 0(/0/C

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Ferspecties on stress and coping

!n general' 1ork stress can be defined as an adaptie response to a 1ork situation

that places special physical andGor psychological demands on a 1orker #Datteson

& !anceich'(),C26The physical or psychological demands from the enironment

that cause stress are called stressors6 The main generic stressors isolated in the

broader management literature are role conflict'role ambiguity'1ork oerload'task

control or autonomy'career security and interpersonal relations #>e7'()),+5ahn &


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Antonucci' (),*+ 5ahn & Byosiere' ())/+ 5ahn'=olfe' Huinn & .noek' ()-326

.tress depends on the e7ternal enironment and indiidual psychological and

physiological factors #La9arus'()C-26.tress can result in malad"usted behaiour'but

sometimes also mobilises highly effectie forms of ad"ustment6There are marked

ariations in perceptions of 1hat is stressful and in personal or group responses to

stress #La9arus' ()--' ()C-26

La9arus and olkman #(),3' p6 (3(2 define coping as constantly changing

cognitie and behaioural efforts to manage specific e7ternal andGor internal

demands that are appraised as ta7ing or e7ceeding the resources of a person6%oping

specifically refers to 1hat the person does to handle stressful or emotionally

charged situations #La9arus' ()--26

All coping can be diided into t1o main categories: direct actions or

problem8focused coping are behaiours that prepare the person against harm'

aggression' aoidance' inaction or apathy #La9arus & olkman' (),32+ 1hereas pal8

liatie forms or emotion8focused coping reduce'eliminate or tolerate the stress #for

e7ample' using defence mechanisms such as identification' repression or denial26

%oping is partly determined by indiidual resources' such as health' social

support and material resources6%oping is also determined by constraints that mit8

igate the use of resources' such as personal constraints' such as internalised cultural

alues and beliefs that proscribe certain 1ays of behaing'and enironmental con8

straints' such as demands that compete for the same resources or intuitions that

th1art effort6

!ndiidual coping processes depend on the alues' beliefs' and goals 1ith

1hich the indiidual constructs meaning #La9arus & olkman' (),326 Thus

indiidual coping includes a reinterpretation of eents in terms of benefits to ones


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alues' beliefs and goals6This e7planation of indiidual coping resonates 1ith the

concept of emotional intelligence #4oleman' ())@2' and consists of a persons

ability to bounce back from difficult and challenging situations #%lark' /**/26

Resilience includes certain cognitie and emotional skills 1hich enable positie or

encouraging interpretations of challenging eents6

?ffectie coping processes re;uire congruence bet1een coping and the

demands of the situation and are sub"ect to numerous ariables6Io1 to determine

coping effectieness remains one of the most perple7ing research challenges

#olkman & Dosko1it9' /**326

%oping and the management of stress in an organisation are important

because 1ork stress has been related to 1orker physical and mental 1ellbeing' as

1ell as organisational problems'such as decreased performance'increased accidents'

absenteeism and turnoer #%ropan9ano'Rupp'& Byrne'/**0+Danning'>ackson &

Teacher stress: A case study

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usilier'())-26e1 deelopments in coping research include large8group or com8

munal coping'1hich refers to coping responses that are influenced by and in reac8

tion to the social conte7t #olkman & Dosko1it9' /**326

Teacher stress

.ources of teacher stress relate to 1ork oerload'insufficient time for 1ork'student

problems that are impossible to sole gien aailable resources' and feelings of

po1erlessness in relation to the 1ider education system #$tto' (),-26 .arros and


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.arros #())/2 suggest there are many problems that are too large and comple7 for

indiidual efforts6 !nterpersonal relations are a source of stress for teachers'

especially relations 1ith other adults' such as colleagues' parents' management and

departmental officials #Troman' /***26 Teaching is considered to be emotional

1ork#Troman'/***2'and irtually all in8depth studies of teaching indicate that it

is difficult' comple7 and emotionally draining 1ork entailing long out8of8class8

room hours #Bartlett' /**326

There is increasing eidence of 1ork intensification for teachers inoling

industry change and teachers changing roles #Bartlett' /**3+Troman' /***26The

())*s in Victoria sa1 the closure of a number of schools' the deolution of fund8

ing decisions to schools' changes to teaching and learning standards' such as the

%urriculum .tandards rame1ork #%.2' and increased bureaucratic pressures for

higher professional standards #%ald1ell & Iay1ard' ()),26=ithin this eniron8

ment' the Victorian Eepartment of ?ducation deeloped an accountability frame8

1ork 1ith three key elements: a school charter' an annual report and a triennial

school reie16 By ()))' ho1eer' a report released by the Victorian Auditor8

4enerals $ffice suggested that the increased reporting re;uirements placed an

additional burden on teachers and schools 1hich 1arranted systemic support

mechanism #%ald1ell & Iay1ard' ()),+ %ald1ell & .pinks' ()),26These changes

hae added layers of comple7ity to the role of teachers'and increased their respon8

sibilities and 1orkloads #To1nsend' ()),26Thus teachers roles hae changed from

essentially a teachingGeducational role to encompass a much 1ider range of

responsibilities' including counselling' 1elfare' social 1ork' procurement of fund8

ing' reporting and goernment lobbying #To1nsend' ()),26To date' there is no

eidence reported of any systemic measures designed to support the changed roles


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of teachers6

$rganisational8professional conflict e7amines the conflict bet1een practicing

professionals and the goerning bureaucracies for 1hich they 1ork #Lait & =allace'

/**/+ .orensen & .orensen' ()C3+=allace' ())@26 %onflict may occur 1hen the

alues' goals and e7pectations of the professional are incompatible 1ith those of

their employing organisation' especially 1hen professionals are employed in highly

bureaucratic organisations #Lait & =allace' /**/' p6 3-026 Bureaucratic conditions

that are inconsistent 1ith professional 1orkers"ob e7pectations contribute to stress6

Teachers coping 1ith stress

orms of coping 1ith teacher stress include indiidual' school and bureaucratic

responses #5yriacou' /**(26 !n addition' social support is identified as a form of

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coping #.arros & .arros' ())/26 .ocial support has been defined as the flo1 of

communication bet1een people inoling emotional' caring' informational and

instrumental support #Iouse' (),(26 .ocial support may be deried from informal

sources such as family'friends and 1ork colleagues'or from formal sources such as

superisors6A large Australian study found that support of the principal is crucial

in reducing burnout+ho1eer'the study highlighted that the effects of other forms

of social support' such as that proided by colleagues' hae not been sufficiently

inestigated #.arros & .arros' ())/26

The literature outlines a number of organisational responses to alleiate


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teacher stress' especially through e7ploring the characteristics of healthy organis8

ational functioningand those practices 1hich reflect it6%haracteristics of a healthy

school include a collaboratie and communicatie enironment' 1here 1ork

e7pectations are clearly defined and positie feedback is aailable' 1here resources

to support teachers are proided' and 1here bureaucratic processes are minimised

#5yriacou'/**('p60(26Ience'e7tant research identifies some responses to teacher

stress 1hich can address its negatie effects6

Dethod

The research process for this case study eoled in consultation 1ith participants'

and includes audio'1ritten and photographic material from annotated discussions'

obserations of eents' semi8 or un8structured interie1s' participation in staff

meetings' focus groups and documentary analysis6The data 1ere collected at the

school by the authors bet1een /**( and /**0'beginning 1ith an initial annotated

discussion 1ith the Frincipal and Assistant Frincipal in Eecember'/**(6The ma"or

school documents informing our research include the .chool %harter and the

Triennial .chool Reie16

ie different staff meetings 1ere attended and recorded by the authors6T1o

of these 1ere regular teaching8staff meetings #$ctober'/**/ and oember'/**026

The other three meetings obsered 1ere:%urriculum %ommittee #$ctober'/**/2'

the .chool .upport 4roup #August' /**/2' and the %oordinators meeting

#$ctober'/**/26A focus group for all teaching staff on the schools strategic issues

1as conducted by the authors in oember' /**/6 !ndiidual interie1s 1ere

conducted 1ith the principal and assistant principal #>uly' /**/2 and 1ith four

teachers 1ho could represent teaching e7periences across all the grades from Frep

to 4rade .i7 #August to oember' /**/26


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io' a computer program designed to support ;ualitatie data storage'

handling and analysis' 1as used to assist in data analysis6 $ur method of analysis

employs the classic analytic strategies such as coding' recording reflections and

seeking patterns or commonalities #Diles & Iuberman' ())326=e used the con8

cept of participant categories from conersation analysis #.acks' (),3+ ten Iae'

()))2' 1here researchers 1ork 1ith concepts or specific understandings of eents

by participants in a gien setting6The concept of the primary school as a uni;ue

school is an e7ample of a participant category 1hich 1e e7plored in our analysis6

=e also used techni;ues from grounded theory' 1here data are collected and

analysed simultaneously #4laser & .trauss'()-C2 so as to generate categories 1hich


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are then linked to one another6As data 1ere analysed' and the distinct categories

emerged'further data 1ere sought to alidate the categories6$ur analysis led to the

elaboration of a set of generalisations 1hich 1ere finally confronted #Diles &

Iuberman' ())32 1ith the theoretical constructs outlined in our reie1 of the

literature6

%ase study

The sub"ect of this research is an inner suburban primary school located on the

grounds of a Dinistry of Iousing estate #Frimary .chool Eocument'/**/a26.taff

at the school report high leels of stress and lo1 morale6The school has a dierse

population of ()* students #Frimary .chool Eocument'/**/b26$n the surface'it


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looks like many other goernment schools' yet staff and management suggest that

it is uni;ue and different from other schools on numerous dimensions that make it

a highly challenging 1ork enironment6Teacher stress is officially reported in their

Triennial .chool Reie1 #T.R2 #Frimary .chool Eocument'/**/a2'1hich states

that there are higher scores in ?7cessie =ork Eemands #relatie to the state aer8

age2 and that 1orkload is still a key factor influencing organisational health and staff

1elfare6.chool management'comprising the principal and assistant principal'and

staff report that the school faces significant challenges 1hich are uncommon to

other schools6 Both staff and management see the school as uni;ue in its demo8

graphic structure' 1hich is supported by Eepartment of ?ducation and Training

#E?T2 classification of the school in the Like .chools 4roup )6 This group

includes schools 1ith significant ?nglish as a .econd Language and ?ducational

Daintenance Allo1ance recipients6 .taff' ho1eer' e7press concern 1ith the leel

of goernment funding gien on the basis of this classification:

=hile the school is in Like .chool 4roup )' there are in fact ery fe1

schools 1ith similar demographics and the comparison 1ith Like .chool

4roup ) is therefore some1hat tenuous6 JThe schoolK is struggling to meet

most comparatie measures #Frimary .chool Eocument' /**/a26

The schools demographic structure

The school predominantly consists of students from a language background other

than ?nglish #LB$T?2 and is culturally and linguistically dierse #%ALE26 The

school Frincipal states that ninety8seen per cent of children are from a non8

?nglish speaking background #?.B26 Three demographic characteristics are

noted in school documents and by the staff'principal and consultants to the school6

irst' the Triennial .chool Reie1 reports that forty8three per cent of students


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receie ?ducational Daintenance Allo1ance #?DA2' a %ommon1ealth8

goernment benefit proided to lo1 income families #Frimary .chool Eocument'

/**/a2' and that many of the students lie in the Dinistry of Iousing estate

ad"acent to the school grounds6 .econdly' t1ele per cent of students receie the

Eisability and !mpairment #E&!2 funding' a %ommon1ealth8goernment benefit

for students 1ith significant physical or intellectual challenges affecting their learn8

ing abilities6This is reported to be four times the state aerage6Thirdly' forty8nine


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per cent of the schools population is listed on a 1elfare register because of health'

psychological or social difficulties #Burchielli & Bartram' /**/26These factors are

belieed to contribute to the uni;ueness of the school6

Achieing learning outcomes

.tudent learning outcomes at the school are affected by the presence of large num8

bers of ?.B students' 1ho are all grappling 1ith a second language #Frimary

.chool Eocument' /**/a26 Doreoer' cultural differences account for different

educational traditions and learning styles 1hich may conflict 1ith local ones and

create a disadantage for some students6.ome cultures are oral based in transmit8

ting kno1ledge 1hereas ours focuses on readingG1riting' so this produces a chal8

lenge for teachers' said the assistant principal6 $ther families are much more

formally educated and entrepreneurial and they function better in our system6

Literacy and learning problems at the school are compounded by the fact that


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a significant number of children are refugees from 1ar8torn countries' and con8

se;uently suffering from trauma 1hich affects their learning and behaiour6

According to the principal' .tudents from 1ar8torn areas hae had little formal

education in their country of origin+theyre traumatised'theye had no culture of

scholarly pursuit and no culture of reading6Thus many children hae poor isual

memory skills6

Behaioural challenges

Behaiour management is reported as a significant challenge for the school6

The critical issue' according to the assistant principal' is the combination of

the high leels of ?DA and E&! recipients and ?.B students:

The big challenges of the school at the moment are the kids behaiour 666 !t

goes back to this being a special school 666 =e hae a ery high number of kids

1ith learning problems and again thats hard data that 1e hae6 =e hae cur8

rently t1enty8t1o kids that are funded under 1hat 1e call the E&! program'

for disability and impairment' 1hich is about t1ele per cent of our population6

The state aerage is three per cent6 As another factor' laid on top of other

factors' that is huge6 ?ery teacher here has probably got three or four inte8

grated kids 1ith an ackno1ledged disability in their room' 1ith support' but

not enough support' of course+ its under8resourced' grossly6 Again' its not

uni;ue to us' but the number of kids is unusual $ther local primary schools

dont hae any disabled kids in their 1hole population6

Teachers report that' on top of haing t1ele per cent of students receiing

E&! funding'there are a further eleen per cent of students 1ho'according to the

Frincipal' are borderline recipients:although they dont get the funding' they do

create challenges in the classroom6 .taff point out that these students hae special


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needs' and place an additional burden on the class+ one teacher said that:

=e definitely are not a normal school 1ith the amount of integration students

1e hae' and 1ith all the ?.B students+ 1e stand out like a sore thumb 666

$ur kids are almost like t1o years behind the other schools that theyre being

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The school also reports a large number of accidents' such as incidence of

iolence bet1een students6 .chools are re;uired to formally report the number

of accidents that occur during school hours6 This includes students indiidual

in"uries as 1ell as those occurring through interaction such as fighting6 The

reported incidence for this school is more than fie times the state aerage of

accidents bet1een students #Frimary .chool Eocument' /**/a26According to the

assistant principal:

! kno1 that there is much more challenging of authority' and much' much

more iolence bet1een kids6 >ust a ery small e7ample: last 1eek 1e sent home

fie kids from one grade6 !t 1as not a riot' but certainly ery out of control

behaiour in the class 666 The number of accidents 1e hae is something like

four times the state aerage6 That is accidents bet1een kids' and thats partly

because of aggression or fighting6 $ne is actually fighting and one is "ust kids

not haing e7posure to some sporting e;uipment or something6 At the begin8

ning of the year' 1e also had a spate of Freps 1ho got hit in the head 1ith a


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cricket bat' all that sort of stuff6 They run6 They run into things6 =e hae a

greater number of kids doing that than at other school6 =e hae data' hard data6

JThe issue isK something that 1ere trying to address6 !t predominantly happens

in the playground' but a bit in the classroom' and the challenging of authority

happens in both JplacesK6

=hilst each of these factors poses specific challenges' staff and the principal

suggest that the combination of these factors creates a compounding effect' giing

the school a uni;ue leel of challenge6

Teacher stress

The e7istence of teacher stress is suggested in the Triennial .chool Reie1

#T.R2' 1hich measures organisational health through a number of constructs'

such as staff morale and supportie leadership:$er the triennium'staff morale has

been lo1er than the state mean JandK there has been a slight decrease each year in

the teachersresponse to supportie leadership#Frimary .chool Eocument'/**/a26

$ur data indicate that 1hile these teachers recognise that some stress is an

inherent part of their profession' they report a perceied aboe8normal leel of

stress6Teachers attribute this to a number of factors'such as difficult student beha8

iours' inade;uate bureaucratic support structures 1ithin the school' day8to8day

conflicts and challenges' and high administratie demands' such as meetings' com8

pleting reporting re;uirements and 1riting funding applications6Teachers describe

their stress by making references to feelings of an7iety' fear or pressure' produced

by regular teaching e7periences'1hich place e7traordinary demands on their skills

and personal resources6Teachers at the primary school consistently report on the

continuous and oer1helming nature of the challenge of their day8to8day duties'

fre;uently using terminology that suggests a battle for surial6Teacher ( com8


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mented that'=e 1ork so hard' but its neer enough6And theyre tough kids'

added Teacher 36According to Teacher /:

The actual' physical' face8to8face teaching 1ith the children is ery challenging'

is ery full on all of the time6 $ur children are not independent 1orkers 666 a


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lot of schools can get their kids to 1ork on an indiidual leel' 1hereas our

kids need so much teacher interention6 Theres a lot of need for indiidual

assistance6 .o its full on all day6

As Teacher 0 put it'Moure dog paddling and trying to keep aboe 1ater6

A factor causing particular stress' both in classrooms and throughout the

school in general is the occurrence of regular critical incidents that relate to

student 1elfare6 $ne teacher obsered:

=e do hae a lot of serious incidents to deal 1ith6 o' theyre not often tri8

ial at all6 And thats 1hats really difficult to follo1 through 1ith6 .ome schools'

the biggest catastrophe is that someone isnt gien their lunch order6 =hereas

here' its all sorts of things that you cant often deal 1ith in t1o minutes6

Theyre far reaching' and theyre usually centred around 1elfare issues6 =e

spend a lot of our day here looking at those issues of 1elfare and ho1 the kids

are getting on6

These reports are substantiated by the leadership of the school6The assistant

principal commented that'The sort of behaiour that confronts teachers on a daily


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basis is really 1earing for people' and again' it goes back to this being a special

school6

Another source of stress relates to non8teaching actiities6Teacher ( said:

The other challenge is keeping up to date 1ith all the changes that hae been

in the curriculum' and being able to keep up 1ith all the reading 1ith my ?arly

Mears role6 Theres "ust been so much reading that !e had to do' and !e

really found it ;uite difficult to keep up 1ith that as 1ell as doing my other "obs

that need to be done6

.taff and management e7press concerns oer the public image of the school6

They are concerned that the school may be perceied as one that is constantly

struggling6 Doreoer' members of staff are concerned about the school being per8

ceied as an underachieing school through the Eepartment of ?ducation and

Training #E?T2 reporting re;uirements 1hich gather data on educational out8

comes6 .taff concerns about school image are associated 1ith feelings of fear and

stress at the school6=ere fearful of the reputation that the school is getting in the

local community' said the assistant principal6 This image places stress on staff6

Teacher ( belieed that 1ere compared to other schools and it makes us look

really bad 1hen our reading scores get sent out eery Darch'and it "ust looks like

1ere not doing our "obs 666 And ! find that really demoralising6

This situation highlights the an7iety surrounding self8image that teachers

perceie that they may not be able to control6

Frofessional8bureaucratic conflict arising from measurement of

student outcomes

.taff suggest that the use of %urriculum .tandards rame1ork #%.2 is not al1ays

appropriate to assess the learning outcomes of students due to the demographic


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structure of the school #Frimary .chool Eocument'/**/a26Eue to the limitations

of the %. at this school' its use makes many of the achieements of the school


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students inisible to the goerning bureaucracy and in comparison to other

schools6Teacher ( said:

5ids dont come here kno1ing their colours and their numbers' or een kno1

ho1 to 1rite their name6 =hat is really demoralising Jis thatK you put in the

effort eery year' and the kids hae sho1n a bit of an improement' but

compared to another school' theyre not at the leel that theyre supposed to

be at6

!n addition to feeling demoralised by the re;uirements of the %.' teachers

are concerned that as this frame1ork is designed for a mainstream student setting'

its use is inappropriate in their uni;ue enironment and it creates a negatie

image of the students abilities6This underlies teachers feeling that their efforts are

defeated at the outset6

The kids come 1ith so little' and 1ere supposed to test them and its like

comparing apples and oranges' said the assistant principal6! hae to try not to be

1orn do1n by measuring our kids progress by this' because they are progressing'

probably as much as other kids6 ?en though theyre still not meeting benchmark'

theyre actually coming in at a point and making ery good progress6

Frofessional8bureaucratic conflict arising from school needs


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Eata collected by E?T is used to compare schools across the state of Victoria6This

information is collated and represented on a frame1ork called the like8schools

grid' a scattergram that compares schools by their ?.B' ?DA and E&! funding

statistics6 Teachers e7press an7iety about not being appropriately represented

because their achieements are hidden in this reporting deice6 !n addition' the

scattergram does not ade;uately represent their uni;ue leel of need6 .taff

members report that the schools needs are inisible to the goerning bureaucracy:

?en the schools that are called like8schools to usNschools 1ith a high ?.B

population' high ?DA recipientsNtheyre still nothing like us6 =ere a real

satellite school' right on the edge here6 Because to fit into this group of 1hat

they call like8schools from a departmental point of ie1' you hae to hae

t1enty8si7 per cent or more non8?nglish speaking population6 Mou kno1'

t1enty8si7 per cent and ninety8eight per cent are ery different #assistant

principal26

Frofessional8bureaucratic conflict arising from funding criteria

E?T reporting deices are used to apportion funding to indiidual schools based

on the schools needs for ?nglish as a .econd Language support and other support

suggested by the leel of poerty6 .taff members feel' ho1eer' that the school is

misrepresented and'they also feel that they are not ade;uately resourced gien the

e7tent of their needs6

4oernment schools are staffed and funded on formulas' and the formula

doesnt fit here' because 1e are so uni;ue' the assistant principal said6

$ne of the solutions for the school is to address its biggest issue: that the

school needs to be officially recognised by E?T as uni;ue' the principal agreed6

!ts a special school in a mainstream setting6


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A conse;uence of the tension bet1een reporting mechanisms and the mis8

representation of the school is that staff members feel isolated and unsupported by

the goerning bureaucracy:

=ere like a little iceberg' sort of floating along 1ithout much help from

the education department as such' said Teacher /6! think 1e really lack proper

support6

%learly the tensions bet1een the school and the goerning bureaucracy

relates to the under8resourcing of the school6

.trategic responses

!n response to its specific challenges'the school has introduced programs to address

the characteristics of the school and its needs6The social skills and behaiour mod8

ification program implemented at the school is called .top'Think' Eo #Frimary

.chool Eocument' /**/b26 !t is aimed at reducing the high accident rate and any

inappropriate or iolent behaiour6 .taff members report satisfaction 1ith the

positie outcomes of this initiatie6According to Teacher /:

The 1ay 1e are is ;uite transparent' as in' anyone 1ho comes into the school

gets an immediate sense of 1hat goes on here6 And its certainly not a picture

of disarray or anything6 ! think 1e hae 1orked ery hard at maintaining a calm

sort of enironment here6 Thats one thing 1ee done e7tremely 1ell as a

school6 %onsidering the nature and diersity of our kids' 1e hae done


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ama9ing things 1ith the internal enironment6

The .chool .upport 4roup as a strategic response

The .chool .upport 4roup is a multi8disciplinary team created in (),- through a

goernment state goernment initiatie called community child8health fello1ship6

!ts membership consists of specialists' including a school psychologist' a speech

therapist' a school nurse' a paediatrician from the childrens hospital' a protectie

1orker from Iuman .erices' and the coordinator of the local family support

agency' as 1ell as representaties of the school6This group is action8based and its

charter is to support students and families at the school e7periencing particular

problems such as behaioural'social and learning difficulties6The assistant principal

e7plained ho1 the group 1orks:

A family' for instance' 1ill come up that 1ell talk about+ the mum might hae

a psychiatric issue and be in hospital at the moment+ the protectie 1orker

might kno1 the family+ Iuman .erices are inoled+ the paediatrician might

hae information to gie 666 !ts a great 1ay to link all those serices together6

This group meets t1ice a term to address the issues listed in the 1elfare reg8

ister6!nterention and support is proided through the specialist skills and net1orks

held by the members of the committee6 %ollating and maintaining this register

includes a great deal of reporting and co8ordination actiities #Frimary .chool

Eocument' /**/b26The register ensures that all 1elfare issues and problems are

noted and thoroughly addressed so that no case 1ill be forgotten or oerlooked6

orty8nine per cent of the schools population is listed on the register6According


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to the principal' there is only one other school in Victoria that has such a support

mechanism6

Raising the profile of the school

There is a strong ie1 at the school that its positie characteristics are not isible6

!nterie1s 1ith the principal and assistant principal indicate that the school has the

goal of positioning itself as a creatie and positie force in its community6

The school has been successful in securing grants for engaging a graphic artist

and circus performers in order to conduct actiity8based programs6These hae pro8

ided support to staff and students by engaging them in shared' uplifting actiities

1ith both curricular and e7tra8curricular outcomes6The graphic art pro"ect' for

e7ample'resulted in actiities 1hich proided language based learning as 1ell as the

deelopment of other skills6The art1ork produced by students 1ithin this pro"ect

1as later used in the production of a school 1ater bottle' launched at a commun8

ity eent in con"unction 1ith a local council program'I/$ for Doonee Valley

5ids6The pro"ect had numerous positie outcomes for students and staff' includ8

ing team8building and self8esteem effects6 Remarks made by the school psychol8

ogist at this eent highlighted the consistent use of a 1hole child approachat this

school6

The school publicised this eent using the media in order to deelop a posi8

tie image of the school6Another e7ample of this intention is the goal to deelop

the school as a leader in the deliery of ?nglish as a .econd Language #?.L2

#Frimary .chool Eocument'/**/b26The school has considerable skills and e7per8

tise in ?.L and has been conducting in8serice seminars for teachers from other


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schools6

.ocial support

The data reeal that support from the principal is alued by staff and assists in meet8

ing the challenges of the 1orkplace6Teacher 3 said:

rom the small through to the bigger things' Jthe principalK is really ery good

at coming up 1ith solutions or addressing issues' so ! feel Jthe principalsK sup8

port6 ! like Jthe principalsK consistency' and care to1ards us6 JThe principalK has

recent memories of being in a classroom and beyond that' is committed to

1ork' 1hich is inclusie of us6

!n addition to principal support' collegial support e7ists bet1een staff6! do

en"oy 1orking 1ith my Jteam8teachingK colleague6 =e get on really 1ell' said

Teacher 06Iaing positie 1ork relationships' especially 1orking in an eniron8

ment such as ours' is really' really important6

!ndiidual teacher resilience

=hile teachers at the school speak of the challenges they face as teachers'they also

fre;uently e7press strong' positie feelings of loyalty and attachment to the school

and to the students6! think its "ust such a uni;ue school and it is constantly chang8

ing so !e really en"oyed it' said the assistant principal6! hae a background in

special education' and this is ery much a special school' 1hich keeps me here6


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Resilience is suggested in practical and realistic attitudes6=hat you need to


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get done in a day sometimes becomes oerpo1ering'but my attitude is that 1e can

do only 1hat 1e can do' said Teacher /6Dy priority is the kids in the grade and

getting through the day 1ith them' and the other stuff has to fit in6

The data indicate that resilience includes the ability to en"oy day8to8day

situations and to reflect positiely on colleagues and the circumstances of the

students6Teacher 0 commented:

! en"oy 1orking here+ ! en"oy the responsibility 1hich is placed upon me'

1hether its from the physical education point of ie1' 1hether its the social

skills 666 ! also think that the people 1ho 1ork here do an e7ceptional "ob' to

front up here day in' day out' and to take on board the children and the e7per8

iences theye had as 1ell6 =ee got no idea about 1here theye come from'

the e7periences theye had' the trauma theye e7perienced' the difficulties and

the problems associated 1ith liing in high8rise estates6 ! think its incredible'

some of the stories that come up6

Eiscussion

This paper e7amines teacher stress at a Victorian primary school and identifies both

sources and coping responses6 =e hae identified four sources of teacher stress:

a uni;ue demographic structure+ high leels of bureaucratic reporting+ resource

inade;uacy+ and a alues related conflict bet1een the goerning bureaucracy and

the school staff6 !n terms of coping responses' 1e found eidence of indiidual

and 1hole school responses6

An important source of stress is the challenging enironment at the school

1hich is based on a comple7 and uni;ue student demographic structure'including

high ?.B population and high leels of disability and poerty6The needs of this

population of students clearly contribute to teachers 1ork oerload6The 1ork of


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teachers is made more comple7 and more stressful by haing to cater to different

leels of language and cultural needs as 1ell as different leels of emotional needs

and physical and learning abilities6=hilst all teachers in all schools may be e7posed

to this to some degree' at this school it happens to a large degree on a daily basis6

.econd' teachers e7perience stress in meeting the reporting re;uirements6

Like all Victorian goernment schools' this school is re;uired to report on student

achieement'student outcomes and student needs+ho1eer'gien the high leel of

student need at this school there is much more reporting6 $ur data indicate that

this school' for e7ample' reports fie times the number of accidents than the state

aerage and three times the number of students receiing disability and impairment

allo1ance6 Doreoer' the reporting of student outcomes 1ithin the parameters of

the %urriculum .tandards rame1ork is rendered more difficult by the fact that

the students of this school do not easily fit into the standard categories6

Third'this study finds eidence to support resource inade;uacy as an impor8

tant source of stress6 At this school there is eidence of an ongoing struggle to

obtain realistic funding to match the high leel of need of special students6 A

critical issue here is the fact that a significant proportion of students 1ith special

needs do not fully meet the re;uirements to receie E&! funding' but still place


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significant burdens on the teachers and the other students6The school is considered

to be a special school in a mainstream setting6.taff and administrators beliee that


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the positioning of the school in a mainstream setting maybe a source of ine;uity

gien that this imposes funding constraints6 unding is ie1ed as inade;uate and

the school feels misrepresented in terms of ho1 it is benchmarked6This is seen to

be due to the generalised nature of funding formulas and other reporting

mechanisms' 1hich filter out the uni;ue characteristics and needs of the school6

Australian studies on poerty' class and education note the persistence of class

ine;ualities in contemporary Australian educational settings #Iatton' Dunns' &

Eent' ())-26This study suggests that bureaucratic mechanisms goerning schools

may be perpetuating these ine;ualities6

ourth' 1ithin our findings of professional8bureaucratic conflict' there is

eidence of incongruence of alues and e7pectations bet1een different stake8

holders in the educational enironment' especially bet1een the bureaucracy and

the teachers at the school6This is eidenced by the teachers disconformity 1ith

bureaucratic standards #based on perceptions of in"ustice and inade;uacy2' such as

the %. and the funding criteria6Teachers beliee that the bureaucracy fails to

recognise the uni;ue characteristics of their students and their needs' and fails

to ackno1ledge the achieements of the school and its students6 This suggests

that the conflict bet1een the alues of the teachers and the bureaucracy e7acer8

bates an already stressful 1orking e7perience for teachers' increasing role

demands and eiling any achieements6 Doreoer' teachers at the school indicated

their disappointment and frustration at 1hat they perceie as abandonment by

the goerning bureaucracy and isolation 1ithin the like8schools grid as suggested

by the metaphor of the iceberg floating alone6This highlights the important role

that the goerning bureaucracy has in proiding containment and support to

teachers 1ithin a school community6=ithout the systemic support' teachers find


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themseles compensating for any missing elements by bearing the costs indiid8

ually through 1ork oerload and stress6 $ur data also suggest that indiidual

teacher alues may contribute to teacher stress' ho1eer as this topic lies beyond

the scope of this paper' it has not been discussed6 urther research is re;uired to

understand subtle sources of stress' in particular the role of indiidual professional

alues6

=e find that these four sources of stress simultaneously contribute to ;uanti8

tatie oerloadNfor e7ample' staff members hae more duties than they can com8

fortably handleNand ;ualitatie oerloadNfor e7ample'roles re;uiring kno1ledge

and skills that hae not been learned6

!n terms of coping mechanisms' this paper reports on some uni;ue indiid8

ual and group responses to a challenging and stressful teaching enironment6

!ndiidual responses relate to teachers reinterpreting stressful eents in a positie

1ay #olkman & Dosko1it9' /**32 and demonstrate indiidual resilience

#4oleman' ())@26This is a plausible e7planation for the positie response of indi8

idual teachers6Teacher resilience relates to attitudes that facilitate a positie per8

spectie of a difficult situation #%lark' /**/26There is eidence at the school that

teachers are emotionally resilient and that this ;uality assists in mediating their


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stress6 Resilience is an under8researched area in organisational studies that re;uires

further e7ploration6


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4roup responses include the initiatie of the .chool .upport 4roup and pro8

"ects designed to raise the profile of the school and stimulate student learning6

Another form of coping 1ithin this challenging 1ork enironment is an actie

social support net1ork6The data suggest collegial relationships bet1een staff' and

teachers appear to be satisfied 1ith the principals support6All of these responses

illustrate a cohesie and supportie 1orking enironment 1here social support is

proided by both colleagues and the leadership #La9arus'/***+La9arus & olkman'

(),326 Both the social support net1ork and a fortunate blend of indiidual ;uali8

ties produce the positie' pro8actie responses' 1hich 1ork synergistically to miti8

gate a comple7 and difficult enironment6 Eespite the stressful 1orking e7peri8

ences of the teachers at the school' the response of the school and its teachers is

oer1helmingly positie6

%onclusion

!n conclusion' this school case documents the stress and coping e7periences of

teachers located in a culturally dierse school6The predominant root of teacher

stress appears to be the intersection bet1een a comple7 demographic structure'the

e7ternal demands of the goerning bureaucracy and the resources made aailable

to the school6%ontrary to 1hat might be e7pected'the school as a 1hole e7hibits

many positie traits' such as a stable' committed staff and a dynamic and releant

curriculum6Teacher stress'ho1eer'does persist at the school6This case study illus8

trates the important role of goernment in sustaining public schools and the chal8

lenges and stress that result from a limited goernment ste1ardship6 !n spite of

under8resourcing of this school'its staff has deeloped a series of strategic solutions

to stress through the teachers indiidual ;ualities and the e7istence of a social

support net1ork6


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5ey1ords

teachers

stress

coping

social support

1orkloads

primary schools

References

Bartlett' L6 #/**326 ?7panding Teacher =ork Roles: Resource for Retention or Recipe

for $er1ork< >ournal of ?ducation Folicy' ()#@2' @-@@,/6

Burchielli' R6 & Bartram' T6 #/**/' August26 Unpublished field notes from the meeting of

the .chool .upport 4roup' held at the case study primary school' Victoria6

%ald1ell' B6' & Iay1ard' E6 56 #()),26 The uture of .chools: Lessons from the reform of

public education6 London: almer Fress6

%ald1ell' B6 >6' & .pinks' >6 D6 #()),26 Beyond the self8managing school6 London: almer

Fress6

%lark' R6 #/**/26 ?nhancing resiliency in adults' youths and children: an anticipatory

preention program to help citi9ens manage life adersities and crises6 Annals of the

American Fsychotherapy Association' @#@2' (3//6


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%ropan9ano' R6' Rupp' E6 ?6' & Byrne' O6 .6 #/**026 The relationship of emotional


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e7haustion to 1ork attitudes' "ob performance' and organisational citi9enship

behaiours6 >ournal of Applied Fsychology' ,,#(2' (-*(,06

olkman' .6' & Dosko1it9' >6 T6 #/**326 %oping: Fitfalls and promise6 Annual Reie1 of

Fsychology' @@' C3@CC36

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Hualitatie Research6 e1 Mork: Aldine de 4ruyter6

4oleman' E6 #())@26 ?motional !ntelligence6 e1 Mork: Bantam Books6

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teachers: A methodological and theoretical analysis6 Reie1 of ?ducational Research'

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Australian Frimary .chool Responses6 The British >ournal of .ociology of ?ducation'

(C#(2' 0)@/6

Iouse' >6 .6 #(),(26 =ork .tress and .ocial .upport6 Reading' DA: Addison8=esley6

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5yriacou' %6 #/**(26 Teacher stress+ directions for future research6 ?ducational Reie1'

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%onflict and Unmet ?7pectations6 Relations !ndustrielles' @C#02' 3-03,C6

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support and the costs of health care6 Academy of Danagement >ournal' 0)#02' C0,C@(6

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Bass6

Diles' D6 B6' & Iuberman' A6 D6 #())326 Hualitatie Eata Analysis: An ?7panded

.ourcebook6 #/nd edition26 Thousand $aks: .age Fublications6

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of ?ducation' 03' 3(@(6

$tto' R6 #(),-26 Teachers Under .tress6 Delbourne: Iill of %ontent6

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?ducation and Training6 Delbourne6

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?ducation Administration' 0*#(2' @@C*6

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$rganisations6 Administratie .cience Huarterly' ()' ),(*-6

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primary teachers6 Australian >ournal of ?ducation' 3C#(2' C0,,6

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$rganisations6 Administratie .cience Huarterly' 3*' //,/@@6

Ackno1ledgements

The authors 1ish to thank the anonymous reie1ers for their aluable comments and the

assistance of Frofessor .imon Darginson' as 1ell as the principal and staff of the Victorian

primary school 1hich is the sub"ect of this research for their generosity in terms of time

and their participation6

Authors

Rosaria Burchielli is a Lecturer in the .chool of Business' La Trobe Uniersity' V!% 0*,-6

Timothy Bartram is a .enior Lecturer in the .chool of Business' La Trobe Uniersity' V!%

like an iceberg floating alone

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