- Title
- Teacher stress and educational processes: a multilevel process-product analysis of teacher attitudes and their effects on student outcomes
- Creator
- Smith, Maxwell Wallace
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 1996
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- This study investigated the effects of teacher work-related attitudes on classroom activity and behaviour, and student attitude and achievement outcomes. More specifically, those involved were the teachers and students in Year 11 Higher School Certificate classes in the subject areas of English, Mathematics and the Social Sciences, studying in New South Wales Department of School Education, Hunter Region schools during the 1992 school year. Data were gathered by teacher, school and student questionnaires, and by lesson observations. The initial stage of the data gathering involved 258 teachers and the 34 schools in which they worked. The second stage of data collection used systematic classroom-based observations involving a subsample of 70 teachers at 23 schools and the collection of questionnaire data from 811 of their Year 11 students. Teachers were not selected randomly, although available demographic characteristics of the teachers suggested that they were representative of Hunter Region secondary school teachers. Teacher questionnaires included information on perceived teacher stress, satisfaction and workload, and other professional aspects of their teaching, including types of classes taught. The school questionnaire gathered information about the school size, curriculum, timetable structure and subject choice. Each teacher's class was observed on five occasions, observations focussing on teacher intentions, pedagogical emphases and engagement, teaching roles, specific instructional practices and more general classroom measures, including the teacher's facilitation of learning and commitment to learning. The student data included the Quality of School Life (QSL) questionnaire, other perceptions of school, information on their achievement, intentions for further education, and personal background information. The students involved were clustered in the selected teachers' classes and schools. The broadly defined outcomes of interest in this study included teacher work-related attitudes, classroom behaviour and instructional activity, and student cognitive and attitudinal outcomes. Measurement constructs related to these outcomes were developed within each level from questionnaire scales and observation schedules using LISREL one-factor congeneric models. A multivariate-multilevel structural equation model was then developed for the full sample of teachers to establish the nature and strength of interrelationships between teacher work-related stress, workload and satisfaction. Other multilevel structural equation models related to the subsample of teachers observed demonstrated the interrelationships between school, teacher/classroom, and student variables. The results showed the importance of adopting a multi-dimensional approach to the study of teacher work-related attitudes. The factors found to be of greatest importance within this framework were teacher perceptions of task demand, especially in the areas of assessment and resource preparation, and stress arising from lack of rewards and recognition and time pressure. More specific analysis showed these attitudes to be in part the consequence of school and classroom contextual factors, and the nature of the students encountered in the classroom. It was also clear that teacher work-related attitudes were a potential influence over student educational outcomes.
- Subject
- work related attitudes; teachers; classroom activity; student outcomes
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1417785
- Identifier
- uon:37253
- Rights
- Copyright 1996 Maxwell Wallace Smith
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 289 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 11 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |