Biologie. Chemie. Zeměpis A journal for science teachers and science education researchers

STRESS IN THE TEACHING PROFESSION – CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND COPING

Lucie Tichá, Radim Kuba

Volume 34 (2025), issue 4 pp. 22–37 published online 23 April 2026 Czech

DOI https://doi.org/10.14712/25337556.2025.4.2

Download PDF (865 kB) Open in browser
PDF preview

Abstract

Teaching is among the professions with the highest levels of stress. The aim of this paper is to outline the causes and consequences of teacher stress, as well as strategies for coping with it. The first part of the paper focuses on the consequences that can arise from teacher stress. These consequences affect not only the teachers themselves, but also their students, and in fact, the entire educational system. The second part of the paper provides an insight into the factors that can cause stress for Czech and foreign-born teachers. The most common factors include working conditions, inappropriate student behavior, excessive workload, workplace relationships, etc. The final part describes ways of coping with stress, including coping strategies, the influence of positive thinking about stress and the impact of self-efficacy. In the very last section, recommendations for reducing teacher stress are mentioned, including, among others, teacher participation in intervention programs and support for beginning teachers. Thus, the paper provides a comprehensive view of the issue of teacher stress and how it can be handled. Teachers can use this information for their personal use or as a basis for teaching, e.g., in biology/nature studies in connection with mental hygiene or aspects of stress reactions in general.

Keywords

teacher · stress · stress factors · coping · coping strategies

How to cite

Tichá, L., & Kuba, R. (2025). STRES V UČITELSKÉ PROFESI – JEHO PŘÍČINY, NÁSLEDKY A MOŽNOSTI ZVLÁDÁNÍ. Biologie-Chemie-Zeměpis, 34(4), 22–37. https://doi.org/10.14712/25337556.2025.4.2

References (61)

  1. Adegboyega, L. O., Okafor, I. P., & Salihu, H. A. (2021). Factors Of Workplace Stress Among Female Secondary School Teachers In Oyo Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria. Journal of Nusantara Studies (JONUS), 6(2), 185–201. https://doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol6iss2pp185-201
  2. Ahmad, I., Gul, R., & Kashif, M. (2022). A Qualitative Study of Workplace Factors Causing Stress Among University Teachers and Coping Strategies A Qualitative Study of Workplace Factors. Human Arenas. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-022-00302-w
  3. Aldrup, K., Klusmann, U., Lüdtke, O., Göllner, R., & Trautwein, U. (2018). Student misbehavior and teacher well-being: Testing the mediating role of the teacher-student relationship. Learning and Instruction, 58, 126–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.05.006
  4. Allegretto, S., & Mishel, L. (2020). Teacher pay penalty dips but persists in 2019. Economic Policy Institute.
  5. Alvites-Huamaní, C. G. (2019). Estrés docente y factores psicosociales en docentes de Latinoamérica, Norteamérica y Europa. Propósitos y Representaciones, 7(3), 141. https://doi.org/10.20511/pyr2019.v7n3.393
  6. Antoniou, A. S., Efthymiou, V., Polychroni, F., & Kofa, O. (2020). Occupational stress in mainstream and special needs primary school teachers and its relationship with self-efficacy. Educational Studies, 49(1), 200–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2020.1837080
  7. Aulén, A. M., Pakarinen, E., Feldt, T., & Lerkkanen, M. K. (2021). Teacher coping profiles in relation to teacher well-being: A mixed method approach. Teaching and Teacher Education, 102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103323
  8. Bălănescu, R.-C. (2019). Teaching Emotions, Stress, and Burnout among Teachers in Secondary Education. BRAIN. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, 10(2), 119–127. https://doi.org/10.70594/brain/v10.i2/12
  9. Beuchel, P., Groß Ophoff, J., Cramer, C., & Hautzinger, M. (2022). Promoting occupational health and teaching quality: The impact of a mindfulness intervention in teacher training. Teaching and Teacher Education, 114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.103703
  10. Bottiani, J. H., Duran, C. A. K., Pas, E. T., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2019). Teacher stress and burnout in urban middle schools: Associations with job demands, resources, and effective classroom practices. Journal of School Psychology, 77, 36–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2019.10.002
  11. Boudová, S., Šťastný, V., Basl, J., Zatloukal, T., Andrys, O., & Pražáková, D. (2020). Mezinárodní šetření TALIS 2018. Národní zpráva. Zkušenosti, názory a postoje učitelů a ředitelů škol.
  12. Carroll, A., York, A., Fynes-Clinton, S., Sanders-O’Connor, E., Flynn, L., Bower, J. M., Forrest, K., & Ziaei, M. (2021). The Downstream Effects of Teacher Well-Being Programs: Improvements in Teachers’ Stress, Cognition and Well-Being Benefit Their Students. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.689628
  13. De Nobile, J. (2016). Organisational communication and its relationships with occupational stress of primary school staff in Western Australia. Australian Educational Researcher, 43(2), 185–201. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-015-0197-9
  14. Domagalska, J., Rusin, M., Razzaghi, M., & Nowak, P. (2021). Personality Type D, Level of Perceived Stress, Insomnia, and Depression Among High School Teachers in Poland. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.626945
  15. Eddy, C. L., Herman, K. C., & Reinke, W. M. (2019). Single-item teacher stress and coping measures: Concurrent and predictive validity and sensitivity to change. Journal of School Psychology, 76, 17–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2019.05.001
  16. Fontana, D. (1997). Psychologie ve školní praxi: Vol. 3. Portál.
  17. Ghasemi, F. (2022). (Dys)functional Cognitive-Behavioral Coping Strategies of Teachers to Cope with Stress, Anxiety, and Depression. Deviant Behavior, 43(12), 1558–1571. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2021.2012729
  18. Ghasemi, F., Herman, K. C., & Reinke, W. M. (2022). Shifts in Stressors, Internalizing Symptoms, and Coping Mechanisms of Teachers During the COVID-19 Pandemic. School Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-022-09549-8
  19. Han, J., Yin, H., Wang, J., & Bai, Y. (2020). Challenge job demands and job resources to university teacher well-being: the mediation of teacher efficacy. Studies in Higher Education, 45(8), 1771–1785. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1594180
  20. Herman, K. C., Hickmon-Rosa, J., & Reinke, W. M. (2018). Empirically Derived Profiles of Teacher Stress, Burnout, Self-Efficacy, and Coping and Associated Student Outcomes. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 20(2), 90–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098300717732066
  21. Herman, K. C., Prewitt, S. L., Eddy, C. L., Savale, A., & Reinke, W. M. (2020). Profiles of middle school teacher stress and coping: Concurrent and prospective correlates. Journal of School Psychology, 78, 54–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2019.11.003
  22. Herman, K. C., Reinke, W. M., & Eddy, C. L. (2020). Advances in understanding and intervening in teacher stress and coping: The Coping-Competence-Context Theory. In Journal of School Psychology (Vol. 78, pp. 69–74). Elsevier Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2020.01.001
  23. Iriarte Redín, C., & Erro-Garcés, A. (2020). Stress in teaching professionals across Europe. International Journal of Educational Research, 103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101623
  24. Jõgi, A. L., Pakarinen, E., & Lerkkanen, M. K. (2022). Teachers’ physiological and self-reported stress, teaching practices and students’ learning outcomes in Grade 1. British Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12529
  25. Johnson, S., Cooper, C., Cartwright, S., Donald, I., Taylor, P., & Millet, C. (2005). The experience of work-related stress across occupations. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 20(2), 178–187. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940510579803
  26. Junker, R., Donker, M. H., & Mainhard, T. (2021). Potential classroom stressors of teachers: An audiovisual and physiological approach. Learning and Instruction, 75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2021.101495
  27. Kim, J., Shin, Y., Tsukayama, E., & Park, D. (2020). Stress mindset predicts job turnover among preschool teachers. Journal of School Psychology, 78, 13–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2019.11.002
  28. Klassen, R. M., & Chiu, M. M. (2010). Effects on teachers’ self-efficacy and job satisfaction: Teacher gender, years of experience, and job stress. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(3), 741–756. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019237
  29. Křivohlavý, J. (1994). Jak zvládat stres. Grada Avicenum.
  30. Kundaragi, P. B., & Kadakol, A. M. (2015). Work Stress Of Employee: A Literature Review. International Journal of Advance Research and Innovative Ideas in Education, 1(3). www.ijariie.com
  31. Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. Springer Publishing Company.
  32. LeBlanc, V., Woodrow, S. I., Sidhu, R., & Dubrowski, A. (2008). Examination stress leads to improvements on fundamental technical skills for surgery. American Journal of Surgery, 196(1), 114–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2007.08.059
  33. Lizana, P. A., & Lera, L. (2022). Depression, Anxiety, and Stress among Teachers during the Second COVID-19 Wave. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19105968
  34. MacIntyre, P. D., Gregersen, T., & Mercer, S. (2020). Language teachers’ coping strategies during the Covid-19 conversion to online teaching: Correlations with stress, wellbeing and negative emotions. System, 94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102352
  35. MacIntyre, P. D., Ross, J., Talbot, K., Mercer, S., Gregersen, T., & Banga, C. A. (2019). Stressors, personality and wellbeing among language teachers. System, 82, 26–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2019.02.013
  36. Marais-Opperman, V., van Eeden, C., & Rothmann, S. (2021a). Perceived stress, coping and mental health of teachers: A latent profile analysis. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 31(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2021.1875561
  37. Marais-Opperman, V., van Eeden, C., & Rothmann, S. (2021b). Stress, flourishing and intention to leave of teachers: Does coping type matter? SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 47. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v47i0.1834
  38. Noori, A. Q. (2023). Job satisfaction variance among public and private school teachers: A case study. Cogent Education, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2023.2189425
  39. Pavlas Martanová, V. (2020). Supervize jako jeden z efektivních nástrojů péče o učitele. Komenský, 144(4), 19–26.
  40. Pavlas Martanová, V., & Konůpková, O. (2019). Odlišné světy učitelů a rodičů: interakce s rodiči jako zdroj stresu učitele. Pedagogická orientace, 29(2), 223–242. https://doi.org/10.5817/pedor2019-2-223
  41. Pereira, S. L. M., Di Donato, G., Pillon, S. C., Vedana, K. G. G., Pereira Júnior, A. do C., & Miasso, A. I. (2022). Predictors of job stress and alcohol consumption amongst university professors. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 40, 137–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2022.07.009
  42. Petrakova, A. V., Kanonire, T. N., Kulikova, A. A., & Orel, E. A. (2021). Characteristics of Teacher Stress during Distance Learning Imposed by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Voprosy Obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, 2021(1), 93–114. https://doi.org/10.17323/1814-9545-2021-1-93-114
  43. Ramberg, J., Brolin Låftman, S., Åkerstedt, T., & Modin, B. (2020). Teacher Stress and Students’ School Well-being: the Case of Upper Secondary Schools in Stockholm. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 64(6), 816–830. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2019.1623308
  44. Rokyta, R., Bernášková, K., Franěk, M., & Jurčovičová, J. (2015). Fyziologie a patologická fyziologie pro klinickou praxi: Vol. 1. Grada Publishing.
  45. Ryan, S. V., von der Embse, N. P., Pendergast, L. L., Saeki, E., Segool, N., & Schwing, S. (2017). Leaving the teaching profession: The role of teacher stress and educational accountability policies on turnover intent. Teaching and Teacher Education, 66, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.03.016
  46. Selye, H. (1973). The Evolution of the Stress Concept: The originator of the concept traces its development from the discovery in 1936 of the alarm reaction to modern therapeutic applications of syntoxic and catatoxic hormones. American Scientist, 61(6), 692–699. https://doi.org/http://www.jstor.org/stable/27844072
  47. Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2018). Job demands and job resources as predictors of teacher motivation and well-being. Social Psychology of Education, 21(5), 1251–1275. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-018-9464-8
  48. Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2021). Teacher Stress and Coping Strategies—The Struggle to Stay in Control. Creative Education, 12(06), 1273–1295. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2021.126096
  49. Smetáčková, I., & Francová, V. (2020). Connection between perceived quality of relationships in teaching teams and burnout syndrome among primary school teachers. Studia Paedagogica, 25(1), 9–32. https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2020-1-1
  50. Smetáčková, I., Viktorová, I., Pavlas Martanová, V., Pachová, A., Francová, V., & Štech, S. (2019). Teachers between job satisfaction and burnout syndrome: What makes difference in Czech elementary schools. Frontiers in Psychology, 10(OCT). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02287
  51. Smetáčková, I., Viktorová, I., Štech, S., Pavlas Martanová, V., Páchová, A., Francová, V., & Ptáček, R. (2019). Syndrom vyhoření a jeho souvislosti u vyučujících na českých základních školách. Československá psychologie, 63(4), 386–401.
  52. Smetáčková, I., Vondrová, E., & Topková, P. (2017). Zvládání stresu a syndrom vyhoření u učitelek a učitelů ZŠ. E-Pedagogium, 17(1), 59–75. https://doi.org/10.5507/epd.2017.006
  53. Stengård, J., Mellner, C., Toivanen, S., & Nyberg, A. (2022). Gender Differences in the Work and Home Spheres for Teachers, and Longitudinal Associations with Depressive Symptoms in a Swedish Cohort. Sex Roles, 86(3–4), 159–178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-021-01261-2
  54. Tomek, R., & Urhahne, D. (2022). Relating teachers’ coping styles to student noise and perceived stress. Educational Psychology, 42(3), 375–395. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2022.2031892
  55. Tsubono, K., & Ogawa, M. (2022). The analysis of main stressors among high-stress primary school teachers by job positions: A nationwide survey in Japan. Frontiers in Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.990141
  56. Vágnerová, M. (2008). Psychopatologie pro pomáhající profese. Portál.
  57. Viktorová, I. (2020). Jak učitelé vnímají komunikaci s rodiči: Spokojení vs. vyhořelí. Pedagogika, 70(1). https://doi.org/10.14712/23362189.2019.1343
  58. Vorlíček, R., Kollerová, L., Janošová, P., & Jungwirthová, R. (2022). Stressors at school from the teachers’ perspective and their associations with individual characteristics and burnout. Československá psychologie, 66(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.51561/cspsych.66.1.1
  59. WHO. (2019, May 28). Burn-out an “occupational phenomenon”: International Classification of Diseases. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases
  60. Woods, S., Sebastian, J., Herman, K. C., Huang, F. L., Reinke, W. M., & Thompson, A. M. (2023). The relationship between teacher stress and job satisfaction as moderated by coping. Psychology in the Schools. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22857
  61. Židková, Z., & Martínková, J. (2003). Psychická zátěž učitelů základních škol. České pracovní lékařství, 3, 6–10.

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.