Teachers of Secondary Education and Professional Stress with Students Performance: A Geographical Case Study

Abstract

This paper presents a small-scale empirical qualitative research on school performance, which is a professional stressor for teachers of Western Attica’s (Greece), serving in schools of senior Secondary Education, as well as on effective ways of limiting this phenomenon. The sampling, the sample, the tool, and the credibility criteria of this particular survey are determined. The outcomes and the relevant conclusions, resulting from the processing and analysis of primary data, are presented along with a proposal for further research. According to these conclusions, the teachers’ stress is increased in the 3rd and last grade of senior secondary education, because of the national admission examinations to tertiary education that their pupils participate in. The stress-levels are exacerbated by parents and their expectations of their children’s success. For reducing professional stress, different strategies are applied by individual teachers, headmasters and Teachers’ Associations.