Stressors in teachers’ stress: findings from pilot study / Nur Izzati Zahrin

Teachers in Malaysia are suffering from stress and this issue must be tackled seriously by all interested parties. As teachers play a role in producing good and effective citizen, their stress must be studied and understood. Therefore, this study advocates for a new stress index for Malaysian teachers to shed a better light in understanding the issue of stress among teachers. This paper aims to present the findings on stressors among teachers that were unearthed during the pilot study. Teachers from primary and secondary schools were interviewed to identify teachers' stressors. The findings from the pilot study has revealed that teachers were facing two types of stress: life stress and workplace stress. Among the common life stress faced by teachers were family issues, financial issues and self-esteem issues. Meanwhile, notable workplace stress were identified in unbearable job demands, lack of material and staff support and, lack of confidence in content knowledge and teaching skill. The pilot study has shown that the issue of teachers’ stress has not been fully explored and developing a stress index is a must in helping teachers, administrators and health personnel to understand this issue better.