Teacher Stress and Burnout in Rural Middle Schools in Alabama: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

• Main Author: Holland, Colette Richards
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2023
• Subjects: Education; Educational psychology; Middle School education
• ISBN: 9798381751291

The problems of teacher stress and burnout are real, and they impact many people. Often research has been designed to collect data regarding stress and burnout from students. The aim of the qualitative Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study was to discover the lived experiences of rural middle school teachers as perceived by the teachers regarding stress and burnout that may lead to attrition. Teacher participant demographics were four females and two males ranging in age from 30 to 62 years of age, with six to 22 years of experience. Through this IPA study, six rural teachers were given an opportunity to respond to semi-structured interview questions and participate in a focus group session for the purpose of contributing rich details into experiences of stress and burnout, that may add to the existing literature. The transactional theory of stress and coping (TTSC) set up the parameters for the research with respect to individual perceptions of the lack of personal resources and how these deficits contribute to the experience of stress. The research questions asked were: 1) What are the lived experiences of rural middle school teachers that contribute to high levels of stress and burnout? 2) What do middle school teachers in rural Alabama recommend for dealing with stress and preventing burnout? Findings documented six themes that emerged from the first research question as: workload, lack of support/resources, parents, communication, low pay/lack of appreciation, and student behavior. The second research question produced six thoughts or ideas: talking with someone else, better work/life balance, career changes, volunteering, hobbies, and exercise. The problems of teacher stress and burnout need to be further analyzed, since teachers are leaving the profession. Recommendations for future research could include a larger population and urban school systems to study the extent of teacher stress and burnout that may lead to attrition and to discover and implement solutions to decrease teacher stress and burnout and will keep teachers in their chosen professions.