ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to assess relationship between work- related stress and job satisfaction among secondary school teachers in North-West Zone, Nigeria. To achieve this purpose, the variables assessed in this study include physical environment, psychological, socio-economic, and health in relation to work- related stress and job satisfaction among public secondary school teachers. Ex-post facto research design was used for the study. A self-developed questionnaire with six statements on each of the variables investigated was vetted by the supervisors from the Department of Physical and Health Education. A pilot study was conducted to test the reliability of the instrument. The data collected were coded and analysed for reliability and internal consistency using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM Version 23).Cronbach‟s Alpha was
.915, Spearman Brown Equal and Unequal Length was .781, and Guttman Split- Half test of .715 were used to further determine the validity and the reliability of the instrument. The instrument was then administered on six hundred and sixty five (665) teachers from twenty-eight (28) sampled public secondary schools from 14 Senatorial districts in North-West Zone, Nigeria through random sampling procedure while 613 were retrieved and used. The data collected were statistically analyzed thus: for the demographic variables, frequencies and percentage, mean and standard deviation, were used to analyze work related stress and job satisfaction among secondary school teachers in North West Zone, Nigeria. Pearson product moment correlation coefficient was used to test the formulated hypotheses 3,4,5,6. One simple t-test was used for sub-hypotheses 1& 2 to establish the significance of the expressed opinion on the investigated variables of stress and job satisfaction. All hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings reveal that the teachers are highly stressed and this has affected their job satisfaction, On the findings, physical environment, psychological, Socio-economic and Health work-related stress are significantly correlated with teachers‟ job satisfaction in North West Zone. It was concluded that State ministries of education and the school management should improve on provision of facilities and equipment for conducive teaching and learning environment. It was further recommended that the Federal and State Ministries of Education should ensure immediate review and improvement of condition of services in terms of wages, incentives and develop a policy on stress management to guide the induction, operations and counselling of teachers at all levels in their day to day duties, to enhance teaching.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The complexities of life, both private and public have made stress to be an inevitable health concern in humans. The individual at work is always faced with some form of painful experience which results in stress that could either be a damaging factor to the individual’s health and productivity. The extent to which teachers are satisfied with their job and working conditions is likely to have significant consequences for the retention of teachers within the profession, for their approach to teaching, for the creation of collegial relations within a school, and for student outcomes (Crossman & Harris, 2006). A job may require too much or too little from a person. Almost any aspect of the job environment is capable of producing stress. Ceasar, Chinedu & Kuttickattu (2014), state that like all formal organisations, the school system has specific administrative tasks and functions to be performed by the teachers. In the field of management, Reglin and Reitzammer (2008) describe the functions of teachers as that of facilitating teaching and learning in the school system.
Stress is a common feature in our lives, especially as the pace of development increases with the ever-changing demands in human lives. Work is a common term which is applied for all sorts of occupation and it is a basic condition for most people and is an important component of the atmosphere for human survival (Ceasar, Chinedu & Kuttickattu, 2014). Stress as well as job satisfaction act as major elements in the development of the individual as well as the economy of the nation. Many adults spend half of their lives in work- related activities. It is natural to experience work-related stress or tension or strain in the body or mind if there is no release or outlet for the pent-up feelings.
Secondary school teachers are those who work and teach students in the public or private secondary schools. They are teachers who work as counselors and conduct classes in academic subjects, provide skilled knowledge such as sport, drawing and sewing as well as guiding students to learn and get new knowledge. The Educational Management Information System (2010) reports that the number of secondary school teachers had been on the increase, as well as the number of students but the secondary school teachers are yet to fulfill the demands even though the statistics of teachers had increased in these few years.
The teaching profession has been categorized as an occupation at high risk for stress (Zindi, 2002). The Health and Safety Executive (2000), in the United Kingdom reports that teaching is the most stressful occupation, compared to other occupations. Child (2007) observes that the changes in education system causes stress which affects teachers‟ motivation. He emphasized that the introduction of so many innovations into school life, such as, more detailed and time-consuming methods of assessment, more administration and committee meetings within the school have all conspired to increase tension in teaching. Teachers stress is defined as an experience in teachers‟ behaviour which has unpleasant negative emotions; such as anger, frustration, anxiety, depression and nervousness, resulting from some aspect of their work as teachers (Kyriacou, 2001). The amount of research on teacher’s stress has increased steadily and has now become a major research topic in many countries.
According to Chan, Chen and Chong (2010), workplace stress is the harmful physical and emotional responses that can happen when there is a conflict between jobs demands on the employee and the amount of control an employee has over meeting these demand. In addition, work stress can be defined as the nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it. It is assumed to be an internal state or reaction to anything we consciously or unconsciously perceive as a threat, either real or imagined (Venkata & Lokanadha, 2014).
In addition, Robbins (2001) defines stress as a condition in which the individual is confronted with an opportunity, constraint, or demand related to what he or she desires and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important. Stress can be experienced by environmental effect, organizational factors, and individual variables (Matteson & Ivancevich, 1999; Cook & Hunsaker, 2001). Occupational stress is concerned with working environment or their nature of work that causes each individual suffering stress (Rohany, 2003). Whereas, Leka, Griffiths & Cox (2004) refer to occupational stress as the response people may have when presented with work demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope.
Venkata & Lokanadha (2014) opine that work stress occurs among secondary school teachers due to the fact that they cannot meet up with the ever-changing demands and rigours of changing curriculum in the school, personal and environmental problems. It is also one important factor that affects how they are committed with school and how this affects their performances and output in school. In the era of globalization, occupational stress among secondary school teachers can be as a widespread problem in the world. In the view of Chan, Chen & Chong (2010), the phenomenon of work stress in teaching field had been drawing adequate attention and increased contemplation by public.
Job satisfaction refers to the fulfillment a teacher derives from day-to-day activities in his/her job. A teacher who has high job satisfaction is perceived to have a high level of commitment to his/her work (Judge, Thoresen, & Patton, 2001). Teacher job satisfaction relates to a teacher’s perception of what he/she expects to get from teaching and what he/she is actually getting from teaching (Lawler, 1973). Teacher job satisfaction is thus a function of the extent to which a teacher‟s aspirations, desires and needs are met or satisfied on the job.
The term „job satisfaction‟ was first utilized by Hoppock (1935), referring to it as a combination of psychological, physiological and environmental circumstances that make a person feel satisfied with their job. A job is not merely life sustaining but life-enhancing and enriching because most people continue to work even if their economic needs are met, suggesting that for most people, work satisfies various needs, such as a need for individual recognition, achievement, or the pleasure derived from working with other people.
Teacher stress seems to be a universal phenomenon in both developed and developing countries; a phenomenon that has been recognized for over more than 25 years and across many countries (Borg & Riding, 1991; Brown & Ralph, 2002; Kyriacou, 1998, 2002; Kyriacou & Laughlin, 1984). Generally, the combination of high demands in a job and a low amount of control over the situation can lead to stress. Job related stress is a serious problem that can contribute to negative effect on people‟s health and society in general.
However, a teacher who is happy or satisfied with his/her job generally has a sense of obligation to uplift the society that he/she lives in; whereas, one who is dissatisfied may exert a negative influence on the students‟ learning. Job dissatisfaction has ripple effects on students‟ academic growth. According to Umme (1999), a significant relationship was found between teacher‟s attitude towards teaching and job satisfaction. When teachers have job satisfaction, they tend to teach well.
The widely held belief in Nigeria is that there is generally low teacher satisfaction (Businge, 2011) and low morale amongst Nigerian schoolteachers (Daily Trust, 2010). According to Kayode (2012), some factors reported to be contributing to job satisfaction or dissatisfaction include: salary structure, working conditions, attitude of parents, students‟ attitudes toward learning, loss of job and lives, promotion, workload. Furthermore, most Nigerians believe that teacher satisfaction is directly related to teachers‟ salary and rewards.
The belief held in most quarters in Nigeria is that the only factor that contributes to teacher job satisfaction or dissatisfaction is the quality of teachers‟ take-home pay. For example, when making suggestions on how to improve the educational system, the president of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) said, “Government…must develop a…remuneration and reward system that will promote job satisfaction” (Komolafe, 2010). Job satisfaction and job-related stress are twin sisters which have positive and negative impact on job efficiency but work-related stress have a far more great negative impact which is affecting the level of output among teachers in all institutions of learning especially at the secondary school level.
1.2 The Statement of the Problem
Teaching is a unique job that brings about a positive change in the attitude of students and also assists them to acquire knowledge and skill. The desire to help extend education and skills shows teachers‟ commitment to educational objectives.
The progress of a nation is limited to its productive capacity, which in turn depends upon the calibre of its secondary education. The education system in general and the secondary education system in particular are instruments to develop the human capital as economic assets for wealth generation and also as social assets for improving the quality of the life of the people. The education system should provide scope for understanding several major socio-economic changes affecting the society that include global economic integration, national economic reforms, changing demographic pattern, increased school’s enrolment, increased drop-out rate, social norms, increasing environmental consciousness, changing family finances, demands of labour market.
According to studies carried out in recent times, findings reveal that teachers in Nigerian schools are stressed and this has drastically reduced their level of performance and output (Adebola & Mukhtari, 2014). Studies carried out by Salami (2005) and Oyewumi, Ibitoye, & Sanni (2012) support the fact that there are work- related stress and job satisfaction among teachers. They further state that the teaching profession in Nigeria is replete with teachers who do not have job satisfaction. Furthermore, Salami, (2005) opines that many of the teachers are overloaded with work due to high ratio of pupils to teachers and lack of relevant working facilities. These teachers had been reported to be working in stressful environments with stressful equipment (such as using outdated textbooks, broken machines, teaching practical subjects without the basic equipment, tight schedules for meeting datelines, the ever-changing curriculum which put most of the teachers on their toes to cope or lose their jobs) (Adesoji, 2004; Salami, 2005, 2009). Moreover, a shrinking job market, and the downsizing of organizations also contribute to teachers‟ stress (Adesoji, 2004). Jarvis (2002) observes that teachers are highly stressed and that stress imparts greatly on teacher retention.
Teachers are often pressured at preparing daily and monthly lesson plan. Teaching in Nigeria, has become more challenging than ever due to transformation that Nigeria desires to be a fully developed nation in the nearest future. As a result, Nigerian teachers are facing work stress to fulfill the demand of training future skilled and talented students in order to be a fully developed nation by the year 2020.. Teaching jobs are structured in such a way that a worker is simultaneously exposed to both overload and acute time pressure. Generally, people under stress express their frustration through some common ways like excessive criticism of government, management and displaying inability to get along with others (Brown, 2012). At the same time, teachers are required to improve themselves in terms of creativity, innovations and critical thinking in order to cope with the advancement in the science and technology (Jaiyeoba & Jibril, 2008). The researcher has observed with dismay over the years that teachers are stressed and sometimes retire prematurely. The researcher is not really certain what is responsible for this. It is against this background that the researcher was prompted to find out if physical environment, psychological, socio-economic and health work related stress affects job satisfaction and to know the relationship between works- related stress and job satisfaction among secondary school teachers in North-west zone of Nigeria.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between work related stress and job satisfaction among secondary school teachers in North West zone of Nigeria. Specifically, the study sought to assess:
1. To determine if teachers in public secondary schools experience work related stress.
2. To find out if teachers in public secondary schools are satisfied with their job in North-West Zone of Nigeria.
3. To Investigate if physical environment of teachers is related to job satisfaction in secondary schools in North West zone of Nigeria.
4. To assess if psychological status of the teachers is related to job satisfaction in secondary schools in North West zone of Nigeria.
5. To determine if socio-economic status of the teachers is related to job satisfaction in secondary schools in North West zone of Nigeria.
6. To assess if health status of the teachers is related to job satisfaction in secondary schools in North West zone of Nigeria.
1.4 Research Questions
This investigation was conducted to answer the following research questions:
1. Do teachers of public secondary schools experience work related stress in North-West zone of Nigeria?
2. Does teachers of public secondary schools satisfied with their job in North West Zone of Nigeria?
3. Does physical environment of the teachers enhance job satisfaction in North West Zone of Nigeria?
4. Does work-related psychological stress of teachers relate to job satisfaction in North West zone of Nigeria?
5. Does socio-economic status of the teachers relate to job satisfaction in North West zone of Nigeria?
6. Does the health status of teachers relate to job satisfaction in North West Zone of Nigeria?
1.5 Significance of the Study
The study will be significant as follows;
i. Provision of a platform for the Ministry of Education, School Administrators to be conversant with the existence of work related stress among teachers and implement positive measures that will change conditions and behavior in secondary schools in North West Zone of Nigeria.
ii. The study will assist Health educators to create awareness among teachers on work stressors and their management.
iii. It will encourage the government to promote effective motivation through increase of wages that will create job satisfaction for teachers which will enhance their performance and adequate service delivery.
iv. The study will serve as a guide to education planners and health educators to find a way of minimizing the effect of these stressors for effective performance and output of teachers in public secondary schools in North West Zone of Nigeria.
v. This study will serve as reference for future researchers interested in stress and job satisfaction among secondary school teachers in other parts of Nigeria.
1.6
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