Stress and associated factors among teachers who teach learning disabled kindergartners and elementary students in schools under supervision of the Office of Private Education Commission.

Abstract

Background : Rules prescribed in the National Education Act of 2542 BE specify that every school must provide inclusive education for learning disabled students. Practices in order to comply with the Act and related rules without sufficient readiness may have stress effects on the workplace especially teachers who lack knowledge and skills to provide such education for this special group of students.

Objective : To study the levels of stress and associated factors among Teachers who teach learning disabled kindergartners and elementary students in schools under the supervision of the Office of Private Education Commission in Bangkok Metropolitan.

Design : A cross – sectional descriptive study.

Setting : Schools under a supervision of the Office of Private Education Commission in Bangkok Metropolitan.

Materials and Method : Data were collected from 202 teachers who teach learning disabled Method kindergartners and elementary students. Self-report questionnaires included; 1)general personal background information questionnaire; 2) work related factors questionnaire, e.g., teaching information questionnaire and workload & responsibilities questionnaire; 3) relationship with bosses and colleagues questionnaire; and 4) 41 Stress questionnaires based on Tossapol’s model All these were completed by the subjects. Univariate analysis (e.g. Chi-Square test) were used to examine associated factors related to stress and multivariate analysis was used to determine predictors of stress among this group of teachers.

Results : The result of the study shows that the majority of the samples had low stress (51.0%). Factors that statistically significantly associated with stress of monthly personal and monthly family incomes, training attendance, all levels of instruction, English teaching (to learning disabled and normal students), mathematics teaching in learning disabled and normal students integrated class, teaching learning-disabled students who were delayed in speech and language disorder and autistic, work burden, relationship with bosses, and relationship with colleagues. Multivariate analysis revealed 5 factors significantly associated with stress ;: monthly income, training attendances, English teaching (to normal students), teaching learningdisabled students (speech and language disorder) and relationship with colleagues.

Conclusion : Teachers who teach learning disabled kindergartners and elementary students in schools under the supervision of the Office of Private Education Commission in Bangkok have a low level of stress. Knowing the risk factors will help education personnel identify high-risk groups and provide appropriate assistance.