The effective school governor2001

Occupational stress is a global phenomenon. It is particularly acute in 'caring' occupations, such as teaching, where the restructuring of schools over the past decade has been accompanied by an escalation of teacher stress and burnout. The numbers leaving teaching have increased dramatically, while amongst those remaining in the profession, morale and levels of job satisfaction are low. This book traces the sources of stress in teaching including: *the effects of national policy *changes in work and school organisation *personal factors The authors explore teachers' perceptions of the causes of their stress, the experience and effects of stress, and the process of recovery and self renewal. The book is based on interviews with numerous primary school teachers clinically diagnosed as suffering from stress-related illness. These interviews are comlmented by an organisational study of two primary schools, one a 'low' stress school, the other a 'high'stress school. The findings inform policy recommendations aimed at preventing at source occupational stress in the teaching adn 'caring' professions, as well as offering advise to inividuals suffering from stress.