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Public Primary School Teachers Perceptions of Their Working Institute of International Education Report 121 Public Primary School Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Working Conditions and Job Stress Cases from Istanbul and Stockholm Gülay Öztürk Stockholm, Sweden 2011 ISBN 978-91-977959-5-1 ISSN 0348-8381 Institute of International Education Department of Education Stockholm University SE-106 91 Stockholm Sweden www.interped.su.se Institute of International Education Department of Education Public Primary School Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Working Conditions and Job Stress: Cases from Istanbul and Stockholm Gülay Öztürk June 2011 i Foreword The Yellow Report Series is an integral part of the Institute of International Education (IIE) strategy to promote and to disseminate academic writings of national and international nature since the 1970s. This series allows first and foremost academic and research staff as well as visiting researchers to publish valuable research material acquired in the course of research and projects at IIE. This series as all other IIE series, namely: (1) IIE Studies in International and Comparative Education; (2) IIE Master’s Degree Studies; and (3) IIE Work-In Progress Reports serve to keep updated the institution’s extensive programmes, projects and activities for research, education, training, scholarship, and networking in the field of International and Comparative Education which are always inclusive and connect the Northern with the Southern, the Eastern and the Western hemispheres. The present report, “Public Primary School teachers’ Perceptions of Their Working Conditions and Job Stress: Cases from Istanbul and Stockholm” is the 121 st such report. Comparative research in developing countries is also a valuable contribution to the vision of IIE. I would like to express my deep appreciation for its contribution. Most of all, I would like to thank Gülay Öztürk for this contribution to the series. Vinayagum Chinapah, Professor and Head of IIE ii iii Table Of Contents Contents Foreword ........................................................................................................................... ii Table Of Contents ............................................................................................................ iv List of Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... vi Table of Figures .............................................................................................................. vii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... viii 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 2 1. 1 Background ............................................................................................................ 2 1. 2 Aim and Research Questions of the Study ............................................................ 2 1. 3 Limitations of the Study ........................................................................................ 3 1. 4 Overview of the Compulsory School Education in Turkey and Sweden .............. 3 2. Literature Review ......................................................................................................... 5 2. 1 Working Conditions of Teachers ........................................................................... 5 2. 2 Stress and Teachers’ Job Stress ............................................................................. 8 2. 3 Effects of Job Stress on Teachers ........................................................................ 10 3. Methodology ............................................................................................................... 11 3. 1 Research Design .................................................................................................. 11 3. 2 Sample and Research Setting .............................................................................. 11 3. 3 Data Collection .................................................................................................... 13 3. 3. 1 Interviews .................................................................................................... 13 3. 4 Research Procedure ............................................................................................. 13 4. Results ........................................................................................................................ 14 4. 1 Physical Environment and Resources.................................................................. 14 4. 2 Workload and Time Pressure .............................................................................. 15 4. 3 Changes in Educational Policies ......................................................................... 17 4. 4 Students ............................................................................................................... 19 4. 5 Parents ................................................................................................................. 20 4. 6 Rewards ............................................................................................................... 22 4. 7 Relations with Colleagues and Principals ........................................................... 23 4. 8 Role Conflict ....................................................................................................... 23 4. 9 School Structure and Management ...................................................................... 24 4. 10 Effects of Stress on Teachers............................................................................. 25 4. 11 Summary of the Findings .................................................................................. 29 5. Discussion and Conclusions ....................................................................................... 32 iv References ...................................................................................................................... 38 Appendix 1 ..................................................................................................................... 44 Index of Reports from the Institute of International Education, Department of Education, Stockholm University ................................................................................... 46 v List of Abbreviations MoNE Ministry of Education, Turkey OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development G Pass VG Pass with distinction MVG Pass with special distinction vi Table of Figures Table 3.1 Gender Distribution of Turkish and Swedish Teachers ................................. 12 Table 3.2 Age Distribution of Turkish and Swedish Teachers ...................................... 12 Table 3.3 Position Distribution of Turkish and Swedish Teachers ................................ 13 Table 4.1: Percentages of the Teacher Samples Mentioning Physical Environment and Resources that cause Job Stress ...................................................................................... 14 Table 4.2 Percentages of the Teacher Samples Mentioning Workload and Time Pressure that cause Job Stress ....................................................................................................... 16 Table 4.3 Percentages of the Teacher Samples Mentioning Changes in Educational Policies that Cause Job Stress ......................................................................................... 18 Table 4. 4 Percentages of the Teacher Samples Mentioning Students that Cause Job Stress ............................................................................................................................... 19 Table 4. 5 Percentages of the Teacher Samples Mentioning Parents that cause Job Stress ........................................................................................................................................ 21 Table 4. 6 Percentages of the Teacher Samples Mentioning Rewards that cause Job Stress ............................................................................................................................... 22 Table 4. 7 Percentages of the Teacher Samples Mentioning Relations with Colleagues and Parents that cause Job Stress .................................................................................... 23 Table 4. 8 Percentages of the Teacher Samples Mentioning Role Conflict that cause Job Stress ............................................................................................................................... 23 Table 4. 9 Percentages of the Teacher Samples Mentioning School Structure and Management that Cause Job Stress ................................................................................ 24 Table 4. 10 Percentages of the Teacher Samples Mentioning Effects of Stress on Teachers .......................................................................................................................... 27 Table 4.12 Summary of the Findings: Effects of Jobs Stress ......................................... 32 vii Acknowledgements I would like to thank the Swedish Institute which played a very important role during my research in Sweden, and supported me economically. I also appreciate the support of the Stockholm University, Institute of International Education that provided the necessary conditions to conduct my research. My great thanks go to my supervisor Prof. Holger Daun, for his expertise, support, and guidance throughout
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