Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Donna M. Brackin

Abstract

The problem addressed through this study was that public elementary school teachers in the United States have reported increasing levels of workplace stress. Teachers’ stress levels need to be studied and addressed because they affect students as well. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore elementary public school K-3 teachers’ perspectives on their levels of workplace stress and institutional supports needed to reduce workplace stress. Coping-competence-context theory was the conceptual framework. Research questions explored elementary public school teachers’ perspectives on their levels of workplace stress, and their perspectives on the institutional supports needed to reduce workplace stress. Participants were selected purposefully in a sample of 13 K-3 U.S. public school teachers with 3 or more years of classroom experience. Data analysis procedures included interview transcription and the process of coding and categorizing data into emerging themes. Key results included teachers’ perspectives on stress and needed supports along three themes: time, balance, and institutional support. The reported average level of weekly stress was 6.4 on a scale of 1 to 10. Future studies may widen the geographic area and the representation of the sample. Implications for positive social change include aiding district leaders in developing institutional supports to assist elementary teachers and generating additional research on the influence stress has on their work. This study may lead to positive social change and fill a gap in practice by providing public school districts with the data to address K-3 elementary public school teachers’ perspectives on the institutional supports needed to reduce workplace stress.

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