Coping with Student Teacher Stress at the University of Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

The study explored student-teachers’ perceptions of the most common indicators of stress. It sought, also, to develop separate stress categories and make comparisons among them.The sample consisted of randomly selected 306 student- teachers from two campuses of the University of Trinidad and Tobago – Valsayn and Corinth. There were thirty six males and 270 females in the study. The study examined the relationship between the student-teacher stress factors as well as the predictive power of each independent factor on overall teachers’ stress.The study employed a quantitative method using a cross-sectional design. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS-V.17). T-tests were used to examine teachers’ stress based on location, sex and full or part time status. Correlation and regression analysis were employed to examine the relationship between each of the stress factors as well as their influence on the overall dependent teacher stress.The findings suggested that there were no significant differences in teacher stress based on sex and location. There was a high correlation between professional development and curriculum-related stressors. Also, curriculum, personal/professional and professional development stressors had the greatest influence on overall student-stress.