Occupational Stress Factors and Coping Strategies among Jamaican High School Science Teachers

Abstract

Despite the growing number of studies on teacher stress ‐‐ mostly in a few industrialised nations ‐‐ there is a dearth of studies on science teacher stress worldwide. To help in redressing this imbalance, the present study reports on data from 230 high school science teachers in Jamaica using a 40‐item self‐report instrument. ‘Difficulty in obtaining science teaching equipment’ was perceived as the most stressful factor by the teachers. There were no significant differences in the degree of stress experienced by the teachers based on their gender, school location, teaching experience and subjects taught. The implications of the findings for the retention of science teachers and effective science teaching are underlined.