Teaching versus watching? Using video feedback to counter teacher stress

ABSTRACT

The stressors of teaching can be individual and hard to identify. Merely recalling stressful events after a lesson can be biased by neglect, modification, or extenuation of memories. Therefore, the present study explores how video data can be used to reactivate or relive stressor memory. Eight teachers’ lessons were recorded while their stress was assessed through electrodermal activity (EDA). Teachers then watched their recorded lessons retrospectively while EDA was measured once more but they were additionally asked to use a joystick to indicate when they recalled being stressed during their lesson. Results show that teachers in the watching condition did not re-experience or recall the same situations as stressful as in the teaching condition. They indicate that video feedback can be used as a tool for coping with stressful teaching events only if teachers are also provided with information about their actual stress level during teaching. The implications of these results are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher stress
• electrodermal activity
• video
• self-reflection
• teacher–student interaction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Robin Junker

Robin Junker works as a post-doc at the Institute for Psychology in Education, University of Münster (Germany). He conducts research concerning the topics of teachers’ professional vision, digital learning, school development, and teacher stress.

Manfred Holodynski

Manfred Holodynski is a German developmental psychologist. Since 2006, he is a professor at the University of Münster (Germany). His research focuses on the development of emotions as well as on the professional vision of classroom management.