A Study Of Teacher Stress Of Chinese High School EFL Teachers:An Ecological Perspective

As a well-documented issue,teacher stress has been investigated for decades.Despite multiple studies in this area,there is a lack of empirical studies targeted at Chinese high school EFL teachers.Taking an ecological perspective,this study investigates the sources of teacher stress,as perceived by Chinese high school EFL teachers,the impacts of teacher stress,and the coping strategies to tackle teacher stress.Data analysis of semi-structured interviews,reflection journals,classroom observations,and teachers’ teaching and training files revealed results in three aspects.First,the sources of stress for Chinese high school EFF teachers were internal teacher factors of the micro-system such as knowledge,professional development,and personality traits,the significant subgroups of the mezzo system including students,colleagues,and school administrators,parents of students and family and friends of teachers,and some factors of the macro-system involving educational reform,cultural values,public misconceptions and negative media news about teachers.Second,the impacts of teacher stress were on the biological,psychological,and social aspects of high school EFL teachers and the larger social groups such as students,colleagues,parents of students,and family and friends of the teachers.Third,to cope with teacher stress,Chinese high school EFL teachers primarily adopted adaptive strategies accompanied by maladaptive strategies,among which some long-considered negative and maladaptive ones proved to be effective to deal with teacher stress.This study contributes to a better understanding of teacher stress among Chinese high school EFL teachers and helps enhance their well-being and promote the sustainable development of their community.By implication,it is necessary to develop a repertoire of coping strategies to minimize the negative impacts of teacher stress and to take an ecological perspective to facilitate teacher-specific stress training programs and promote relevant education policies and regulations.