Teachers’ Workplace Stress, Coping Mechanisms and Job Performance

AUTHOR(S)

Bebelyn S. Barcelo Marycon G. Girasol William A. Buquia

ABSTRACT

—— Teacher workplace stress is increasingly recognized as a threat to both well-being and instructional quality; however, empirical guidance on how stress and coping interact with job performance within low-resource public school systems remains limited. This quantitative descriptive-correlational study has investigated levels of workplace stress, coping strategies, and job performance among 106 public school teachers and probed the interrelationships among these variables to inform a contextualized stress-management framework. Data will be gathered using an adapted and pilot-tested instrument that addresses domains related to stress, which include: role ambiguity, task design, job security, work-life balance, and working environment, and coping strategies problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidance-focused; and supplemented by official ratings in the Individual Performance Commitment and Review Form. Establishing the validity of the instrument through expert review and internal consistency through reliability analyses, prior to full administration, was done. Descriptive statistics show generally moderate to high levels of stress, significantly elevated for role ambiguity and task design; predominantly problem-focused coping; and performance classified from satisfactory to very satisfactory. Tests of inference revealed a negative correlation between higher levels of stress and performance, and positive correlations between problem-focused coping and higher performance. Similarly, significant differences favored those with higher qualifications and more extensive training. The study identifies that increasing structured, evidence-based support for teacher workplace stress management and positive coping is crucial for sustaining job performance. Keywords: Workplace Stress, Coping Mechanisms, Teacher Performance, Stress Management, DepEd Philippines