Stress Factors and The Teaching Performance of The College Faculty
Stress Factors and The Teaching Performance of The College Faculty
Stress Factors and The Teaching Performance of The College Faculty
7, July 2015
factors in the teaching-learning process. They perform a very
Abstract—This study aimed to determine the level of stress vital role in molding the youth for the good of their family,
the college faculty experienced in terms of Work related, Peer community, and the entire society [2]. They are also
related, Family related, Economic related, Schools’ Policies sometimes like candles that light the path of other individuals
related and Management Practices related stresses. It also
and they are happy to be instrumental in other’s success,
looked into the level of effectiveness of the faculty in their
teaching performance in terms of Classroom Management, especially that of their students as pointed out by Lardizabal
Communication skills, Facilitating Students learning, in [3].
evaluation and Teacher Student relationship. The respondents Like any other professional endeavors, those in the
of the study were the full-time college faculty who were teaching teaching career have a wider scope of social responsibilities
at La Salle University in SY 2012-2013. It is a descriptive to take care of. The society alone, has always anticipated a
research study and the data were gathered using a standardized lot from the teachers such as to serve a large population as
questionnaire. The data gathered were analyzed, and
second parents dealing with the emotional tangles and
interpreted through Weighted Mean and Rank. Results of the
study showed that the faculty experienced moderate level of torments of adolescent stage of the youth entrusted to their
stress in the areas of Economic related stress, Schools’ Policies care. Faced with this scenario, some teachers can tire of
and Management Practices stresses and experienced low level of catering to individual needs and at the same time striving for
stress with Work and Peer related stresses. Most of the faculty professional excellence. Along this line, [4], commented that
claimed they experienced very low level of stress with Family. teachers often feel that they are under stress or burn out, that
The overall rating of the effectiveness of the performance of the directly affect their teaching performance. Generally stress is
faculty in all parameters were very satisfactory which means
the adverse reaction of every individual person who happens
there is still room for improvement to make it an outstanding
assessment in the future. to experience so much pressure and other types of demand of
workload placed upon his/her ability to adapt it. It is also
Index Terms—Stress, effectiveness, teaching performance. referred to as a normal physical response to events in life that
makes you feel threatened or distort your equilibrium. On one
hand, stress is not always bad. In small doses, it can help the
I. INTRODUCTION person to perform under pressure and motivate him to do best,
[5]. This was affirmed by [6], when he said that stress is part
Education industry is one of the business organizations
of life’s challenges that all persons must face. A certain
that offer services in terms of molding and crafting
degree of stress is unavoidable as a matter of fact an
youngsters into good citizens of the country. It is the kind of
acceptable level can serve as a challenge to improve the
business where individuals learned good values and various
teachers’ efficiency. But on other side, if the level of stress is
techniques and strategies that they can use as they start their
such that the teacher will not be able to satisfactorily handle it,
own personal endeavor in life. These values, techniques and
the result of teachers’ efficiency may be negative. In the
strategies are usually imparted to the students in all
same vein, another researcher claimed that stress is what
educational institutions through teaching methods that every
keeps you alert and alive to tackle your responsibilities
teacher uses when conducting the lessons. Teaching is a very
during presentation at work, sharpens your concentration and
challenging job in which the teachers’ performance is even compels you to reach your target. However, if it is
wrapped up in her/his personality. It requires a unique talent already beyond stipulated boundaries, stress will stop being
and sense of vocation if the teacher has to perform her/his helpful and begin to cause major damage to health, mood,
role exceptionally well. relationships, efficiency and then productivity as well as the
According to Hemphil as cited by [1], a very good teaching standard quality of your life, [5].
performance usually results when one teaches with From experiences, the researcher has also been exposed to
enthusiasm, competence, effectiveness and with dedication stress and been teaching for a number of years in this
to the profession. The teacher has to do dual tasks. One is institution and has observed the different effects of stress
instilling knowledge and the other one is breaking down the from colleagues. With this, the researcher would like to look
barriers that blocked during the process of inculcating such into the level of stress and the teaching performance of the
knowledge. Such concerns demands that those teaching faculty and hope that from the output the researcher will be
thestudents must be creative and practice it diligently and able to come up with ideas/strategies on how to handle
faithfully. It is a mere fact that teachers are one of the key stressors in ones’ work or workplace and share them to her
colleagues thru a forum or seminar.
Manuscript is received March 4, 2014; revised May 20, 2014. A. The Problem
Julieta Remedios Betonio is with the College Faculty of La Salle
University, Ozamiz City (e-mail: [email protected]). The study aims to determine the relationship of the level of
stress to the teaching performance of the college faculty. the teaching performance of the faculty who were teaching in
Specifically, it seeks to address the following questions: 1) the second semester-SY 2012-2013. The standardized
What is the level of stresses experienced by the faculty questionnaire was adapted from Dizon, 2005.
member in terms of the following dimensions; Work-related
C. Statistical Treatment of Data
stress, Family-related stress, Peer-related stress,
Economic-related stress, School Policies-related stress and After collecting the deployed questionnaires from the
Management Practices-related stress. 2) What is the level of various colleges/units of La Salle University, the data were
teaching performance of the college faculty members as tallied, analyzed and interpreted using Weighted Mean and
assessed by the students along the areas of; Classroom, Rank. The following are the interpretation of the scores of the
Communication Skills, Facilitating Students Learning, level of stress with the hypothetical mean range.
Teaching-Student Relationship and Evaluation. 3) From the
Scale Hypothetical Mean Description
result of the study, what interventions may be designed?
Range
B. Significance of the Study
1 1.00 - 1.80 Very Low
The result of this study is very important because it will 2 1.81 - 2.60 Low
serve as an eye opener to the faculty and administrators that 3 2.61 - 3.40 Moderate
any form of stress one will experience should not be taken for 4 3.41 - 4.20 High
granted and that it could hamper the performance of the 5 4.21 – 5.00 Very High
faculty if it will not be addressed early. For the HR
department, the study could be a good source of information D. Data Gathering Procedure
for planning a value system in order to help the faculty
The researcher with approval of the Deans and the kind
members improve their teaching performance. Also, they
assistance of their secretaries of the different colleges/units of
could develop techniques on how to manage stresses that
La Salle University distributed the questionnaires and
they may experience by conducting possible continuing
collected them after three days. The data from the
training program and stress management seminars. For the
questionnaires were collated, tallied and interpreted using
Administrators, it would aid them in assessing the strengths
weighted mean and rank.
and weaknesses of the faculty and they could provide insights
in formulating policies to upgrade the teaching performance
of the faculty. Faculty: The results would help them truly III. PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF
identify their weak and strong points thereby find ways and DATA
means to improve their weaknesses and capitalize their
strengths in order to enhance their teaching methods and This section presents, analyzes and interprets the data
techniques. Students on one hand, since they are the collected in the study which refers to the different stress
recipients of the evaluative process, the efficiency and factors and the level of the teaching performance of the
effectiveness of the teaching performance of the faculty college faculty.
would improve the students’ academic performance. Work related stress is the result of a conflict between the
roles and needs of an individual employee and the demands
of the workplace or when the skills and capabilities of the
II. METHOD subordinates do not match with the job assigned to him. The
study discloses the level of stress the faculty experienced in
Descriptive research survey was used in this study. It was
terms of work, obtained a rating of 2.35 with verbal
conducted at La Salle University, Ozamiz City. The level of
description of low level. From the result the researcher
stresses experienced by the faculty was in terms of
noticed that in item #1-“Students are not doing their part in
Work-related stress, Family-related stress, Peer-related stress,
the learning process” got a rating of 2.85 which is equivalent
Economic-related stress, School Policies-related stress and
to Moderate. This implies that the faculty experienced stress
Management Practices-related stress. The level of teaching
when performing their assigned task when students do not
performance evaluation results- Second Semester,
cooperate. Whereas, the ratings of the rest of the items
SY-2012-2013 of the college faculty was used and it was
considered as sources of stress are low. With the overall
taken from the Institutional Evaluation Office of La Salle
mean rating of 2.35 for the work related stress, which is
University.
equivalent to low level which means the faculty’s experience
A. Research Respondents of stress in line with the job they perform is manageable.
The respondents were the full-time faculty members who In terms of family related stress, the study reveals that the
were currently teaching in the second semester of SY level of stress of the faculty is very low as evidenced by the
2012-2013. The study was conducted in the college overall rating of 1.79. Only in item #3-“I have a lot of
department only covering all the various colleges/units of La household chores to do” which has a high rating of 2.05 but
Salle University still it is low level, whereas the rest of the indicators range
from l.52 to 1.91 of which the results imply that the level of
B. Research Instruments family related stress of the faculty is very much manageable.
The study conducted was a descriptive study. A This is attributed to the fact that Filipinos have close family
standardized questionnaire was the principal tool in data ties and that respect and understanding for every member of
gathering of the study. It established the level of stress and the family is fostered.
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The overall mean rating of the stress level of faculty with faculty and that it could affect their teaching performance if
peer is 2.26 which is low level. In this area, the item-“My these will not be addressed by the concerned officers. From
superior often is not supportive” ranks high with a rating of the interviews conducted by the researcher, the faculty
2.69 which is moderate. This means that the faculty finds it members said that there should be fair application of
stressful when their immediate Heads are not supportive of remuneration to be given to the faculty whenever workload is
their endeavor/activities. It further implies that there is a raised which means compensation should commensurate to
need for superiors/immediate Heads to reach out to their the additional workload given. Besides, Communication
teachers so that they will be motivated to perform their tasks. must be clear-cut too to give everyone the benefit of the
From the interview conducted by the researcher to some doubt and that overlapping of duties and responsibilities must
faculty, they shared that maybe their superior are too busy be corrected.
that they sometimes forget that their teachers need their The summary of the overall rating of the level of stresses
attention, time and support too. The good thing that was experienced by the faculty revealed that in general, the level
revealed in this area is that there is no or little competition of stresses as experienced by the faculty is still manageable as
among peers which is affirmed with a rating of 1.93 with supported by the rating of 2.48 with verbal description of low.
verbal description of low. However, three out of the six indicators of the sources or
Generally, economic stress can be triggered by actual factors of stresses of the faculty were rated moderate. These
stressful experiences of the person. Loss of job, loss of home are along the areas of School’s policies, Management
and unexpected changes of the family’s income and budget practices and Economic related stresses. Therefore, there is
could be stressful, [7]. The level of economic related stress of need for these factors to be addressed before it could hamper
the faculty is moderate with an overall mean rating of 2.61. the teaching performance of the faculty.
The rating implies that somehow along this area the stress Every teacher carries big responsibility and every time she
level of the faculty is apparently felt maybe because of their performs her job, she/he sees to it that the effort exerted is to
intentions as stated “I want to uplift my standard of living” the best of his/her ability. He/she has to be sincere, dedicated,
that got the highest rating of 3.05, “I have a number of knowledgeable, and effective in teaching so that he/she can
financial obligations/dues to attend” with a rating of 2.83
deliver lessons well to the students. In turn the students will
followed by 2.76 rating for “My take home pay can hardly
also learn something vital from the lesson. Teaching is a very
provide the basic needs of my family” all of which are in
fulfilling experience. It keeps an individual active and
moderate levels.
These ratings disclosed that the financial worries of the involved and it is even the reason why most teachers who
faculty hails from the fact that their pay is not substantial to devoted their time to their profession enjoy longer life, [9].
meet the basic needs of the family and much more uplift their The next discussion is centered on the teaching performance
standard of living which is everybody’s dream. Result of the of the faulty.
study reveals the overall mean rating of the level of stress of The results of the study revealed that the faculty of La
the faculty in terms of School Policies which is 2.97 with Salle University’s effectiveness in terms of classroom
verbal description of moderate. High rating of 3.22 is on management earned an overall rating of 4.54 with verbal
item “Our school does not have a clear cut policies and description of Very Satisfactory as rated by the students. This
standards” so, there is overlapping of responsibilities implies that the faculty imposed and objectively observed
sometimes. “Our school policies are frequently changed for what the teacher should do while in the classroom.
no good reason at all is 3.12, 3.10 also is on “our school rules On the other hand, the level of effectiveness of the faculty
and regulations are often changed without prior consultation in terms of Communication skills revealed that instructors
or notice and 3.06 on “there is an increasing number of can communicate English confidently. They also speak the
co-curricular activities held outside the school which results language clearly and fluently. The overall rating is 4.56 with
to conflict with our personal activities. These results showed verbal description of Very Satisfactory. This implies that the
that the level of stress experienced by the faculty is faculty has no difficulties in their communication skills and
significant. They are not comfortable whenever the policies
that they can discuss and elaborate their lessons well.
are immediately implemented without due consultation from
The effectiveness of Facilitating Students’ Learning was
the faculty or when there are changes and it is not
rated by the students with 4.46 with verbal description of
disseminated to the faculty before it is implemented. School
policies and regulations are crafted by the policy making Very Satisfactory. The results imply that the faculty has
body of the organization to ensure that employees, suppliers, mastery of the subject matter that helped them in delivering
customers and stakeholders are protected from potential and imparting their lessons well. It is very important in the
hazards/risks and that it should be supported with appropriate sense that it’s when the teacher is knowledgeable that the
services for the well -being of all employees [8]. teacher will be able to impart very important and updated
The level of stress of the faculty in terms of Management information in their own field, [1]. Added to this, from the
Practices got an overall rating of 2.89 with verbal description result it can be gleaned that the teachers presented their
of moderate. Rated high among the items under Management lessons in an organized manner that enables the students to
Practices is on “There is not enough financial support from understand the lesson. And finally, the voice of the teachers
the Administration in the course of increasing work load,” was loud enough to be heard by the entire class
3.16, Informal communication (grapevine communication) is thatencourages also the students to participate in the
accepted, 3.14 and 3.01 is on “I can’t fully communicate my classroom activities.
needs to the Administration”. In terms of evaluation, the effectiveness of the faculty is
The findings disclosed that these areas are stressors of the Very Satisfactory. The teachers were rated by the students
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with an overall rating of 4.48 with verbal description of Very stress was rated very low level which means that when it
Satisfactory. Result reveals that the faculty constructs test comes to family there is not much problems experienced by
questions that cover the topics which have been discussed in the faculty simply because by nature Filipinos have close
class and that they gave at least three quizzes with a minimum family ties and that every member respects and understands
of eighty-five points in a grading period. each other. However, three of the six indicators of stresses
The study also disclosed that the level of effectiveness of were rated moderate by the faculty and these are the areas of
the faculty in terms of “Teacher-Student relationship” was Economic, School related policies and Management practices
very satisfactory with a rating of 4.63. The results implied related stresses. These stressors should be given due
that there is an established good relationship between the importance and they must be addressed because these will
teachers and with their students. It is very important in the affect the teaching performance of the faculty. On the other
sense that, students will be comfortable with their teachers hand, the level of effectiveness of the faculty in all
and that whenever they have concerns regarding their parameters of the teaching performance; such as Classroom
subjects or something in line with their chosen courses, they Management, Communication skills, Facilitating Students’
feel free to approach their teachers. Learning, Evaluation and Teacher-Student Relationship were
In summary, the result of the study in line with the rated Very Satisfactory.
effectiveness of the teaching performance of the faculty in
terms of Classroom Management, Communication Skills, C. Recommendations
Facilitating Students’ Learning, Evaluation and Based on the findings and conclusion, the researcher
Teacher-Student Relationship showed that the would like to recommend that other researches on similar
indicator-“Facilitating Students’ Learning” obtained the field but emphasize another variables not covered in this
highest rank with a rating of 4.63 which means that the study must be conducted. Furthermore, the Administration
teachers’ way of reaching out to the students was appropriate must revisit the policies, rules and regulations and address the
and effective. Hence, they are able to establish camaraderie following areas:
with students. The rating of Very Satisfactory of all the
1) Economic related stress
indicators give the researcher the idea that there is still room
for improvement to make it “Outstanding or Excellent” rating Faculty should be given orientation or seminars on how
in the near future. to manage the family resources
Conduct seminars/symposium on smart money
management to help the faculty manage their economic
IV. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND stress and gain control over their financial situation
RECOMMENDATIONS 2) School policies and management practices
Clearly define the workers’ roles and responsibilities.
A. Findings
Design jobs to provide workers the opportunity to use
Majority of the faculty members experienced moderate
their skills.
level of stress in terms of Economic related stress, School
Policies, rules and regulations must be disseminated and
Policies, and Management Practices. Low level of stress was
due discussions must be conducted before final
experienced by the faculty members in terms of work related
implementation.
stress. However, one of the indicators - “Students are not
Improve Communication lines- reduce uncertainty
doing their part in the learning process”, was rated Moderate
about development and future employment.
by the faculty. Overall rating of the level of stress in terms of
Give workers opportunities to participate in decision
peer related stress was Low but one of the indicators which is
making and actions affecting their jobs.
“My superior often is not supportive” was rated Moderate by
Improve interpersonal relationship between Superior
the faculty. Majority of the faculty members experienced
Very Low level of stress in terms of Family related stress. and faculty members.
Faculty must take the initiative to be creative and
The level of effectiveness of the faculty in all parameters of
the teaching performance; Classroom Management, innovative in teaching so that students will be
Communication Skills, Facilitating Students’ Learning, encouraged and motivated to participate in the learning
Evaluation and Teacher-Student Relationship were Very process.
Satisfactory. This implied that there is still room for
improvement in developing these indicators into REFERENCES
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Teachers: Cause & Preventive Measures. [Online]. Available: She was the student’s record evaluator, head of the lady work scholars,
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[8] Management of Work related Policy. (2012). [Online], Available: http: director, for special projects and professor in doctor in business
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[9] L. Evans, “Teachers morale,” Job Satisfaction and Motivation, Great University, Ozamiz City. Her interests in research are in but not limited to
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Dr. Julieta Betonio was also one of the concurrent session managers at the
Julieta Remedios Betonio became a member of asian conference on multidisciplinary research in higher education 2013
IAMURE multidisciplinary research in May, 2013 and (ACMRHE 2013). She was given gold award as best oral presenter during
was born in Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental, Mindanao, the world research festival 2013 (WRF2013) in May, 2013 and in asian
Philippines on July 12, 1955. She finished the degree of conference on multidisciplinary research in higher education 2013
bachelor of science in commerce, major in accounting , (ACMRHE 2013) last November 28, 2013.
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