Coping with work stress: an investigation of teachers’ actions

In an earlier study on coping with stress, Kyriacou (1980) made the point that, while considerable emphasis had been given in investigating the causes that consequences of teachers' stress, little attention had been paid to how teachers actually attempt to cope. His research represented an important first step, yet it can be criticized because it failed to reveal the different sorts of techniques teachers themselves say they use, preferring instead a coping questionnaire devised primarily for white-collar workers. Responding to Kyriacou's conclusion that his work may provide some useful guidelines for further investigation, the present study was designed to develop a coping checklist using information collected from teachers on the actual strategies they said they used in coping with stress.