Detection of Needs in Response to Teacher Stress: A Qualitative Study in Public Secondary Schools

Autor

  • Darío Salguero García Area of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Almería, Carretera Sacramento s/n, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04131, Spain
  • Joaquín Tarifa Pérez Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Almería, Carretera Sacramento s/n, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04131, Spain
  • Milagros Padilla Orta Mathematics Area, Regional Department of Educational Development and Vocational Training – Territorial Delegation of Education of Almería, Paseo de la Caridad, 125, 04008, Almería, Spain
  • Montserrat Monserrat Hernández Area of Sociology, Department of Geography, History and Humanities, University of Almería, Carretera Sacramento s/n, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04131, Almería, Spain

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2026.1.417.431

Słowa kluczowe:

work-related stress, secondary school teachers, stress prevention, psychological well-being, needs

Abstrakt

Aim. The aim of this study was to explore the needs expressed by secondary education teachers in public schools in Andalusia regarding work-related stress.

Methods. A qualitative approach was applied through semi-structured interviews conducted with 100 teachers from various public schools across the region. The data was analysed using content analysis to identify risk factors, coping strategies, and improvement proposals from the teachers’ own perspectives.

Results. The findings indicate that the highest stress levels occur at the end of each school term -particularly in June- mainly due to bureaucratic overload, evaluations, and decisions related to student promotion. Tasks not directly connected to teaching, such as paperwork and administrative planning, were also reported as highly stressful. Additional aggravating factors included strained professional relationships, lack of institutional support, and student behavioural problems. To manage stress, teachers mainly relied on physical activity, relaxation techniques, and personal support networks. The improvement proposals ranged from individual-level actions to broader structural measures, such as reducing student–teacher ratios, providing institutional psychological support, and strengthening team cohesion.

Conclusions. Teacher stress is a multifactorial issue that requires a comprehensive response. Effective management demands coordinated interventions at the individual, institutional, and policy levels to ensure both teacher well-being and the overall quality of education.

Originality. This study offers novel insights by highlighting teacher stress as a multifactorial issue shaped by individual, institutional, and structural factors, giving teachers a direct voice through qualitative exploration, and linking their lived experiences with practical proposals for evidence-based interventions and policy improvement.

Pobrania

Statystyki pobrań niedostępne.

Biogramy autorów

  • Darío Salguero García - Area of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Almería, Carretera Sacramento s/n, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04131, Spain

    Profesor e investigador del Área de Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación de la Universidad de Almería. Es Diplomado en Educación Primaria (Educación Física), Licenciado en Psicopedagogía, Licenciado en Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte, Doctor en Educación por la Universidad de Almería y Licenciado en Teología por la Universidad de Barcelona. Su trayectoria académica e investigadora se centra en el estudio de la calidad de vida, la gestión emocional y los trastornos de la conducta alimentaria, así como en el análisis del estrés y el síndrome de burnout en el profesorado universitario. Su trabajo combina enfoques interdisciplinares de la psicología educativa y de la salud.

  • Joaquín Tarifa Pérez - Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Almería, Carretera Sacramento s/n, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04131, Spain

    Researcher, lecturer, and principal of the María Inmaculada School in Almería. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences and a Diploma in Primary Education (Physical Education). His academic and research career focuses on the study of health and quality of life among both students and teaching staff in secondary school environments.

  • Milagros Padilla Orta - Mathematics Area, Regional Department of Educational Development and Vocational Training – Territorial Delegation of Education of Almería, Paseo de la Caridad, 125, 04008, Almería, Spain

    Lecturer and researcher with the Delegation of Education of Almería, Junta de Andalucía. She holds a Technical Engineering degree in Agriculture, a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering, and a Master’s degree in Occupational Risk Prevention. Her academic and research career focuses on the study of health and quality of life among both students and teaching staff in secondary school environments

  • Montserrat Monserrat Hernández - Area of Sociology, Department of Geography, History and Humanities, University of Almería, Carretera Sacramento s/n, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04131, Almería, Spain

    Lecturer and researcher in the Area of Anthropology within the Department of Geography, History and Humanities at the University of Almería. She holds a Diploma in Primary Education (Physical Education), a Bachelor’s degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics, and PhDs in Social Sciences and Medical Sciences from the University of Almería. Her academic and research career focuses on the study of eating disorders, as well as on the analysis of stress and burnout in university teaching staff. Her work combines interdisciplinary approaches from the social and health sciences.

Bibliografia

American Educational Research Association (AERA). (2011). Code of ethics. https://www.aera.net/portals/38/docs/About_AERA/CodeOfEthics(1).PDF

ANPE Andalucía. (2024, November 26). Presentation of the Andalusian report 2023/24 of the Teacher’s. https://anpeandalucia.es/notices/190697/

Bisquerra, R. (2022). Metodología de la investigación educativa (6th ed.). La Muralla. España. eice.gob.do/documentacion/publicaciones-msg-set-id-5-art-166-metodologia-de-la-investigacion-educativa

Buitrago‑Orjuela, L. A., Barrera‑Verdugo, M. A., Plazas‑Serrano, L. Y., & Chaparro‑Penagos, C. (2021). Estrés laboral: Una revision de las principals causas, consecuencias y estrategias de prevención. Revista Investigación en Salud Universidad de Boyacá, 8(2), 131–146. https://doi.org/10.24267/23897325.553

Castilla-Gutiérrez, S., Colihuil-Catrileo, R., Bruneau-Chávez, J., & Lagos-Hernández, R. (2021). Carga laboral y efectos en la Calidad de vida de docents universitarios y de enseñanza media. Revista Chakiñan de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, 15, 166-179. https://doi.org/10.1590/scielopreprints.1995

Consejería de Desarrollo Educativo y Formación Profesional de la Junta de Andalucía. (2023, July 17). Andalucía da continuidad el próximo curso al programa de bienestar emocional. https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/educacion/portales/web/actualidad/w/andalucia-da-continuidad-el-proximo-curso-al-programa-de-bienestar-emocional

Conti, J. V., Mas, A. M., & Sampol, P. P. (2018). Diferencias de estrés y afrontamiento según el género y cómo afecta al rendimiento académico en estudiantes universitarios. Contextos Educativos: Revista de Educación, 22, 181-195. https://doi.org/10.18172/con.3369

Day, C., & Gu, Q. (2014). Resilient teachers, resilient schools: Building and sustaining quality in testing times. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203578490

Esteve, J. M. (2012). Malestar docente. Revista Digital Para Profesionales de la Enseñanza, 21, 1-8. https://www2.feandalucia.ccoo.es/docu/p5sd9615.pdf

European Educational Research Association. (2011). EERA Code of Ethics. https://eera-ecer.de/about-eera/ethical-guidelines

European Union. (2016, April). Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (No.L119). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj/eng

Flick, U. (2015). El diseño de la investigación cualitativa (T. del Amo & C. Blanco, Trans.). Ediciones Morata. (Original work published 2007).

Fort, J. T., & Plaza, Y. M. (2015). Malestar en la escuela. Conflictos entre profesores. Educar, 51(1), 169-188. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/educar.658

García-Fernández, F. P., Soldevilla-Agreda, J. J., & Torra I Bou, J. E. (2024). Atención integral de las heridas crónicas (3rd edition). Elservier.

Gyllensten, K., & Palmer, S. (2005). The role of gender in workplace stress: a critical literature review. Health Education Journal, 64(3), 271-288. https://doi.org/10.1177/001789690506400307

Klusmann, U., Kunter, M., Trautwein, U., Lüdtke, O., & Baumert, J. (2016). Teachers’ emotional exhaustion is negatively related to student achievement: Evidence from a large-scale assessment study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(8), 1193–1203. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000125

Kostorz, K., Polechoński, J., & Zwierzchowska, A. (2022). Coping strategies for stress used by people working in managerial positions in schools and educational establishments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainability, 14(5), Article 2984. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052984

Krippendorff, K. (2004). Reliability in content analysis. Human Communication Research, 30(3), 411-433. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2004.tb00738.x

Ledezma López, Y. A. (2011). Percepción del estrés laboral, estados de ánimo depresivos y consumo de alcohol en personal docente de nivel medio básico [Doctoral dissertation, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León]. http://eprints.uanl.mx/25310/1/25310.pdf

Leithwood, K., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D. (2020). Seven strong claims about successful school leadership revisited. School Leadership & Management, 40(1), 5–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2019.1596077

Maestripieri, L., & Bellini, A. (2023). Conclusions: Making sense of professionalism and social change. In L. Maestripi & A. Bellini (Eds.), Professionalism and social change: Processes of differentiation within, between and beyond professions (pp. 305-323). Springer International Publishing.

Ministerio de Educación, Formación Profesional y Deportes (2023). Enseñanzas no universitarias. Estadistica del profesorado y otro personal. Curso 2022-2023. Resultados detallados. https://www.educacionfpydeportes.gob.es/servicios-al-ciudadano/estadisticas/no-universitaria/profesorado/estadistica/2022-2023-rd.html

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2019a). TALIS 2018 Results (Volume I): Teachers and school leaders as lifelong learners. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/1d0bc92a-en

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2019b). TALIS 2018. International survey results on teaching and learning. Volume I: Teachers and school leaders as learning professionals. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/1d0bc92a-en

Rajesh, C., Ashok, L., Rao, C. R., Kamath, V. G., Kamath, A., Sekaran, V. C., Devaramane, V., & Swamy, V. T. (2022). Psychological well-being and coping strategies among secondary school teachers: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 11(1), Article 152. https://doi.org/10.4103/jehp.jehp_1248_21

Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2011). Teacher job satisfaction and motivation to leave the teaching profession: Relations with school context, belonging, and emotional exhaustion. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(6), 1029–1038. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2011.04.001

Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2017). Still motivated to teach? A study of school context variables, stress and job satisfaction among senior high school teachers. Social Psychology of Education, 20(1), 15–37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-016-9363-9

Sucapuca-Quispe, E. J., Yapu-Jallo, L., Mamani-Benito, O. J., & Turpo-Chaparro, J. E. (2022). Efecto de la carga de trabajo y estrés sobre la percepción del teletrabajo en docentes peruanos: Rol mediador de la satisfacción laboral. Revista de la Asociación Española de Especialistas en Medicina del Trabajo, 31(1), 70-78. https://doi.org/10.12961/aprl.2022.25.03.03

Taylor, S. E. (2012). Tend and befriend theory. In P. A. M. Van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (pp. 32–49). Sage Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446249215.n3

Viac, C., & Fraser, P. (2020). Teachers’ well-being: A framework for data collection and analysis. OECD Education Working Papers. (Working Paper No. 213). OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/c36fc9d3-en

Vila, E., Rascón, T., & Hijano, M. (Eds.). (2025). Pensar e investigar la educación: desafíos sociales y líneas emergentes. Ediciones Octaedro.

Pobrania

Opublikowane

2026-06-27

Numer

Tom 17 Nr 1 (2026): Journal of Education Culture and Society

Dział

EXPERIENCE

Licencja

Prawa autorskie (c) 2026 Darío Salguero García, Joaquín Tarifa Pérez, Milagros Padilla Orta, Montserrat Monserrat Hernández

Creative Commons License

Utwór dostępny jest na licencji Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa 4.0 Międzynarodowe.

CC-BY

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. All authors agree for publishing their email adresses, affiliations and short bio statements with their articles during the submission process.

Jak cytować

Salguero García, D., Tarifa Pérez, J. ., Padilla Orta, M., & Monserrat Hernández, M. . (2026). Detection of Needs in Response to Teacher Stress: A Qualitative Study in Public Secondary Schools. Journal of Education Culture and Society, 17(1), 417-431. https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2026.1.417.431