Creative And Art Techniques In Stress Prevention For Prospective Teachers

Abstract

Stress prevention issues have been gaining momentum among the world’s researchers, as they are associated with the issues of maintaining students’ physical and mental well-being, and building resistance to stress in future specialists. What kinds of creative and art techniques may be used to prevent stress? How can stress resistance be built in prospective teachers, since teaching is a potentially stressful occupation? The purpose of the study is to develop a program for stress prevention and building resistance to stress for prospective teachers using creative and art techniques, and to pilot test the program at a university. Originally, an array of approaches to stress prevention and building resistance to stress have been summarized to develop a training program. 96 students majoring in pedagogy at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University participated in the practical part of the study. The following instruments were used for measuring: the PSM-25 Psychological Stress Measure by Lemyr-Tessier-Fillion, the Coping Behavior in Stressful Situations (CBSS) technique by Kryukova, the Comprehensive Assessment of Stress Signs by Shcherbatykh. The program was comprised of two blocks: (1) stress prevention and (2) building resistance to stress by creative and art techniques. Each block included 6 training sessions which incorporated creative activities. As a result of pilot testing the program, a positive dynamics of stress-reduction indicators was recorded. Upon delivering the training program, low stress level was recorded in 52% students (initial 36%), average level in 43% (initial 38%) and high level in 5% students (initial 26%).