Teacher Stress of Lower Secondary School Teachers during the Implementation of the 2018 General Education Curriculum, and Teacher Stress Reduction Measures for Educational Administrators

Abstract

Teacher stress is defined as unfavorable factors, causing difficulties and stress for teachers. This article is based on a survey of 458 lower secondary school teachers nationwide who are teaching under the 2018 general education curriculum. The main objective is to clarify the professional work pressures that Vietnamese teachers are currently facing, and simultaneously, through teachers' self-assessment of measures to reduce pressure on teachers that the Vietnamese government has adopted. This will help the government see more clearly the picture of labor pressure that teachers are facing to have a more appropriate adjustment direction. Four key stresses related toteacher stress were selected by the research team based on the suitability for the implementation of the 2018 general education curriculum in Vietnam to conduct the study, including: 1) individual stresses; 2) student-related stresses; 3) work-relatedstresses; 4) stresses related to other factors. The survey findings reveal that teachers are under significant stress from: professional development requirements; teaching methodology to meet the goals of the curriculum; students' academic achievements. Additionally, the measures put in place by educational administrators have untruly met the needs of teachers. The study's findings offer helpful resources that can enable educational administrators to enhance the current policy for teachers. The research results show the current situation of professional work pressure on high school teachers and the status of teachers' satisfaction with job policies. The results of this study are used by education authorities, researchers and teachers to better improve the problem of teachers' professional pressure in the future. Additionally, scholars can use this research as a source of reference to expand to other related studies. The novelty of this study contributes to the practice of solving problems of professional pressure of teachers during the period of Vietnam implementing educational reform. Keywords: lower secondary school teachers, Vietnamese teachers, teacher stress, 2018 general education curriculum. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55463/hkjss.issn.1021-3619.60.90