Investigating stakeholder perspectives on the sources of stress and burnout at selected secondary schools in the Vaal Triangle

Abstract

Numerous schools' in South Africa are in dire need for the identification of the sources and intervention strategies to recognise stakeholders that are experiencing stress and burnout. With the ever demanding and stressful working environment, it is inevitable for stakeholders to experience some form of stress and/or burnout at some stage of their working lifecycle. This has taken a toll on the South African stakeholder who inevitably experiences stress and burnout as a consequence of the demands of their profession. The turnover rate of stakeholders has been escalating over the years. The South African education system is unsteady when concerned with the productivity levels of their subordinates and the pass rate of learners. It is therefore imperative to conduct this study, as a gap has been identified in the research regarding stakeholder perspectives on the sources of stress and burnout at selected secondary schools in the Vaal Triangle (VT). Hence, it is vital for management to have mechanisms in place to deal with the causes of negative well-being within their employees. The literature study includes an extensive review of past researchers that shared similar concerns regarding stress and burnout. With their widespread knowledge, the researcher identified key aspects such as definitions and other facets of stress and burnout; causes of stress, mediators of burnout, the effects 'causes of stress' has on the 'mediators of burnout', consequences of stress and burnout as well as coping mechanisms of dealing with stress and burnout. The main purpose of this study is to investigate stakeholder perspectives on the sources of stress and burnout at selected secondary schools in the VT. This can help management to reduce the negative effects caused by stress and burnout. Secondary research objectives that assisted to achieve the main purpose of this study is to, determine the factors that trigger stress and burnout in secondary schools, physical health symptoms, psychological health symptoms, job characteristics as well as psychometric properties of stakeholders that experience stress and burnout. The combination of these scales covers all aspects of the stakeholder's well-being and thus gives an overall perspective on the sources of stress and burnout more clearly. This quantitative study administered 260 closed-ended questionnaires to selected secondary schools in the VT area of which 189 questionnaires were captured. The majority of stakeholders were between the ages of 18 and 40, English speaking black female undergraduate teachers that were employed in government schools in the Vanderbijlpark area. While analysing the data in the empirical study (Chapter 3), certain findings surfaced that added value to the research objectives established in Chapter 1. The majority of stakeholders believed that the 'main source of stress' was due to a 'very heavy workload' (B1) at 63.50%, as well as the highest scoring 'source of stress' was the 'lack of parental involvement' (B13) with 90%. It was also discovered that the bulk of stakeholders considered the 'main source of burnout' was due to 'a combination of many things happening at once' (B15) at 67.70%, as well as the highest scoring 'source of burnout' was the 'limited classroom time' (B31) with 91.20%. By integrating Spector's Physical Health Symptoms, 'WHO' Psychological Health Symptoms, Job Characteristics Scale, as well as the MBI General Survey into the questionnaire, it gave insight into other facets which was linked to the sources of stress and burnout. Spector's Physical Health Symptoms revealed 'tiredness and fatigue' (C21) with 82.60%, 'WHO's Psychological Health Symptoms found 'mood swings' (D7) with 80.40%, the Job Characteristics Scale scored 'repeatedly having to do the same thing' (E10) with 89.60%, and the MBI General Survey recorded 'I am good at my job' (F19) with 87% as the highest scoring values for each section. After interpreting the findings, conclusions and recommendations (Chapter 4) aligned to this study's research objectives were established. It is suggested that stakeholders should be trained to identify the factors that trigger stress and burnout, as well as implement coping mechanisms (Chapter 2, section 2.2.6) during the early stages of stress before it develops into burnout. It is also recommended to create support groups with fellow stakeholders, and lastly, the Department of Basic Education (DoE) should develop a stress and burnout management plan that must be implemented as an educational policy at national level to sustain its execution by all stakeholders involved. It can therefore be concluded that the sources of stress and burnout does indeed affect the stakeholders of secondary schools, as their experiences and environment cultivates this destructive psychological, physical and emotionally draining experience to occur. Hence, it is imperative to equip the necessary skills and techniques to assist stakeholders in identifying the sources of stress and burnout, as they will be able to manage and cope with their ever-demanding working environment.