Stress has become a part of our daily lives to the extent that we often overlook its adverse effects. Changes, such as those necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, like school closures and distance learning, which require the individual to adapt quickly, can cause anxiety and stress. We believe that the mental health of teachers, which is a crucial factor for successful teaching, has been neglected in the implementation of distance education.
In our study, we focused on investigating the perception of stress and its causes among special education teachers during the COVID-19 epidemic.
We used descriptive and non-experimental methods and a quantitative approach to analyse and interpret the research questions. Data were drawn from a non-randomised sample of 71 special education teachers from all over Slovenia. We divided the sample into two groups: special educators providing additional professional support in an adapted school programme and special education teachers teaching in an adapted school programme of a lower educational standard. We compared the responses of these groups to interpret our research questions to analyse the data.
Our findings showed that 77.5% of special education teachers experienced at least one sign of stress during their distance teaching experience. The most common symptoms experienced were feeling overwhelmed, headaches, and insomnia. Special education teachers with 16-25 years of experience, 8-15 years of experience, and 36-45 years of experience reported the highest stress levels. We could not establish a correlation between the feelings of competence and stress. We found no statistically significant differences in stress levels between special educators working in basic schools and those working in adapted basic school programmes of lower educational standards. The most stressful factors in distance teaching were the disinterested attitude of students towards work, work overload, and administrative work. We found significant differences based on the workplace. The most stressful factors for special educators who provided additional support and assistance were administrative work, low of in the teaching profession, time pressures, and relationships with parents. The second group's most stressful factors were assessments and overcrowded classes.
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