A teacher’s professional role is becoming more and more demanding, therefore resiliency has become one of the important aspects of the quality of a teacher’s work and their professional development. Resiliency in the teaching environment means not only resistance from stress but also knowing how to face it. Despite teachers’ taking part in several courses that help them grow professionally and develop themselves, there remains a question in what extent and in what way these courses help teachers with their resiliency. We have decided to do research on the ways and factors of a teacher’s professional development, and root causes of professional stress and builders of resiliency. We have also wondered whether there exists a link between a teacher’s professional satisfaction, their professional development, and their resiliency.
In the theoretical part of the thesis we have defined a teacher’s professional role, professional development, described different models of a teacher’s professional development, and listed factors that encourage it. We have also defined the teachers’ resiliency.
In the empirical part we have used qualitative research and a descriptive method of educational research. In the research we included 14 teachers with a different amount of years of service, and conducted a half-structured interview. It has turned out teachers educate themselves in different ways; they take part in several seminars, read professional literature, cooperate with their colleagues, do research, take part in intervision etc. Parents are the most likely cause of teachers’ stress. In solving stressful situations, the support of their colleagues turns out to be the most helpful. Teachers mostly seek for ways of eliminating professional stress. Nevertheless, most of them see the unpredicted situations as a challenge. We had expected a positive connection between professional development and resiliency, however among teachers, included in the research, this assumption has not been confirmed.
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