This master's thesis deals with teachers’ and counselors’ personal conceptions about different spheres of pedagogy and stress at work. Furthermore, I describe the correlation between satisfaction and productivity at work.
In the theoretical part, I present the concept of personal conceptions, how they function, develop, change and how they are relevant to the pedagogical field. The next part of my thesis relates to stress, especially stress at work i.e. among the teachers and counselors. I also analyze how satisfied educational workers are with their working conditions, which are closely connected with stress and personal opinion, and how well team work functions in the educational field. Finally, I present the theoretical conclusions on emotional and social learning.
In the empirical part of my thesis, I used an integrated quantitative and qualitative approach. I collected the data for my research with the help of a survey, which was taken by 327 teachers and counselors. The results show that teachers and counselors have personal conceptions on teaching, learning and teaching low attaining groups of pupils, since the answers given were distinctively simple and straightforward. Their opinions on team work and emotional and social learning were more complex and supported by their personal experience. The participants listed many factors which induce stress in their work environment. For the most part the stress comes from the people who they are in contact with, especially parents and school management. Working with pupils is deemed slightly less stressful. The results show that educational workers are satisfied with their profession and feel successful about their work.
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