INVESTIGATING THE MANAGEMENT OF TEACHERS\u2019 STRESS AND HOW IT AFFECTS THEIR PERFORMANCES IN THE COURSE OF THEIR DUTIES IN SOME SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN IKORODU AREA OF LAGOS STATE Abstract This study was undertaken to examine stress management amongst teachers and how it affects their performance. The study was carried out in Ikorodu area of Lagos state. The study enrolled 120 teachers from 12 secondary schools in Ikorodu. The study reveals that teachers in Ikorodu has poor stress management methods. This fact has environmental undertone. The findings further shows that stress affects the performance of teachers in various ways. Also, the findings from the study reveals that there is a relationship between stress and students academic performance. This is because, the teacher will definitely deliver poor service when he\/she is not mentally, emotionally and physical able. The study recommends identification of basic source of stress and routine planning as a basic ways of dealing with stress. TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS 1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY 1.7 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY 1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS 1.9 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 INTRODUCTION 2.1 CONCEPTUAL UNDERPINNINGS 2.2 THEORETICAL STUDIES STRESS THEORY BY RICHARD LAZARUS 2.3 EMPIRICAL STUDIES CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN 3.3 RESEARCH SETTINGS 3.4 SOURCES OF DATA 3.5 POPULATION OF THE STUDY 3.6 SAMPLE SIZE DETERMINATION 3.7 SAMPLE SIZE TECHNIQUE 3.8 INSTRUMENTATION 3.9 RELIABILITY 3.10 VALIDITY 3.11 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION 3.12 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS 3.13 ETHICAL CONSIDERATION CHAPTER FOUR DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS 4.1 INTRODUCTION 4.2 DATA PRESENTATION 4.3 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 5.1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 5.2 CONCLUSION 5.3 RECOMMENDATION REFERENCES CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Of The Study The human body respond to changes in the environment. These changes can be psychological, physical or emotional. Whatever could be the response form, stress is involved. Whenever we talk about a stressed teacher, we imagine a wearied, tired and haggard looking teacher. On one side, the imagination you have about a stressed teacher is just one level of stress consequence. Teachers play a critical role in shaping the lives of our nation\u2019s children. Teachers not only facilitate learning, but also influence a child\u2019s social and emotional development. By all definition, the profession of teaching has a very prestigious place in all profession. A teacher is a king in the entire system of education. Teaching includes all the activities of providing education to others (Tambo, 2012). The person who provides education is called teacher. The teacher uses different methods for giving the best knowledge to his students. His duty is to encourage students to learn. They have very often been given names likes \u201cmaster\u201d and mentor\u201d. To achieve this status, teachers throughout the history of civilization have come up to the expectations of the world around them. Teachers\u2019 productivity is determined by effective teaching measured by students\u2019 academic performance in examinations. This is enhanced by his punctuality at school and class and giving extra lessons to students. Time has changed and the societies and cultures have drastically diversified, but the task of teachers is primarily the same, which is the transfer of knowledge to the next generation. With change in cultural norms and tradition in the societies, there have been drastic changes in the expectations of a teacher. Some of these changes have limited the measures which a teacher in the past could exercise in disciplining a student and some have put additional burden on teachers in respect to their preparation of lessons and adopting and maintaining their teaching styles. Teaching has now become a very demanding occupation with a lot of stress for the teachers who have a lot of deadlines to meet and a lot of responsibilities to shoulder besides teaching a child what is in the syllabus. Research worldwide indicates that teachers stress is becoming endemic (Van Dick et al,2001). The dominant representation of teaching has become that of a stressful occupation. It was found that each year 160 teachers, between the ages of 44-45, were superannuating on the ground of ill-health and one half to two thirds were retired early. Louden (1987) found that in a study of 2138 respondents 10-20% were experiencing psychological distress and a further 90% were suffering psychological stress. Literature suggests that younger teachers experience lower level of stress due to the absence of family, responsibilities. Older respondents are probably more likely to experience higher levels of stress due to the fact that they are less mobile and more loyal to the profession that they have chosen Van Den & De Jonge, J. (2008). Maylor (2001) reported on relatively young teachers who experienced such high level of stress and anxiety that they contemplated suicide. Russel (2003) suggested that at these ages, any extra or in between time can be used to cater for oneself, consider doing relaxation exercise between classes before and after school, when riding the subway or bus car before turning on or cites as having influence on teachers attitudes toward schools. Younger teachers and those with fewer years of experience have been found to be more supportive of integration. Trendall in Nagel &Brown(1989) found that teachers with five to ten years\u2019 experience felt more highly stressed than older teachers with more experience. The cognitive factors affecting individual susceptibility to stress amongst teachers was investigated by Chona & Roxas (2009) and it was revealed that teachers\u2019 response to being a \u201cgood teacher\u201d was identified in absolute terms such as \u201cmust and need\u201d. This means that teachers who blame themselves for difficulties are more vulnerable to stress. Effort to reduce teachers stress by decreasing role-related problem are recommended by Russel (2003) who suggested that teachers combat stress by delegating responsibility; setting realistic goals; better time \u2013management and realistic assessment. According to Meichenbaum (1985) the power of positive thinking approach advocated by stress inoculation therapy can be successful in bringing about effective behaviour change particularly in relation to anxiety and pain. Meichenbaum (1985) stress inoculation therapy assumes that people sometimes find situation stressful because they think about them in a catastrophizing way. Stress inoculation therapy aims to train people to cope more effectively with potentially stressful situation. According to Cosgrove, (2000), African education is undergoing fundamental changes because of political, social and economic changes in the continent and teachers have to adapt to the new reality. They probably experience even more stress due to the changes in the basic occupational structure of teaching. Joseph (2000) shows that teachers are exposed to wide varieties of multi-dimensional stressors within the work situation such as inadequate working conditions, role conflict and ambiguity, little participation in decision making and distribution of tasks, inadequate salaries, etc. 1.2 Statement of the Problem The stress pattern suffered by the teachers can be described as both psychological, emotional and physical. The stress doubles when a teacher is emphatic about the outcome of his\/her students. The teacher beside the normal teacher routine tasks go the extra mile to ensure a positive outcome for the students. In the process of ensuring this satisfactory result, chances are that stress is creeps in indirectly and directly. This stress overtime is accumulated and experienced by teachers. This accumulated stress piles up and impacts the teacher negatively. This negative effect of stress on the teacher has a way of rubbing off on daily task and in extension the academic performance of the students. Could stress be the reason why teachers are not at their best? Could teachers stress be the reason why the students perform poorly in academics as a result of the teachers\u2019 inability to deliver the expected? A report published in 2000 by the Health and Safety Executive found that 41.5% of these teachers reported high levels of stress (Health and Safety Executive, 2000). Similarly, according to Klein(2014) the Gallup State of America\u2019s Schools Report found that 46 percent of teachers indicated they experienced stress \u201cduring a lot of the day. In Nigeria, individuals, organizations talk about stress but without conscious and practical methods to manage this. The teachers are not left out of the only stress encouraging phrase \u201cthe Lord is your strength\u201d. it is on this premise that the researcher seeks to investigate the various methods, ways, manners and patterns teachers currently adopt in managing stress and how it affects their performances in the course of their carrying out their duties. 1.3 Objectives of the study The primary goal of this study is to examine the stress management mechanism adopted by teachers and how this management patterns affects their professional obligations. Specifically, the study seeks to: Identify the various stress coping mechanisms adopted by teachers. Examine how the adopted stress coping mechanism affects their performances. To examine the influence of stress management pattern on students\u2019 academic performance. Suggest various methods through which teachers can manage stress. 1.4 Research Questions The following research questions guided the study: What are the various stress coping mechanisms adopted by teachers? Does the various stress management patterns affect teachers\u2019 performance? Is there a relationship between teachers stress management pattern and students\u2019 academic performance? 1.5 Research Hypothesis This study formulated and developed for testing the following null hypothesis: H0: There is no significant relationship between teachers stress management patterns and students academic performance. 1.6 Scope and Limitation of the study This study focuses on stress as perceived and experienced by teachers. It expounds on how various teachers manage or handle the emotional instability called stress. The study reviews various ideas bothering on stress and its implication on teachers performance as well as students academic performance. However, the study was limited to the perception of stress by teachers. It was limited to secondary schools teachers in Ikorodu local government area of Lagos state. 1.7 Justification of the study The Nigeria education has often been on the waves for its inability to produce competent students who can handle everyday life challenges. However, the teacher cannot be expected to produce what he\/she is not. The best way to get the education right is to get the instructors right. The health and sanity of the teacher is at the centre of all academic rightness which the student draws from. Hence, this study is necessary as it would examine the sources of teachers stress, the ways it is currently being managed and furthermore, it would suggest contemporary methods to manage the stress predicament. The teachers would benefit from the study as they would recognize their various sources of stress, learn how other teachers are managing stress and also recognize contemporary methods of stress management for teachers. The study would also be of benefit for other researchers who would like to conduct further studies regarding stress and teachers.