Particular importance in studying the learning process should be given not only directly to students but also to teachers. This is since often among these valuable specialists, there are more and more problems associated with stress and professional burnout. These psychological deviations can have serious consequences both for teachers themselves as individuals and for the academic success of students’ education. One of the ways that can help in solving the problem put forward may be the introduction of plans for the regulation of the educational environment. Therefore, this scientific paper aims to study how classroom management programs can affect the improvement of the situation with stress and burnout of teaching staff.
Before proceeding to the discussion of the outline of the research work, it is necessary to gain a more precise understanding of what the problem chosen for analysis is. Further, stress and burnout are severe consequences of unfavorable working conditions in an educational institution. This is a psychological condition that can affect the occurrence of more severe problems, such as depression or anxiety (Saloviita & Pakarinen, 2021). Hence, the problem under discussion becomes a threat to the entire process of transferring data to students, which may result in unsatisfactory academic performance.
To solve the problem of stress and professional burnout of specialists in the educational environment, it is possible to assume the use classroom management programs. This approach implies the introduction of a particular set of rules and norms that determine behavior within the educational space (Reinke et al., 2018). Therefore, it regulates the actions of students and teachers to limit the occurrence of undesirable consequences (Sinclair, et al., 2021). Moreover, classroom management includes defining specific processes and procedures that must be performed throughout the training.
Teachers of a chosen school will be invited to take part in the study. The main requirement will be showing signs of stress and burnout, which will be the primary rationale for implementing the classroom management program. Moreover, the proposed program will be aimed at developing steps and approaches to improve student behavior. The introduction of an educational environment regulation program is essential because, at the moment, there is enough insufficient support for teachers who are facing stress and burnout.
The intended audience for the classroom management program is directly school teachers. In addition, the proposed approach should be of particular interest to managers and heads of educational institutions since they are directly affected by how the teaching process is going. This is due to the fact that, as already mentioned, negative emotions and dissatisfaction of teachers affect academic success, as well as staff turnover (Kaya & Selvitopu, 2019). That is why school leaders should pay special attention to keeping specialists in the workplace and improving their working conditions.
The next aspect that needs to be considered is how the program will be conducted and the length of time for the program. This step is valuable since the choice of a time interval can significantly affect the results and success of the implementation of a new program. Hence, short a period can only give temporary outcomes, which may lose significance after a while. On the other hand, a program that is long can be overly extensive and without proper alterations have no productivity. Thus, the proposed class management plan suggests conducting interventions for one month.
As for the ways of conducting the program, teachers will be offered a plan in which materials will be provided on what actions will have a positive impact on the classroom. All of them will be divided into mandatory and optional; for example, the first will include raising one’s hand if they want to say something. In addition, experimental and control groups will be selected to gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of the implemented program. At the end of the study, the results of their work and the state of teachers will be compared for the level of stress and burnout.
The implementation of the proposed program will not require a significant number of resources, which makes it worth applying in practice. The only aspect that may require attention is the use of specialized software. It is designed for more convenient management of the learning process, recording exam grade, attendance, and student behavior. These aspects of the program can help conduct self-reflection to identify aspects that require change. The versatility of the proposed classroom management program also lies in the fact that it is suitable for any age group and level of study; thereby, it can help any teacher to avoid stress.
Furthermore, a discussion of the goals and objectives of the program is necessary. The main goal of introducing the classroom management program into the educational process is to improve the indicators for reducing stress and burnout among teachers (Voss et al., 2017). Thus, from this, it is possible to isolate several objects that are outcomes of the participants that can be observed and measured. Hence, one of them is that surveys can be conducted that will confirm objectively that the proposed plan has reduced the undesirable consequences of learning for educators. Moreover, another objective may be the measurement of the academic results of the studied classes.
In addition to software, several other resources should also be allocated that can assist teachers in classroom management and reduction of stress and burnout. Among them may be:
- A list of mandatory rules of behavior in the classroom
- Developed ways to reward, for example, reward cards for good behavior
- Time management system.
An example of the proposed program will be considered for a period of one week. During this period, lessons will be conducted at the educational institution using the resources offered in the program. Topic sessions may vary depending on the class and the level of training, for example, animals for younger ages and sustainability for older classes. To provide material and engagement to students, it is essential to use various creative instrumental methods that involve the use of visual aspects. In learning activities, it is vital to introduce group work and conduct a formative assessment of learning by conducting quizzes for evaluation.
The evaluation of the program will be carried out by interviewing teachers about their condition. In addition, an interim analysis of the academic performance of the study groups will be conducted. Both of these aspects will be applied both at the intermediate and final stages of the implementation of the class management program. It is worth noting that it is possible to conduct an assessment after six months after the introduction of the plan in order to determine the long-term success of the program by means of observations and surveys.
References
Kaya, M., & Selvitopu, A. (2019). A meta-analysis of the effects of some factors on teachers’ classroom management skills. International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 6(2), 409-425. Web.
Reinke, W. M., Herman, K. C., & Dong, N. (2018). The incredible years teacher classroom management program: Outcomes from a group randomized trial. Prevention Science, 19(8), 1043-1054. Web.
Saloviita, T., & Pakarinen, E. (2021). Teacher burnout explained: Teacher-, student-, and organisation-level variables. Teaching and Teacher Education, 97, 103221. Web.
Sinclair, J., Herman, K. C., Reinke, W. M., Dong, N., & Stormont, M. (2021). Effects of a universal classroom management intervention on middle school students with or at risk of behavior problems. Remedial and Special Education, 42(1), 18-30. Web.
Voss, T., Wagner, W., Klusmann, U., Trautwein, U., & Kunter, M. (2017). Changes in beginning teachers’ classroom management knowledge and emotional exhaustion during the induction phase. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 51, 170-184. Web.