Teachers' stress, coping strategies, and job satisfaction in COVID-induced teaching environments

ABSTRACT

School based agricultural education has long been associated with teacher stress, burnout, and attrition, and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has likely exacerbated these conditions. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the differences in Arkansas SBAE teachers' stress, coping strategies, and job satisfaction based on teaching environment, and demographic variables during the pandemic. Results showed that respondents experienced fatigue, frustration, worrying, forgetfulness, and impatience, and that these symptoms of stress along with related sources of pressure were negatively correlated with job satisfaction. However, teaching environment resulting from the pandemic was not shown to predict job satisfaction. Nonetheless, results showed that teaching is stressful regardless of situation, and respondents who utilized coping strategies were found to have higher levels of job satisfaction. Therefore, we recommend that administrators work with teachers to develop coping strategies for dealing with stress.