Reducing teacher stress: improving humanized management of Chinese teachers

Purpose - To improve humanized management of Chinese teachers, the aim of this study is to, first, investigate the stress of Chinese teachers, and, second, to examine the relationship of teacher stress with coping strategies and social support. Moreover, an attempt is made to examine the moderating role of coping strategies in the relationship between social support and teacher stress. Design/methodology/approach - Participants consisted of 363 teachers from 6 public primary and secondary schools (both regular and vocational schools), who completed 3 self-report questionnaires examining teacher stress, coping strategies and social support. The methodology used was t-test, correlation analysis and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Findings - There are more than 50 per cent of primary and secondary school teachers suffering from mild to extremely severe stress. Working environment (regular or vocational schools), gender and age affect teacher stress. Social support and passive strategies have significant relationships with teacher stress, and passive strategies moderate the relationship between social support and teacher stress. Research limitations/implications - The study is based on a sample taken from public primary and secondary schools, and the character of the research was cross-sectional. Therefore, we must be cautious in generalizing the findings. An important implication for management of the findings of this study is the importance of humanized management for teachers. To reduce teacher stress, more social support should be provided by educational administrators, and teachers should be trained to avoid using passive strategies. Originality/value - Through the investigation into the teacher stress in both regular and vocational schools, this study provides a new point of view for human resource managers to control and reduce teacher stress in China by improved humanized management.