A HUMAN RELATIONS PROGRAM TO REDUCE TEACHER STRESS (BURNOUT)

Staff development for classroom teachers involving collaboration and peer support is shown to be helpful in reducing teacher stress and burnout. Based on empirical evidence, this research focused on teachers' susceptibility to professional stress due to ambiguous jobs, ambivalence about those jobs, isolation, and low salaries.; Areas of investigation centered around communication skills, professional attitudes, peer support and overall rejuvenation as a result of the combined efforts of staff development and peer support.; The model which was used involved four parts: shared planning, skills acquisition, peer support, and supervision. Specifically, teachers determined their own staff development needs. A core curriculum was designed around those needs and human relations training. They participated in four weeks of instruction, and upon completion of the course, met weekly for a period of eight weeks for peer support. During those eight weeks, teachers had a university supervisor available to them, as a consultant about teaching concerns.; This model was evaluated using samples drawn from a rural school district. The primary measures used for evaluation were the Carkhuff Scales for Assessing Interpersonal Functioning (Carkhuff Scales) and the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory (MTAI), and Personal Assessment Inventory (PAI).; Because members of the experimental and control groups were not assigned randomly, a quasi-experimental design for non-equivalent control groups was selected for the statistical analysis. A two by two analysis of covariance was used. In addition to quantitative measures, teachers were also evaluated based on personal evaluations and teacher interviews. This data is described in detail.; Results of the Carkhuff Scales indicated no significant change in levels of understanding human relations skills. Results of the MTAI indicated highly significant changes in the levels of esteem, as a result of the intervention. The PAI showed an overall gain in teachers' own assessment of their level of understanding of human relations skills.; Based on the results of this intervention, teachers felt better about themselves and increased their levels of professional esteem. The research suggested that future staff development programs must include components of shared planning and peer support. The role of the counseling psychologist or school counselor in facilitating this approach is described.