Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

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Open Access Thesis

Abstract

Stress, an everyday fact of life, can be either positive or negative (Bradfield & Fones, 1985a; Truch, 1980). When faced with too little stress, a lack of productivity may occur, however, when faced with too much stress, anxiety and unhappiness may result (Johnson & Harkins, 1984).

A growing interest has developed concerning factors contributing to the stress of special education teachers (Fimian & Santoro, 1983). While the literature on stress has grown, research is very limited in the area of stress and early childhood special education teachers.

The purpose of this study was to identify (a) the stress producing variables of early childhood special education teachers; and (b) the ways early childhood special education teachers cope with the stressors they encounter.

A survey of 320 early childhood special educators in Iowa was conducted to determine the stressors of this group. Of the 320 teachers surveyed 256 (80%) responded.

The survey instrument designed by Dedrick and Raschke (1988) was used to generate the information covering stress producing variables of early childhood special education teachers.

Results from the study suggested that the greatest sources of stress for early childhood special education teachers were paperwork, and lack of preparation time. The number one way early childhood special education teachers deal with stress is through laughter and humor.

Because of the paucity of research addressing stress and the early childhood special education teachers further research is warranted.

Year of Submission

1990

Degree Name

Specialist in Education

Department

Department of Special Education

First Advisor

Ronald J. Anderson

Comments

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Date Original

1990

Object Description

1 PDF file (71 pages)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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