A Phenomenological Study of Beginning Teacher Mental Wellness: Stress, Job Resources, and Coping Strategies

Teacher stress and teacher burnout are not novel terminology for the education field. The purpose of this study is to describe beginning teachers’ perceptions of job-related stress, school-level resources available to help mitigate this stress, and how they cope with their stress. The framework that supports this qualitative, phenomenological study is the transactional theory of stress and coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Guided by the following research questions 1) In what ways do beginning teachers perceive job-related stress? 2) In what ways do beginning teachers perceive contributors to stress in the workplace? 3) In what ways do beginning teachers perceive to be preventative to help alleviate these stressors? Key findings included descriptions of teacher stress, contributors to job-related stress, and coping mechanisms. This study implores school districts and academic researchers to act to improve the experiences of beginning teachers by providing more active and accessible support, realistic workload expectations, and attainable coping mechanisms.