Teachers’ mental health becoming worse: The case of China

Publication date: October 2019Source: International Journal of Educational Development, Volume 70Author(s): Ruijuan Yang, Xuqun You, Yu Zhang, Ling Lian, Wei FengAbstractEducation is one of the main pillars of sustainable development in a knowledge-based economy. Teachers' mental health is an essential factor affecting the quality of education. Using a cross-temporal meta-analysis, this paper reviewed 116 studies investigating the mental health status of Chinese teachers between 1998 and 2013. Results showed that there was a similar trend in mental health of different types of teachers and their mental health was generally deteriorating, especially in dimensions of hostility and psychoticism. This disconcerting finding may reflect a high-risk occupational stress on teachers. Teachers with poor mental health status may suffer from occupational stress, such as frequently changing regulatory framework, too many non-teaching tasks, overemphasis on competitions, excessively centralized control in teaching and low socioeconomic status. It is crucial to pay attention to teachers′ occupational stress and take effective measures to improve their mental health on a global scale.
Source: International Journal of Educational Development - Category: Child Development Source Type: research