The relation between school climate and preschool teacher stress. The mediating role of teachers’ self-efficacy
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-08-2018-0146 |
| Date | 04 November 2019 |
| Pages | 748-767 |
| Published date | 04 November 2019 |
| Author | Bi Ying Hu,Yuanhua Li,Chuang Wang,Barry Lee Reynolds,Shuang Wang |
| Subject Matter | Education,Administration & policy in education,School administration/policy,Educational administration,Leadership in education |
The relation between
school climate and preschool
teacher stress
The mediating role of teachers’self-efficacy
Bi Ying Hu, Yuanhua Li, Chuang Wang and Barry Lee Reynolds
Faculty of Education, University of Macau, Taipa, Macao, and
Shuang Wang
Sichuan Preschool Educators College, Mianyang, China
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between school climate and teacher
stress. Specifically, the authors construct two parsimonious models to test two main hypotheses. First,
whether preschool collegial leadership predicts teachers’job stress through the mediating role of teacher self-
efficacy; second, whether teacher professionalism influences teachers’perceptions of occupational stress
through the mediating role of teacher self-efficacy.
Design/methodology/approach –The authors conceptualized the mediatingrole of teacher efficacy as an
important mechanism that can help to explain the effect of school climate on teacher stress. School climate
consisted of two dimensions: principal collegial leadership and professionalism. Therefore, the authors
constructed andexamined two mediation models by usingBootstrapping mediation modeling: first, preschool
teacher self-efficacy as a mediator betweenpreschool collegial leadershipand teacher stress; second, preschool
teacher self-efficacy as a mediator between preschool teacher professionalismand teacher stress.
Findings –Resultsfrom two mediation analyses showedthat principal collegial leadershipexerts a significant
negative effect on preschool teachers’stress through the mediating role of teacher self-efficacy. Moreover,
professionalism was also a significant predictor of preschool teachers’stress through the mediating role of
teacher self-efficacy.
Research limitations/implications –This study contributes to the literature in terms of understanding the
mechanism of how school climate helps to reduce teacher stress. First, the authors found that teachers’individual
well-being can be efficiently enhanced through a more collegial leadership. Second, the preschool leadership teams
can create a supportive climate to reduce teachers’stress by improving teachers’professionalism.
Originality/value –This study offers a new perspective about understanding the internal and external
mechanism of teacher stress. The authors discussed the results in light of the recent push by the Chinese
Government to teacher quality improvement in early childhood education. The authors argued for prioritizing
support for building a supportive school climate for teachers.
Keywords Preschool, School climate, Teacher stress, Teachers’self-efficacy
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Research shows that teaching is one of the most stressful professions (Au et al., 2016).
Preschool teachers, among teachers of all grade levels, face unique challenges and job stress
that requires urgent attention from professionals and researchers. Previous research
suggests that school climate is associated with teacher stress (Pearson and Moomaw, 2005;
Skogstad et al., 2014); as a stable and typical characteristic of schools (Halpin and Croft,
1963), school climate contributes greatly to teaching, effectiveness at work and children’s
learning (Sancar, 2009). Specifically, teachers in schools with supportive climates,
characterized by high levels of principal collegial leadership and professionalism, perceive
themselves as having lower levels of stress. Although the literature has indicated that both
school climate and teacher stress are associated with teachers’self-efficacy, few studies have
investigated the mechanism through which school climate indicators impact teacher stress,
let alone for preschool contexts. To address this gap in the literature, in the present study we
Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 57 No. 6, 2019
pp. 748-767
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/JEA-08-2018-0146
Received 15 August 2018
Revised 25 December 2018
19 March 2019
16 May 2019
21 June 2019
3July2019
Accepted 3 July 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-8234.htm
748
JEA
57,6
examined preschool teacher self-efficacy as a potential mediator of the relationship between
school climate and teacher stress.
In contemporaryChina, a medium or high level of stress has been reportedto be prevalent
among preschool teachers (Lai, 2011; Lu and Wang, 2008). Stressors have been attributed to
social, preschoolorganizational and teacherpersonal factors (Liu, 2015). The socialfactors are
related to educational values, birth-control policies and parents’beliefs –Chinese society
places a high valueon academic achievement (Li, 2015), themajority of Chinese families have
only one child (Zhao, 2013), and Chinese parents have high expectations for preschool
teachers –children should achieve academic excellence at an early age (Cheung and
Pomerantz, 2011; Hu, 2015; Huang and Gove, 2015).
The organization of Chinese preschools, notably the pervasiveness of dictatorial or
authoritarian leadership, was also found to be an influential factor affecting teachers’stress
levels (Paine and Ma, 1993; Ho, 2010). Chinese preschool principals’authoritarian leadership
may further add a layer to the stress preschool teachers are enduring, as a “single headship”
climate dominates, leaving teachers no option of negotiation (Bush and Qiang, 2000; Ho and
Tikly, 2012; Wang, 2007).
The rise in favor of leadership transformation in Hong Kong early childhood education
(ECE) contexts, namely, from an authoritarian to a collegial, harmonious, or distributed
style, has been inspirational to professionals in Mainland China. An example of change is
the Ministry of Education (MOE) of the People’s Republic of China recently issuing the
Preschool Principal Professional Standardsthat clearly instructs “Preschool principals are
responsible for providing teachers with conditions and environments for professional
development”(MOE, 2015, p. 6). However, what is being prescribed is not always the reality.
While Chinese scholars in the mainland, not unlike those in Hong Kong, have been
advocating for an increase of teacher autonomy, building of more collaborative preschool
climates, and distributing principal power (Liu, 2015; Luo and Hong, 2012; Xiang, 2007; Liu
and Liu, 2015), in practice few schools in Hong Kong and next to none in the mainland have
espoused this notion of reform.
Preschools in Hong Kong and Mainland China share similarities in terms of the cultural
influence of Confucianism and traditional collectivism on school culture and practices
(Hu, 2015; Li and Chen, 2017); the collectivist culture of both contexts has embraced
authority and power leadership styles that lessen the likelihood of an acceptance of a
collegial leadership style. Unlike some scholars in Hong Kong (e.g. Ho and Tikly, 2012), to
our knowledge, Chinese scholars in Mainland China have not conducted studies related to
collegial leadership in Mainland China preschool contexts. Building a work environment
that embraces shared decision making and genuine support for teachers’professional
development is needed as the Chinese Government aims to improve the quality of ECE
through leadership transformation (Liu, 2015; Liu and Liu, 2015).
The published literature has also brought attention to the positive influence that
leadership and professionalism can have on teacher self-efficacy (Skaalvik and Skaalvik,
2010). Specifically, teacher self-efficacy has been shown to be significantly associated with
teachers’psychological status on the job, affecting factors such as job stress, burnout and
satisfaction (Betoret, 2009; Caprara et al., 2006; Tsouloupas et al., 2010). However, the
interactive relationship among principal collegial leadership, teacher self-efficacy and
teacher stress has been understudied in prior research. The present study makes a
contribution to the existing literature by addressing this gap by aiming to understand the
formation and/or prevention of preschool teacher stress applicable in China.
Theoretical background
In previous studies, the stress process has been singly viewed as an external or an inner
psychological occurrence (Fisher, 2011; Gold and Roth, 2013; Grayson and Alvarez, 2008;
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School climate
and preschool
teacher stress
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