How happy are university teachers compared to other occupations?

Along with flight attendants, teachers belong to the most stressful jobs after nursing and welfare workers who reported almost three percent of stress, depression or anxiety in the UK in 2014. This is especially true for public sector teachers. Overall the factors causing high stress levels of teaching professionals include excessive responsibility, tight deadlines and lack of support from peers. There are numerous exams and routine student homework that teachers need to check and this requires them to make many decisions. Sometimes situations are really complex and there is never a 'right' decision, and if teachers start worrying and feeling doubt about their decisions, they just exhaust themselves and have not enough mental energy to keep up with the demands of their profession. There are some great online practical professional development programs for teachers, for instance - "Coaching for Teachers" at Coursera, and they could help teachers who are unhappy because of poor classroom management and low levels of self-support to get back on track and keep up with the demands of their profession.

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