The Teacher and Contemporary Stressful Phenomena in the Workplace – the Multidimensionality of Consequences and Causes

Abstract

The aim of the article is to show the characteristics of the phenomenon of professional stress in the teaching profession. Professional stress is a phenomenon that is gaining momentum in the modern world, along with economic, demographic or social changes. The profession of a teacher is part of a pool of professions characterized by a very high risk of stress within it, due to the necessity of working with other people. All the stressful factors that a teacher encounters at school undoubtedly affect their functioning, mental and physical condition and, as a result, the quality of modern education. Therefore, in the considerations I will deal with the subject of teachers’ professional stress as a still-present and growing problem, with particular emphasis on the stressful phenomena that occur in the place of employment of the main character of the article and the reasons for their occurrence. The review of the scientific literature and research reports from this area aided the illustration of a number of consequences that the stress burden in this professional group entails, not only for the teachers themselves, but also their family, relatives, the students with whom they work, and the functioning of the institution in which they are employed.