WORKLOAD, STRESS, AND TEACHER BURNOUT: IMPLICATIONS FOR QUALITY INSTRUCTION IN POST-BASIC EDUCATION IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Teacher burnout, driven by excessive workload and sustained occupational stress, has become a major concern in post-basic education, with direct implications for teacher effectiveness and student learning. This prompted the investigation of workload, stress, and teacher burnout: Implications for quality instruction in post-basic education in Rivers State, Nigeria. This study was guided by the Job Demand-Resource (JD-R) model, examines the influence of workload, stress, burnout, and instructional quality in public senior secondary schools in Rivers State. Using a descriptive survey design, data were collected from a sample of 608 respondents (comprising 152 teachers, and 256 students) across 38 proportionally selected public senior secondary schools. A 30-item structured instrument titled: “Teachers Workload, Stress, Burnout and Instructional Quality Inventory” (TWSBIQI) was used to collect data from the teachers and students in the public senior secondary schools. Data was analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The study revealed that high workload and stress strongly influenced burnout, which in turn negatively affects lesson preparation, interactive teaching practices, and student outcomes. The study also found that large class sizes, inadequate staffing, resource shortages, and policy constraints exacerbate the challenges, threatening instructional quality in Rivers State post-basic education. Furthermore, teachers employing coping strategies such as social support and time management may experience reduced burnout effects, though institutional supports remain limited. The study concluded that improving teacher well-being is critical to sustaining instructional quality. Among the recommendations are Schools and education authorities should implement workload management policies that limit administrative and non-teaching responsibilities, redistribute large class sizes, and regulate working hours and employ new staff/teachers.