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Working Conditions And Psychological Distress In First-Year Women Teachers: Qualitative Findings, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Elizabeth A. Santiago

Publications and Research

With few exceptions (e.g., Blase, 1986), most of the research on the effects of teachers' working conditions has been quantitative in design. The power of qualitative research inheres in its struggle to get under the teacher's skin and see the world as the teacher sees it. The study described in this paper examines the writings of newly appointed teachers who, as part of a quantitative study, were asked to write anything they wanted about their jobs. Four themes that characterized the working lives of teachers emerged: (a) being happy with one's job, (b) interpersonal tensions and lack of support among …