The Future of Education

Teaching is one of the most stressful professions [1]. This is not a phenomenon unique to one country or grade level, as demonstrated by recent research specific to teacher stress and its impact on students conducted in public universities and/or with teachers in Pakistan [2][3][4], Greece [1], Canada [4], Romania [5], and the United States [6]. Stress, unfortunately, comes from a myriad of sources; preparation, quality of student work, meetings and additional responsibilities outside of the classroom, tenure/promotion, colleagues, and so on. Since the future of education is in our hands, we have a moral obligation to be excellent teachers. That also means protecting ourselves and our students from the harmful effects of excessive and continuous stress. Studies present suggestions to increase mindfulness [6] [7] and stress reduction techniques. This presentation sharing an American children’s picture book, Quiet [8], to entice readers into a peaceful awareness. After the read aloud, participants will be guided through a hands-on creation of a simple animation, using the app, ChatterPix,* [9]. This technology is a tool that can be customized for teachers and students at any age level on any device.

*Please download the FREE ChatterPix or ChatterPixKids app from iTunes prior to this session.

Keywords: Children’s Literature, Technology, Effective Teaching, Stress, Coping Strategies;

References:
[1] Kourmousi, N., Darviri, C., Varvogli, L., & Alexopoulos, E. C. (2015). Teacher stress inventory: Validation of the Greek version and perci3ved stress levels among 3,447 educators. Psychology Research and Behavior Management. 8, 81-88
[2] Haseeb, M. A., & Sattar, S. A. (2018). Exploring the causes of job stress and coping strategies among the faculty of public universities. Journal of Education and Human Development. 7(4), 27-33. DOI: 10.15640/jehdv7n4a4.
[3] Quaraishi, U., Aziz, F., & Siddiquah, A. (2018). Stress and coping strategies of university teachers in Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Education. 35(2), 193-206.
[4] Ferguson, K., Mang, C., Frost, L. (2017). Teacher stress and social support usage. Brock Education Journal: A Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 26(2), 62-86.
[5] Clipa, O. (2017). Teacher Stress and Coping Strategies. In Clipa, O. (Ed.). Studies and current trends in science education. (pp.120-128). Suceava, Romania: LUMEN Proceedings.
[6] Schussler, D. L., Deweese, A., Rasheed, D., SeMauro, A., Brown, J., Greenberg, M., & Jennings, P. A. (2018). Stress and release: Case studies of teacher resilience following mindfulness-based intervention. American Journal of Education125(1), 1-28.
[7] Flock, L. Goldberg, S. B., Pinger, L., Bonus, K. & Davidson, R. J. (2013). Mindfulness for teachers: A pilot study to assess effects on stress, burnout and teaching efficacy. Mind Brain Education 7(3): DOI: 10/1111/mbe.12026.[8] DePaola. T. (2018). Quiet. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. New York.
[9] Duck Duck Moose, Inc. ChatterPix and ChatterPix Kids. duckduckmoose.com