TM4T Stress Armoury 16 - Understanding the demand-control model

One of the standard organisational theories dealing with stress is the Demand-Control (D-C) model, and it is worth understanding this model in order to understand where stress may be caused in school.

The D-C model of job stress proposes that when people are in demanding jobs, they experience less stress the more control they have over their own work. In a school context, this might suggest that more stress could arise outside the classroom than inside, if teachers have less control over the demands they face in their non-contact time.

The D-C model involves two key variables which affect the amount of stress that people experience: job demands and decision latitude. Job demands are the stress-causers in the work environment, like tight deadlines, high targets, regular interruptions, and conflicting pressures. Decision latitude (or autonomy) is the extent to which people can control their work.

The research on which the D-C model is based showed that, if your job rates high in demand but low in autonomy, you can expect to be more tired at the end of the day, find it harder to get up in the morning and have higher incidence of anxiety and depression. Conversely, if you have a high-demand role with more autonomy, you expereience less stress.

Here's the model, based on the original research by Robert Karasek:

The bottom right quadrant is clearly the one to avoid - when your role has high demands but you have little or no autonomy, the result is a high-strain job. By contrast, when high job demands are matched with high autonomy, the result is an active role, with lower stress and higher job satisfaction - this is the situation most teachers want.

Teaching jobs rarely fall on the left-side of the model (low job demand). These either 'passive' or 'low-strain'.

What to do

The important point is that you should seek to build more autonomy into your teaching job whenever possible, particularly in high-demand situations. If you can do this, you're likely to feel less stress and more job satisfaction as a result. There is of course a paradox here for younger teachers: the less senior you are, the less autonomy you have, and the less use this model is. You can, though, still strive to improve autonomy.

There are several obvious options here:

- Choose who does the work. This is not as silly as it sounds. Obviously your lessons are your lessons and your students are your students. However, there is no unbreakable rule that you have to do all your own marking or prepare all your own resources. Be prepared to share with colleagues, swap work and look for synergy and economies of scale.

- Choose what you teach. Most qualified teachers have discretion to choose their own lesson materials and sequence of study. Use this wisely; don't re-invent the wheel (if you have a great scheme of work, use it) but regularly remind yourself of the freedom that you have.

- Choose when you work. You automatically lose your autonomy if you do not plan ahead. Without advance planning, the only thing you can do today is prepare today's lessons (or tomorrow's lessons if you are lucky). Plan ahead, and be able to choose what you are doing when.

- Choose where you work. This is not an exhortation to work at home, but it is worth reminding yourself that in many jobs working at home is seen as a rare treat. You should actively choose where you do non-contact tasks, and be creative about where in the school you toil away. Don't get nailed to 'your' classroom; use the library, ICT rooms, offices, the restaurant...

- Experiment with 'no'. Saying 'no' is an important skill for teachers, and your 'no' muscle needs regular exercise to work properly. Talk to your immediate boss and explore what options you have to not-do-things or to do-new-things. Depending on your school, you may have more autonomy than you realise.