How Public-School Teachers Describe Technostress When Providing Remote Instruction Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Main Author: Bowman, Jeri Lyn
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01.01.2023
• Subjects: Educational psychology; Educational technology; Psychology
• ISBN: 9798380170024

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how public-school teachers experienced transaction-based technostress while providing remote instruction through the Covid-19 pandemic. This study’s sample consisted of 17 teachers working within the same mid-sized suburban school district in a Western state. Data collection entailed thirteen semi-structured interviews and one focus group. The conceptual model that guided this study was the transaction-based approach to technostress. Three research questions guided this research to discover how public-school teachers experienced technostress, leadership, and work exhaustion from the initial school closures until the end of the 2021-2022 school year. Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis was used to code the data. MAXQDA and hand-coding were used to name the six themes. These themes include inadequate technology, steep learning curves, school site leadership style tied to teacher efficacy and resiliency, erosion of work/home boundaries, student engagement affecting teacher efficacy, and increased boundaries as teachers recover from work exhaustion. The themes reflect the three school years as the teachers experienced remote instruction. Given the same school district, Covid-related protocols, technology plan, and training, within the same community, this research delves into the school site level differences as schools implemented remote instruction, hybrid instruction, and an in-person school year.