"Coffee and Jesus": Teachers' Coping Strategies and Perceptions of Cost

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 8
  In Poster Session: Affective Influences on Learner Success

Abstract

Teachers face mounting pressures and challenges from sources both internal and external to the classroom. The costs of teaching and how teachers deal with them having important implications for intentions to remain in teaching yet remain understudied. Using an Expectancy-Value Theory framework of motivation, this study examined the relationship between perceived costs, coping strategies, and professional commitment. Mixed methods analysis revealed that adaptive coping strategies (e.g., advice seeking, problem solving) were associated with lower cost and higher professional commitment whereas maladaptive coping strategies (e.g., distractions, emotional coping) were associated with higher cost and lower professional commitment. Theoretical and practical implications will be discussed.

Authors

• Annette Ponnock, Yale University

• Patrick Neil Beymer, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Emily Q. Rosenzweig, University of Georgia