Exploration of Workplace Stress in Public School Head Teachers of Kathmandu Metropolitan City: A Narrative Inquiry

Abstract

This research delves into the practices of public school head teachers in experiencing workplace stress in the Kathmandu context. Two central research questions guide this inquiry. The first question asks how public school head teachers narrate their stressful leadership experiences in the workplace. The second question explores the strategies adopted by the principals to manage their stressful leadership encounters. Through interpretivism as a research paradigm, the study captures the subjective perceptions of principals, acknowledging the workplace conditions and strategies they adopt to face workplace stress in public school settings. Five, each novice, professional, and experienced public school leader, were employed for my study from five public schools in the Kathmandu district. Most of them have been providing secondary education for more than 30 years. The participant selection process involved the establishment of inclusion and exclusion criteria to identify suitable candidates. Subsequently, teachers meeting the inclusion criteria were selected, and pertinent information was extracted through in-depth, face-to-face interviews. The study reveals a shift in principals’ perception of workplace stress and their ways of coping with workplace challenges. The significant sources of stress were student-centered, teacher-centered, parent-induced, lengthy work hours, lack of recognition, unnecessary pressure, and insufficient resources. I found the public school principals in Kathmandu implemented methods to manage burdens by taking profession as a service rather than obligation, making collaboration between teaching staff and other members, taking job challenges as a source of learning, and making self-indulge in self-management exercises during the starting of the day and reflective practiced during late evening.