The role of Counselling Services in Stress Management among Head Teachers in Kitwe District, Copperbelt Province, Zambia

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore the role of counselling services in stress management among head teachers in Kitwe district, Copperbelt province of Zambia. The objectives were to identify causes of stress among head teachers, investigate how head teachers use counselling services to manage stress, establish kind of counselling services used by head teachers to manage stress and to develop a counselling strategy that head teachers could use to manage stress. A sample of forty head teachers from both primary and secondary schools (both male and female) participated in the study. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect data. Findings indicate that the causes of stress among head teachers were inadequate time for resting because of too much office work, in some cases it was due to not having managerial knowledge and skills of managing schools with over 3000 pupils and 70 staff and lack of orientation on the duties and responsibilities of an administrator. However, most head teachers did not utilise counselling services in their schools because they felt too senior to be counselled by their teachers. Others felt that they could never trust a teacher counsellor where confidential matters were concerned. They also pointed out that most of the school counsellors were not trained counsellors and they were too young to counsel them. As a result, some preferred to be counselled by pastors from their local churches, their peers and local elderly people. In terms of strategy,