Stress during teaching and instructional supervision in Thai pre-service teachers: regression analysis

Abstract

Pre-service teachers frequently experience stress and emotional challenges during the teaching practicum, which may influence their professional development and instructional effectiveness. This study aims to examine emotional challenges experienced during the practicum, compare stress levels across instructional supervision modalities, and identify factors associated with stress during teaching and supervision. The study contributes comparative evidence by analysing three supervision formats and modelling teaching-related stress and supervision-related stress as distinct outcomes. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted with 208 pre-service teachers from a Thai public university. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The results show that many participants reported reduced stress after several teaching periods, although a subgroup experienced persistent stress throughout the semester. Stress levels differed across supervision methods, with the highest stress reported during on-site supervision, followed by online and video-based supervision. Regression results indicate that the number of subjects taught significantly predicted teaching-related stress, while gender and number of subjects taught predicted supervision-related stress. These findings highlight the importance of workload management and structured mentoring in supporting pre-service teachers’ emotional well-being and may inform the design of practicum supervision models in teacher education.