The success of education to a great extend depends on the quality of human resources, which in turn influence the standard of education. The role of teacher in the process of education is vital. Effective teachers are the most critical factor in determining student success. Quality education is not something that can be attained when a learner reaches at higher levels but it is something to be built right from lower levels of the educational career. Primary education thus becomes the edifice of a country’s educational structure and the quality of higher education depends on the quality of elementary education. Quality of elementary education, no doubt, is an outcome quality of the teachers, which in turn depends on quality of pre-service education of the primary school teachers. Unfortunately, this is perhaps the most neglected area of teacher education in our country. In India, the liberal educational policies of the government have resulted in mushrooming of teacher education institutions in both at primary and secondary levels and subsequent deterioration of the quality of the teacher education [1]. Lack of psychological knowledge in the professional preparation of the teachers have resulted in the large-scale production of prospective teachers who find it difficult to get along with themselves as well as with students, spoiling the real spirit of nurturing ‘young hearts’ for a better society. Knowledge of subject matter or proficiency of language is not even secondary for becoming a successful teacher in primary classes, if the teacher has adequate psychological depositories. Among the mental depositories needed for a successful teacher there are his/her ability to make wholesome personal and social adjustment [2], ability to cope with stress [3] and freedom from unnecessary anxieties [4].

Among the factors that contribute to professional competency of teachers, apart from his pedagogical skills and abilities, there are, of course, his/her ability to make wholesome social and personal adjustment, the stress he/she experiences and the latent fear and apprehension one experience while he/she is in the classroom. Teachers’  own  mental  health  issues  are,  perhaps,  the most  antagonistic  factor  in  discharging  his  professional

responsibilities and thus has detrimental effect on classroom management and accomplishment of instructional objectives [5]. Harding et al. [6], Kidger et al. [7] etc. found teachers to be at increased risk of experiencing poor mental health and wellbeing compared to people in other occupations. In the light of the ever increasing incidence of mental health issues and associated physical health problems among school children in Kerala [8], systematic studies are needed to find out how children’s mental health is associated with that of teachers, especially primary school teachers who exert greater influence on mental disposition of children. As part of a larger study, this paper focus on exploring the differential effect of selected demographic factors on the mental health of pre-service primary school teachers selected from the Teacher Education Institutes of Wayanad district of Kerala (India).

Objective

To find out the differential effect of demographic factors like gender, residential locale, type of family, socio-economic status and level of achievement on mental health of pre-service primary school teachers.

Hypothesis

The following null hypotheses were tested for the study:

• Gender has no significant differential effect on the mental health of pre-service primary school teachers
• Residential locale has no significant differential effect on the mental health of pre-service primary school teachers
• Type of family has no significant differential effect on the mental health of pre-service primary school teachers
• Socio-economic status has no significant differential effect on the mental health of pre-service primary school teachers
• Academic achievement has no significant differential effect on the mental health of pre-service primary school teachers

Method of Study

Descriptive research that followed normative survey method was used for the study.

Population

Preservice primary school teachers comprising the first year and second year teacher trainees doing their Diploma Course in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) in different Institutes of Teacher Education (ITE) affiliated to SCERT (Govt. of Kerala) and recognised by National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE, Govt. of India), situated within the revenue boundary of Wayanad district of Kerala (India) constitute the population of the study.

Sample

A simple random sample of 284 pre-service primary school teachers (male = 39; female = 245) selected from Institutes of Teacher Education located in Wayanad districts of Kerala constituted the sample for the study. The average age of the participants is 19.74 with a standard deviation of 1.79.

Tools Used

Mental Health Inventory for Adults (MHIA): It is a 100-item standardized instrument developed by Arjunan  and  Vinila [9].  The  MHIA  provides  an objective measure the psychological state of an adult individual to cope with normal stresses of life, functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioural adjustment and work productively. It consists of 10 sub-tests, measuring ten independent components   of   mental   health   viz.:   (1)  Optimism, (2) Adaptability,  (3) Sense  of  security,  (4) Regularity of habits, (5) Perception of reality, (6) Emotional maturity, (7) Social conformity, (8) Positive attitude towards self, (9) Positive attitude towards others and (10) Freedom from negativism. Each of the sub-tests in the scale consists of 10 statements; each correct item being assigned with one point credit. For the present study, the sum of the total scores an individual gets for all the 10 sub-tests was treated as the mental health status score of that individual. The MHIA has reported to have a split-half reliability of 0.73 and the concurrent validity of 0.69.

Socio-Economic Status Scale (SESS)

The socio-economic status of the family of the participants were assessed by employing the Brief Socio-Economic Status Scale developed by Arjunan [10]. It measures the socio-economic status of a family by considering the family income, educational status of adult members and professional   status   earning   members   of   the   family. The  maximum  score  in  the  scale  is  10  and  minimum score is 4.  The  SESS  has  a  test - retest  reliability  of  0.93 and concurrent validity of 0.81 with another established scale.

Procedure

The data required for the study was collected online by administering the tools using Google Forms. A Personal Data Sheet was also administered to collect the demographic information needed for the study. The response rate was as high as 97.1 percentage as the investigators shared the links in WhatsApp groups constituted by the teacher educators for the purpose of online classes. The Google Forms were scored after scrutiny of their completeness and the scores were consolidated on Excel sheet and analysed subsequently with the help of SPSS.

Analysis and Interpretation 

The data and result of the independent sample t-test performed to find out the differential effect of gender on the mental health of pre-service primary school teachers is given in Table 1.

Table 1: Comparison of Male and Female Pre-Service Primary School Teachers with Respect to their Mental Health

The t-value obtained on comparing the male and female pre-service primary school teachers is significant at 99.9% confidence interval (t = 4.563; p<0.01). Inspection of mean scores showed that the male teacher trainees surpass their female counterparts in their mental health.

Table 2 presents the data and result of the two-tailed test of significance performed to compares the mental health of pre-service primary school teachers from rural and urban areas.

Table 2: Comparison of Pre-Service Primary School Teachers from Rural and Urban Locale with Respect to their Mental Health 

Comparison of pre-service primary school teachers from rural and urban residential locale gave a t-value which is significant at 95% confidence interval (t = 2.066; p<0.05). Teacher trainees from rural areas excels their fellow students from urban areas in their mental health. 

The mental health scores of pre-service primary school teachers from nuclear families and extended families were compared to find out the differential effect of family type on their mental health. The data and result of the analysis carried out in this context is presented in Table 3.

Table 3: Comparison of Pre-Service Primary School Teachers from Nuclear and Extended Families with Respect to their Mental Health 

The t-value computed by comparing the mental health scores of pre-service primary school teachers from nuclear families and extended families are significant beyond 99% confidence interval (t = 3.865; p<0.001). Type of family is a significant factor in discriminating trainee teachers on the basis of their mental health. A closer observation of the mean score estimated for the groups reveals that teacher trainees from extended families have better mental health than their colleagues from nuclear families. 

In order to find out the differential effect of Socio-Economic Status (SES) on mental health of pre-service primary school teachers, the subjects from High-, Average- and Low SES were compared with regard to their mental health by applying one way ANOVA. The summary of the ANOVA performed in this context is given in Table 4.

Table 4: Comparison of the Mental Health Scores of Pre-Service Primary School Teachers from High, Average and Low Socio-Economic Status (Summary of ANOVA)

The F-ratio obtained on comparing the pre-service primary school teachers from high, average and low socio-economic status with respect to their mental health is not significant (F = 1.619; p<0.05). Socio-economic status of the family has no significant differential effect on the mental health of prospective teachers of elementary school. 

On the basis of the percentage of marks secured in the admission qualification (12^th grade qualifying examination), the pre-service primary school teachers were categorised into High-, Average- and Low achievers. The groups were then compared to see whether they differ significantly with respect to their mental health. The summary of one-way ANOVA performed in this regard is presented in Table 5.

Table 5: Comparison of the Mental Health Scores of High, Average and Low Achieving Teacher Trainees (Summary of ANOVA)

The F-ratio estimated on comparing high, average and low achieving pre-service primary school teachers with respect to their mental health is significant at 99.9% confidence interval (F = 10.935; p<0.001). It exposes the presence of a true difference in the mental health of teacher trainees in different levels achievement. Post-hoc test of multiple comparison was further performed to find out the achievement groups that differ significantly regarding the mental health. The result of the Scheffe’s post-hoc test performed in this context is given in Table 6.

The mean difference estimated for all the group pairs are significant, revealing that pre-service primary school teachers in different levels of achievement have significantly different degrees of mental health. The sign of the mean differences estimated (vide Table 6) reveals that the higher levels mental health goes with higher levels of achievement.

Table 6: Post-Hoc Tests for Comparison of Teacher Trainees from High, Average and Low Levels of Achievement with Respect to their Mental Health 

The study has revealed that demographic factors like gender, residential locale, type of family and achievement level of pre-service primary school teachers have significant differential effect on their mental health. The socio-economic status of the family, however, is not a significant factor that discriminate prospective primary school teachers on the basis of their mental health. While the high achieving male teacher trainees from extended families located in rural areas are more likely to be at the high end of the distribution of mental health, low achieving female teacher trainees from nuclear families located in urban areas are mor probable to be at the low end of the distribution.

Acknowledgment

This paper is a part of the Ph. D research by the first author under the supervision of the second author. The authors place on record their profound and sincere gratitude to the Manager and the Principal of Farook Training College, Calicut, for the opportunity given to pursue the research activity. Heartfelt thanks are also due to the Principals, Teachers and D.El.Ed. students of various Institutes of Teacher Education for their whole hearted cooperation and support during the data collection phase of the study.

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