Arab Educational Information Network

The objective of the present study was to assess the levels of mental health among middle school teachers in private & public schools in Lebanon, and to investigate the educational difficulties & challenges they are facing during distance teaching. Also, it aims to explore the relationship between mental health and educational challenges, as an attempt to reduce these challenges in the educational field and to help maintain a high level of positive mental health among those teachers and those who are concerned with the educational field. The descriptive cross sectional survey method was used. The data was collected using mixed method, both qualitative & quantitative, on a total of (1209) middle school teachers (males & females) from all the Lebanese governorates. A distance teaching difficulties & challenges questionnaire, in addition to Ahmed Mohamed Abdel Khaleq’s Arab Mental Health Scale were administered. Results showed that middle school teachers scored moderate levels of mental health, and moderate levels of satisfaction, optimism & stability, and a high level of self-confidence. They also reported that technical difficulties were the most face during distance teaching, which was represented by high financial difficulties, followed by difficulties in interaction with learners and with increased workload. Moreover, the study indicated that middle school teachers have high social support from family and school management, and they have increased motivation towards their jobs. Furthermore, results found that the teachers with low levels of educational difficulties have good mental health, and that public school teachers face higher educational difficulties compared to their counterparts in private schools, but there were no significant differences in levels of educational difficulties due to years of experience. Also, the teachers who have not received any training courses about distance teaching face more educational difficulties than their counterparts who received training courses. Finally, some solutions were suggested to reduce/decrease the educational difficulties faced by the teachers during distance learning. (Published abstract)