Dependence of teachers’ tolerance level on their teaching experience and some personality traits

Introduction. The authors investigate the problem of developing teachers’ tolerance as a condition of their effective professional practice. The purpose of the article is to identify teachers’ tolerance level depending on their teaching experience and some personality traits. Materials and Methods. The study was based on modern international approaches, which define tolerance as a personal quality which contributes to effective teacher-student communication in problem situations and promotes children’s socialization. (D. Gilltspie, S. K. Gural, A.A. Kim-Maloney). The empirical research involved the following psychodiagnostic methods: (1) A. A. Zinovkin’s tolerance test for teachers; (2) V. Boyko’s tool for communicative tolerance assessment; (3) R. Cattell’s Personality Factor Questionnaire. The study was conducted at Number 18 Secondary School in Krasnoyarsk. The sample consisted of 71 secondary school teachers. Results. It has been revealed that the dynamics of the components of teachers’ tolerance depends on their teaching experience. The current study has found that teachers with 4-7 years of experience demonstrate higher level of tolerance compared to teachers with 20 - 40 years of experience, which may be explained by the professional burnout syndrome. The results of the study indicate that high level of teachers’ tolerance is determined by the following characteristics: high intelligence, divergent thinking, emotional stability, ability to judge a situation adequately, patience, absence of competition, self-confidence and self-reliance, insensitivity to approval or disapproval from others, resistance to difficulties, sociability, purposefulness, awareness of social norms and desire to follow them. It has been statistically proved that teachers’ tolerance is interconnected with the following personality traits: high intelligence, emotional stability, insight, ability to restrain anxiety, low suspiciousness and propensity to guilt feelings. Conclusions. The authors conclude about the dependence of teachers’ tolerance level on teaching experience and some personality traits.