Navigating occupational stress in the educational workplace: A qualitative study of coping strategies among Chinese primary school teachers

Teachers’ occupational stress has become prominent under China’s Double Reduction policy. Based on interviews with 47 primary school teachers from five primary schools in a large city in western China conducted between November 2024 and April 2025, this qualitative study explored teachers’ perceived occupational stressors and coping strategies in their daily work using NVivo 12.0 and thematic analysis.Findings show that stress came from both exogenous and endogenous sources. Exogenous stressors included policy-driven workload changes, parent-teacher communication difficulties, student behavioral and psychological problems, and pressure from social evaluation. Endogenous stressors were mainly reflected in professional growth demands, self-improvement pressure, and the challenge of balancing multiple work roles. Despite these pressures, many teachers maintained a positive sense of work value and professional identity, coping through self-regulation, school support, and informal support in daily life. The study suggests that teacher stress arises not only from increased workload but also from shifting expectations across schools, families, students, and society. It highlights the need for systematic institutional support, mental health resources, and school-level mechanisms to reduce unnecessary burdens while enhancing teachers’ professional well-being. Limitations include the convenience sample from a single city and the cross-sectional qualitative design, which may limit the transferability of the findings.