Comparison of Teacher's Mental Health in Normal and Exceptional Schools

The purpose of this study was to compare the mental health condition of teachers working in normal and exceptional schools in the province of Isfahan. Demographical variables such as job experience, level of education, and grade point average were considered for this research. The sample consisted of 409 male and female teachers who were chosen at the elementary, middle school, and high school, and pre- university (college) levels for the normal group, and teachers working at schools for the visually impaired, hearing impaired, and mentally retarded were selected for the exceptional group. The SCL–90–R Inventory (Symptoms Check-List) was administered to all participants in order to assess teacher's mental health. Another questionnaire devised by the researcher, was used to record demographic characteristics. The results of analysis of variance showed that there would be a significant difference between the mean scores of normal and exceptional school teachers’ mental health with a higher intensity of unhealthy symptoms in normal school teachers compared to exceptional school teachers in SCL–90–R subtests (p<0.05). Studying the relation of mental health and demographic variables showed that only those exceptional teachers with less job experience had a higher intensity of unhealthy symptoms compared to others (p<0.05). Exceptional school teachers were better off in mental health scores compared to normal school teachers