Experience
Overall, I have more than 11 years of experience in teacher research:
At the Institute of Work and Organisational Psychology (Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg, Germany), I focused on emotion regulation strategies of teachers at different stages of their careers and how these influence teacher well-being (stress and burnout) and work-ability.
At the Institute of Educational Psychology ( Goethe-University in Frankfurt, Germany), I expanded my research portfolio by including topics related to teacher proactive behaviours to improve school development and the role of leadership behaviours and school atmosphere in this context.
I joined UKZN in April 2017 and am currently working on job demands and burnout levels of South African teachers, emotion work of teachers in classrooms in South Africa as well as proactive behaviour of teachers for professional and school development.
Degrees Held
- PhD, University of Freiburg (Germany) 2010 (Topic: Emotion regulation in class and its relevance for the well-being and the work-ability of teachers).
- Diploma in Psychology, University of Leipzig (Germany) 2005 (Specialisation in Clinical and Health Psychology).
Research Interests
- Self-regulation strategies (coping with stress & emotions in class, time management of teachers).
- Occupational health and well-being of teachers (engagement, stress and burnout prevention).
- Age-related differences/career-stage specific differences in the use of these strategies.
- Workplace health promotion for teaching staff of different age groups.
- Professional development of teaching staff over the career cycle.
- Proactive behaviour/personal initiative of teaching staff.
- Leadership behaviour and innovation in educational organisations.
- Skills of employees for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) as well as effects of wellbeing for the readiness for the 4IR.
Teaching Interests
- Teacher Stress and Wellbeing, Burnout of Teachers.
- Self-regulation Strategies (Coping with Stress & Emotions in Class, Classroom Management).
- Workplace Health Promotion of Teaching Staff.
- Continuous Professional Development of Teachers.
- Learning theories and aspects of Educational Psychology.
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Chapters in Books
Selected Conferences
Journal Articles
- Holzberger, D., Philipp, A., & Kunter, M. (2016). Ein Blick in die Black-Box: Wie der Zusammenhang von Unterrichtsenthusiasmus und Unterrichtshandeln von angehenden Lehrkräften erklärt werden kann [A Glance Into the Black Box: How the Relationship Between Teacher Candidates’ Enthusiasm for Teaching and Their Instructional Behavior Can Be Explained]. Zeitschrift für Entwicklungspsychologie und Pädagogische Psychologie, 48, 90-105.
- Holzberger D., Philipp, A., & Kunter, M. (2014). Predicting Teachers’ Instructional Behaviors: The Interplay Between Self-efficacy and Intrinsic Needs. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 39, 100-111.
- Holzberger D., Philipp, A., & Kunter, M. (2013). How teachers’ self-efficacy is related to instructional quality: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(3), 774-786.
- Philipp, A., & Kunter, M. (2013). How do teachers spend their time? A study on teachers’ strategies of selection, optimisation, and compensation over their career cycle. Teaching and Teacher Education, 35(1), 1-12.
Chapters in Books
- Klusmann, U., & Philipp, A. (2014). Belastung und Beanspruchung im Lehrerberuf: Zum Stand der Empirischen Forschung [Demands and Strain of Teachers. On the State of the Empirical Research]. In E. Terhart, H. Bennewitz & M. Rothland (Eds.), Handbuch der Forschung zum Lehrerberuf [Handbook on Teacher Research]. (2nd rev. ed., pp. 1014-1022). Münster: Waxmann.
- Philipp, A., & Schuepbach, H. (2013). Age-Related Differences in the Emotion Regulation of Teachers in the Classroom. In C. M. Schlick, E. Frieling & J. Wegge (Eds.), Age-Differentiated Work Systems (pp. 149-173). Berlin Heidelberg: Springer.
- Murugan, L., Singh, A., Gore, T., Stark, A., & Philipp, A. (2021). The Journey to 4IR: Equipping today’s Chemical Engineering students with skills for tomorrow’s workplace. DigiTAL2K 2021 Conference, Durban, SA. (peer-reviewed and accepted for publication in the conference proceedings).
- Gore, T., Murugan, L., Singh, A., Stark, A., & Philipp, A. (2021). Transforming the Chemical Engineering Curriculum to Gear towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution. South African Chemical Engineering Congress (peer-reviewed and accepted for publication in the conference proceedings).
Selected Conferences
- Philipp, A., Steier, F., & Kunter, M. (2018, January). Selection, optimisation and compensation strategies of teachers and their relationship with teacher burnout as well as life and job satisfaction. Paper accepted for the Annual Conference of the Education Association of South Africa (EASA), Durban.
- Philipp, A., & Schuepbach, H. (2017, October). Emotion regulation techniques of teachers in class. Paper presented at the 5th Congress of the South African Education Research Association (SAERA), Port Elisabeth.
- Philipp, A., & Kunter, M. (2013, May). Proactive behavior of teachers for school development: Research on antecedents at the individual and school level. Paper presented at the 16th Congress of the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology (EAWOP), Münster (Germany).
- Holzberger, D., Kunter, M., & Philipp, A. (2013, April & May). Teacher efficacy as a predictor for or a consequence of instructional quality? Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Francisco (USA).
- Philipp, A., & Kunter, M. (2013, April & May). Proactive behavior of teachers for school development: Research on antecedents at the individual and school level. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Francisco (USA).
- Philipp, A., & Kunter, M. (2011, August & September). Strategies of selection, optimisation, and compensation of teachers over their career cycle. Paper presented at the 14th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI), Exeter (UK).
- Philipp, A., & Schuepbach, H. (2009, May). Age-related differences in emotion regulation of teachers during demanding situations in class. Paper presented at the 14th European Congress of Work and Organizational Psychology (EAWOP), Santiago de Compostela (Spain).
- Philipp, A., & Schuepbach, H. (2008, November). Emotion regulation in demanding classroom situations. Paper presented at the 8th Congress of the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology (EAOHP), Valencia (Spain).
- Philipp, A., Krause, A., & Schuepbach, H. (2008, July). Effects of emotion regulation on the health of teachers over time. Paper presented at the XXIXthInternational Congress of Psychology (ICP), Berlin (Germany).
Community Involvement
- Ad hoc reviewer Work and Stress.
- Ad hoc reviewer Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.
- Ad hoc reviewer Teaching and Teacher Education.
- Ad hoc reviewer Current Psychology.
- Ad hoc Reviewer African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education.
- Ad hoc reviewer Teaching and Teacher Education.
- Since January 2021 – Cluster Leader of the Education Studies Cluster.
- Member of DGPs (The German Psychological Society).
- Member of SAERA (South African Educational Research Association).
- Reviewer of Rating Application for the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa.
- Reviewer for the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF).
- Co-PI of the project on “Transforming the curriculum and its delivery in preparation for 4IR: Equipping today’s students with knowledge and skills for tomorrow’s workplace”. Funding was obtained from the JW Nelson Foundation.
- Facilitation of a PhD cohort for the Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE).
- Reviewer of abstracts for the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Division K – Teaching and Teacher Education/Division K – Section 08: In-Service Teacher Knowledge and Learning.
Projects (selection):
- 2018-2020: Demands and personal resources of teacher in two districts in KwaZulu-Natal as predictors of their levels of strain and ill-being. Funded within the Human and Social Dynamics in Development Grant (supported wholly by the National Research Foundation of South Africa; NRF, Grant Number: 111853).
- Since 2021: Co-PI of Project Transforming the curriculum and its delivery in preparation for 4IR: Equipping today’s students with knowledge and skills for tomorrow’s workplace, Funding from JW Nelson Foundation, PI: Prof A Stark, Chemical Engineering, UKZN.
Teaching Expertise
My teaching expertise ranges from teaching at undergraduate level to postgraduate level. Please find selected modules below:
- Semester 1 2021: Teaching of “Teacher Stress and Wellbeing” (EDPD715) at B.Ed. Hon. level.
- Semester 2 2017 – 2021: Supervision of Independent Research Project (EDRS732) B.Ed. Hon. students for the Discipline “Teacher Development Studies.
- Semester 1 2019 & 2020,2023: Teaching of Educational Psychology unit as part of the Module Education Studies: Teach, Learn and Contexts (EDES612) at PGCE level.
- Semester One 2018: Co-Teaching of Module Discourses and Methodologies in Educational Research (EDRS821) at M.Ed. level.
- Semester 1 2018 – 2020: Mentoring in Schools (EDPD704) at B.Ed. Hon. level.
- Semester Two 2017: Teaching of Module Education Studies (EDES220) at B.Ed. level.
Student Supervision
Masters
PhD
Masters
- Pinkie Zondi (M.Ed. dissertation completed in 2020). An investigation of challenges and coping strategies of Senior and Master Teachers in public schools.
- Bradley S Vere (M.Ed. dissertation completed in 2020). An exploration of factors contributing to organisational commitment of early career teachers at under-resourced secondary schools.
- Leroshka Murugan (M.Ed. dissertation completed in 2021) An investigation of the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) activities of secondary school teachers in Kwazulu-Natal in relation to their job demands and resources.
- Nompumelelo G Nzimande (M.Ed. dissertation completed in 2021) The influence of continuous professional development activities on educators’ instructional quality in Foundation Phase Mathematics.
- Nobuhle A Lushaba (M.Ed. dissertation under examination) An Exploration of the Proactive Behaviours of Novice Teachers directed at Professional and School Development of Rural Schools in KwaZulu-Natal.
- Qiniso S Zwane (M.Ed. dissertation in progress) An Exploratory Study of Violence in Selected High Schools in eThekwini and its Relevance for Teacher Well-being
- L Murugan (completed) An investigation of the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) activities of secondary school teachers in Kwazulu-Natal in relation to their job demands and resources.
- NG Nzimande (completed) The influence of continuous professional development activities on educators’ instructional quality in Foundation Phase mathematics.
- OP Zondi (2020) An investigation of challenges and coping strategies of Senior and Master Teachers in public schools.
- BS Vere (2020) An exploration of factors contributing to organisational commitment of early career teachers at under-resourced secondary schools.
PhD
Nomvuyo P Nhlengethwa (PhD thesis under examination) School’s responses to Swaziland’s language policy and policy directives and the consequences thereof.
- Leena Subrun (PhD Thesis under examination) Tracking job satisfaction across the career cycle of teachers in Mauritius.
- Ndabenhle T Mdluli (PhD thesis in progress) An investigation of the complex interplay between teachers’ emotional demands and other work demands of teachers in relation to their emotion regulation and wellbeing.
- Douglas Moyo (PhD thesis in progress) Teacher workload and its relationship with burnout in selected primary schools in Gauteng West Education district.
- Leroshka Murugan (PhD thesis in progress) Are we ready yet? A comparative study investigating the preparedness of university lecturers in Engineering and Education for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
- Jabulisiwe Mamba (PhD thesis in progress) Students’ and teachers’ perspectives on Teacher Knowledge for teaching the Career Guidance Curriculum in Public High Schools.
- Lahja Ndjalo (PhD thesis in progress). Title to be developed.
- Nompumelelo G Nzimande (PhD thesis in progress). Title to be developed