International Journal of Research and Review Vol. 10; Issue: 6; June 2023 Website: www.ijrrjournal.com Research Paper E-ISSN: 2349-9788; P-ISSN: 2454-2237 International Journal of Research and Review (ijrrjournal.com) 263 Volume 10; Issue: 6; June 2023 Pedagogical Awareness in Primary Schools: The Role of Teachers in Creating Stressful Events and their Impact on Future Primary Teachers’ Development Marinos Anastasakis 1 , Eleni Vasilaki 1 1 Department of Primary Education, University of Crete, Rethymno, Greece Corresponding Author: Marinos Anastasakis DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20230632 ABSTRACT Despite the evidence supporting the significant role of school life events on students’ learning and well-being, little attention is currently reserved for school life events in the literature. In the case of mathematics, there is an agreement that school life events related to primary teachers’ in-class practices and perceived as stressful by students, affect negatively the quality of their learning. Within a framework combining cognitive and pedagogical approaches, we investigated stressful school life events in primary educational settings and their relation to a teacher’s pedagogical knowledge. For the study, data were collected by interviewing a cohort of future primary teachers about their experiences when they were pupils. By using a qualitative text analysis approach, we identified three thematic groups of school life events. We conclude by highlighting the need for communicating to the wider academic and teacher community the vital role that stressful school life events play on students’ learning and well-being. Keywords: schools life events, pedagogy, primary teachers, primary mathematics education INTRODUCTION Stressful school events are of importance because of their effect on students’ learning and well-being. Evidence supporting this are in contrast with the minimal attention reserved for academic stressful events, particularly for mathematics education (Michie et al., 2001). In general, many authors agree that mathematics related teaching practices are perceived as stressful by the students and that high levels of stress appear to negatively affect the quality of student learning (e.g., Lumley and Provenzano, 2003). Arguably, one of the most important aspects of school events that affect the majority of students is related to a teacher’s pedagogical approach when teaching mathematics. In addition, early negative experiences often have a profound impact upon a student’s further progress: for example, some children when experiencing negative school life events might be more susceptible than others to the onset of a series of problems (Margalit, 2003). Since the 1940s, a wealth of research findings has demonstrated that certain properties of life events are related to psychological dysfunctions and are potential predictors of poor performance. Research has established a strong connection between stressful events and debilitation of performance (Eysenck, 1992; Eysenck & Calvo, 1992). This relationship has been depicted in various cognitive theories throughout the previous decades (Power & Dalgleish, 2020) and much research has been conducted on stress in students. Higher stress levels have been related with lower