‘Maybe I’m just not strong enough’: on the care exploitation of teachers in hard-to-staff schools

Well-being implies an overall healthy body and mind and encompasses physical, social, and emotional factors. The well-being of an individual plays an essential role in all aspects of his/her life, and teachers work is immensely affected by their well-being. Teachers as nation builders, have abundant responsibility on their shoulders and they play an important role in building a sustainable society. However, the work conditions and various environmental factors at times impact their well-being. The present study is a review of studies conducted on the well-being of teachers. For this purpose, eight research papers spanning from 2019 to 2022 have been reviewed. The present study intends to find out the various factors that have an impact on the well-being of school teachers in different countries and also analyze the course of action that is being adopted or suggested to promote teachers’ well-being. The study is crucial as it will help the stakeholders understand the components that need to be focussed on while dealing with the teachers’ well-being.

Globally, mainstream teachers have been experiencing intense challenges of behavioural difficulties by learners in schools. For decades, scholars have intensified the relational impact of behaviour with regard to academic progression. However, there is limited knowledge on the experiences and coping strategies of teachers regarding these challenges. Using an exploratory research approach in the study reported on here, we focused on the lived experiences (psychological well-being and coping strategies) of teachers of adolescents with behavioural difficulties. A phenomenological research design and qualitative approach to enquiry were used to conduct the study. Purposive and stratified sampling techniques were used to select 8 participants (3 female and 5 male teachers) for the study. Qualitative data were analysed thematically, and 2 major themes emerged: poor psychological well-being and inadequate coping strategies of teachers. Depressive symptoms reported by participants included the following: anhedonia, burnout, reduced job performance, and demotivation. These challenges primarily lead to negative mood regulation and maladaptive coping, such as displacement – a defence mechanism. Behavioural difficulties experienced by adolescents have a profound impact of intense stress and negative emotions, leading to poor psychological well-being of teachers. Thus, there is a need for the Department of Education to create structures, guidelines and support systems for schools on behavioural difficulties for the well-being of teachers.

Background: The workplace can be a source of stress if relationships are strained, as these interactions significantly impact individual well-being. Although numerous studies address the challenges and well-being of teachers, there is a scarcity of research on the relational experiences and relationships that are essential for teachers’ well-being.Objectives: The study aimed to understand the relational experiences and relationships that contribute to the well-being of teachers in rural primary schools.Methods: Purposive sampling was employed to select 10 male and female teachers with five or more years of teaching experience from quintile 1–3 ordinary rural schools in South Africa. The data were obtained through semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically.Results: The study’s findings revealed that schools can provide conducive spaces for experiencing and forming positive interactional relationships with learners, peers and the community. In addition, teachers thrive because of important relationships that give meaning, such as nurturing interpersonal collaboration, finding purpose in life, fulfilment and valued relationships. Such relationships enable teachers to consistently strive for the best in their work performance.Conclusion: Positive interactional relationships not only enhance the well-being of teachers but also contribute to the overall success of education.Contribution: Our findings have implications for relational well-being interventions for teachers in the education sector.

The declining wellbeing of Australian teachers is a longstanding problem, with much attention on retention, stress, burnout, and poor resourcing and conditions that impact wellbeing. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has further illuminated these challenges. This qualitative study aimed to explore Australian teachers’ perceptions of their wellbeing needs with a focus on asking the questions that are often not asked—what is working, what are we learning, and how can we move forward to support teacher wellbeing? The voices of teachers revealed findings that support a much-needed shift in teacher wellbeing rhetoric in Australia. We illuminate five key areas that influence teacher and sector perceptions of wellbeing: (1) school leadership, (2) professional development, (3) workload and work-life balance, (4) relationships, and (5) stress, positive emotions, and accomplishment. These findings contribute to the need for a change in how teacher wellbeing is approached and highlight the possible implications of what is working, needs, barriers, and insights for preservice teacher education and professional development of teachers.

Iceland was one of the first countries to collapse in the global financial crisis of 2008 and it followed the OECD suggestion by opening upper secondary schools for young jobseekers, but without increasing the number of teachers. The upper secondary school level is also in a period of educational change, as it is in many other countries nowadays. The experience of Iceland provides valuable lessons for the international community. The article explores the effect of the economic crisis and the proposition that the policy is imposing on the work, well-being and working conditions of upper secondary school teachers in Iceland. The findings are based on a quantitative data from three surveys on upper secondary school teachers. In total, 52% of registered teachers in the Association of Teachers in Upper Secondary Schools returned the completed questionnaire in 2008, 49% in 2010 and 57% in 2012. The findings reveal significantly longer working days, increased pressure, workload and stress among teachers at the school level following the crisis and implementation of the curriculum, lower job satisfaction and less opportunity to serve students with special educational needs. The analysis suggests a need to invest more in the upper secondary school level as well as to focus on the professional development and well-being of teachers to ensure further improvement to prevent burnout and occupational drop-out.

Background Internationally, teachers are increasingly reporting elevated levels of stress, anxiety, exhaustion and burnout. Although social support has been found to be a protective buffer against stress, depression and burnout, there have been limited strength-based studies examining the relationship between social support and teacher wellbeing. There is also a need for qualitative research to facilitate in-depth understanding of teachers’ application of positive psychology strategies to improve wellbeing. Purpose Using the positive psychology PERMA wellbeing framework, this strengths-based, qualitative study aimed to address this gap in knowledge by asking: what are teachers’ experiences of consciously providing social support to their colleagues, and what are the reported effects on their wellbeing and teaching practice? Method The study employed a phenomenological approach. In-depth interviews were held at three time points with a small sample of five Australian teachers, none of whom had previous experience with applying positive psychology strategies to support their wellbeing. The study required participants consciously to use the positive psychology strategy of providing social support to their colleagues for 15 working days. In addition, the teachers completed daily written reflections. Data from the interviews and written reflections were analysed thematically. Findings The core themes emerging from the data were ‘eudaimonia and altruism’, ‘friendship’ and ‘pedagogical practice and professional development’. Teachers reported providing social support at work by engaging in eudaimonic and altruistic behaviours, supporting their own wellbeing, collegial relationships, pedagogical practices, professional development and whole school operational practices. Conclusion This study highlights the importance of understanding how teachers provide social support, and the flow-on effects of socially supportive behaviours in schools. Findings from this study may inform future research and changes to pedagogical practices and professional development that are supportive of teacher social support and teacher wellbeing.

The present study explores the impact of teacher-student relationships: A promotion of the English language teaching-learning process in inclusive classroom settings in the 21st century. As all parents are aware, children's relationships with their educators can significantly impact students' inspiration, educational success, and mental and sociological well-being. Students spend a considerable amount of time at school, where almost all of their interpersonal communication activities and interactions occur. The purpose of this study was to provide more real-world examples and assumptions about the formation of teacher-student relationships. Realizing unique elements associated with teacher-student interactions in an educational setting could provide a learning community with helpful insights regarding English language teaching-learning procedures in inclusive classroom settings. Even though early research on children's social transitions to school focused on peer relationships, studies have mainly highlighted the importance of student-teacher relationships in promoting the English language teaching-learning process in inclusive classroom settings in the twenty-first century. Preserving a good relationship with students was regarded as a long and tedious effort for the teacher, which was also related to the teacher's well-being in English language teaching-learning. Positive teacher-student relationships can improve teachers' conceptual well-being. As per one source, the greater a teacher's teaching expert knowledge, the easier it is to find their relationship with students. This study aimed to see if teaching experience reduced the impact of the teacher-student relationship on the teacher's subjective well-being in inclusive classroom settings in the twenty-first century. Begin by trying to investigate and comprehend teacher perceptions of teacher-student relationships and how various kinds of students' academic performance and behaviour influence the English language teaching-learning procedure in inclusive classroom settings. A teacher-student relationship is a formal and structured interpersonal relationship between an authoritarian leadership style and a reliant one with whom they have constant interaction. There was a significant relationship between learning comfort and teacher-student interaction and assessing the potential application of environmental impacts and learning commitment. As per the study, there is a link between the teacher-student relationship, the teacher's well-being, and the teacher's experience. Reinforcing the close teacher-student relationship impacts teacher well-being in the promotion of the English language teaching-learning process in inclusive classroom settings in the twenty-first century.

School physical education is an important part of education, and the development of physical education is inseparable from the work of physical education teachers. Physical education teachers play a pivotal role in the physical condition and health of students, and the professional well-being of physical education teachers affects personal work conditions, the growth of healthy students and the development of school sports. This paper studies the factors affecting the professional well-being of physical education teachers in colleges based on multiple regression, analyzes the related concepts of well-being and teachers' professional well-being, and studies the importance of college physical education teachers' professional well-being. Physical education teachers as the survey object, compiled a questionnaire on the occupational well-being of physical education teachers in colleges, and analyzed the factors that affect physical education teachers' occupational well-being through multiple regression. The research results show that, in terms of interpersonal relationships, the overall situation is good. Physical education teachers get along best with students, but their relationship with leaders and colleagues at work is not optimistic; improve their professional well-being, which is conducive to the development of physical education teachers.

BackgroundWhile previously a university education career seemed like a predictable, relatively stress-free, flexible, socially recognized profession, this today is no longer the case. Where it once was a job which protected its teachers from all sorts of workplace sources of stress like uncertainty, low work control, it now no longer offers such shielding.MethodsIn our study, based on the Jobs-Demands and Resources Theory, we examined the backgrounds and predictor roles of institutional stress sources and resources, and physical activity as an individual asset, in the wellbeing of teachers. For our analyses, we used the CEETHE 2023 research database. Within its framework and with the help of an online survey, we mapped the teacher work characteristics of Hungarian, Slovakian, Ukrainian, Romanian, and Serbian higher education institution teachers (N = 821).ResultAccording to our results, emotional exhaustion is the most critical negative predictor, while work engagement is the most important positive predictor of teachers wellbeing. In an indirect way, physical activity contributes to wellbeing by decreasing certain sources of stress.ConclusionsIf the university seek to improve its employees’ wellbeing, it would be equally important to emphasize institutional management support. This support would provide clear-cut expectations and tasks, transparent institutional strategies, goals, and plans.

The aim of the study was to check the psychometric properties of the original Teachers' Well-Being Scale (SSN). The tool was constructed based on the concept of the Scandinavian sociologist Erik Allardt, who perceives well-being in the context of a broader sense of well-being. Well-being indicators are divided into four dimensions: 1) school conditions, 2) interpersonal relationships, 3) means of self-fulfillment, 4) health status. The research was conducted from October to December 2022 on a group of 382 teachers from the Lublin Voivodeship. The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), the Mini-COPE Inventory and the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) were used to assess the construct validity of the tool. Factor analysis using the principal components method and reliability analysis were performed. Four subscales of the tool were identified: school relationships, health/vigor, school conditions and self-actualization. The Teacher's Well-Being Scale, consisting of a total of 16 items, has satisfactory psychometric properties (internal structure, reliability, validity), which is justified by its measurement capabilities. Unlike similar tools, it takes into account not only the psychological well-being related to the teacher's work, but also the self-assessment of physical and social health, living conditions and the possibility of self-fulfillment. The Teacher's Well-Being Scale can be used in pedeutological research, as well as research related to health promotion at school, and can also be used for teachers' self-reflection. Combined with other tools measuring similar constructs, it could be used for comprehensive research on teachers' well-being and its determinants. This type of research seems very necessary in the context of current social discussions on the education system, the status of the teaching profession, its health problems and the increasing phenomenon of leaving the profession in Poland.

Preschool teachers across the country have been charged to prepare children socially and emotionally for kindergarten. Teachers working in preschool centers are supporting children's social and emotional learning (SEL) within a rich ecology of emotion and social relationships and the present study considers how the supports implemented for children's SEL at the center-level are associated with teachers' psychological health and workplace experiences. Hierarchical linear models were constructed using data from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2009 cohort. Results indicate that although teachers work in individual classrooms, they share common perceptions at the center-level of their workplace climate, access to support, and, although to a lesser extent, experience commonalities in psychological health and job satisfaction. Furthermore, in centers that had implemented more supports for children's SEL (including access to mental health consultants, classroom curriculum, and training and resources for teachers) teachers were less depressed, more satisfied with their jobs, felt more supported in managing challenging behavior, and viewed the workplace climate of their center as more positive. Findings are discussed in light of the national efforts to increase and retain a high-quality early childhood workforce.

The psychological wellbeing of teachers is described as the judgment and satisfaction of an individual with his/her happiness, physical and mental health and profession. In general, the psychological wellbeing of teachers goes beyond the simple absence of setbacks and stressors at work and concerns healthy and functional teachers. In simple terms, psychological wellbeing refers to the capability of teachers to strike a positive and dynamic balance between their resources and professional challenges. In respect of the present study, the Investigator adopted survey method of research to study the psychological wellbeing higher secondary teachers. The higher secondary teachers working in high and higher secondary schools in Karur District of Tamil Nadu State, India were the population of the present study. The sample for the present study consisted of 320 higher secondary teachers (both men and women) selected by means of stratified random sampling technique. The stratification was made on the basis of gender, subject and teaching experience of teacher and nature, locality and type of school. Psychological Wellbeing Scale standardized by Madhuchandra (2016) was the tool used to measure the psychological wellbeing of higher secondary teachers. For analyzing the data, the Investigators used Mean and‘t’-test. The findings of the present study revealed that there was significant influence of gender of teacher, locality and type of school on the psychological wellbeing of higher secondary teachers. On the contrary, teaching experience of higher secondary teachers did not seem to have any significant influence on the psychological wellbeing of them. Further, the findings confirmed that nature of school did not have exerted any significant influence on the psychological wellbeing of higher secondary teachers.

Teachers are the most important in-school factor influencing student academic achievement and satisfaction (Hattie & Yates, 2014) and during times of crises, like the global COVID-19 pandemic, the work of teachers is more critical than ever. Teachers’ wellbeing has gradually emerged as a growing concern. As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on schooling was being realised, Viac and Fraser’s (2020) OECD Education Working Paper, A teachers’ well-being: A framework for data collection and analysis, alerted that this concern for teachers’ wellbeing requires urgent attention to better understand its effects on teaching and learning. This chapter discusses the thoughts, feelings and impact on the wellbeing of teachers as they plan for and implement effective teaching and learning in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion takes an ecological perspective to show that teachers’ work and their wellbeing exists across many levels, and highlights the importance of teachers’ roles in supporting future student learning during times of disruption.

In Australia, there is a growing concern about the well-being of teachers with many expressing their intention to leave the profession or indeed have already left. Various reasons have been suggested for this trend, with burnout being identified as one of the factors. This study investigates burnout in Australian teachers as one of the constructs which make up compassion fatigue (CF), a reduced ability to empathise with others. Moreover, it explores secondary traumatic stress (STS), which also contributes to CF and occurs when a person learns about the traumatic experiences of someone under their care. Both constructs may severely impact the ability of teachers to form close relationships with their students. As part of the present study, 1939 Australian teachers were surveyed about their quality of life, well-being, classroom efficacy, and trauma awareness. Findings demonstrate that teachers with higher levels of well-being and with higher perceived classroom efficacy are less prone to burnout, reducing the risk of emotional exhaustion and disengagement often associated with this phenomenon. Conversely, connections were found between lower well-being of teachers and educators' awareness of trauma and their susceptibility to STS. Recommendations are made for further research exploring the barriers and enablers of compassion fatigue as well as positive teacher well-being, in order to develop targeted initiatives to better prepare and protect teachers to work with a cohort of students who are increasingly demonstrating symptoms of trauma and poor well-being.

ABSTRACTVocational education and training (VET) in Australia has been subject to a range of major policy reforms aimed at making it more effective and competitive in response to global pressures. Those reforms have raised significant ethical challenges for teachers in the sector. A recent study of ethical dilemmas faced by vocational trainers in Australia investigated the experiences of Australian vocational education teachers working registered training organizations (RTOs) using qualitative research. The author drew primarily on discursive interviews with 18 VET teachers in South-East Queensland, from which she identified four different dilemmas: responding flexibly to heightened student diversity; limiting educational engagement; constraining teacher responsiveness; manipulating learning assessment. The impacts of these dilemmas were identified as disappointment, confusion, anxiety, discomfort, and distress. While this study focuses on the ethical impact on VET teaching, the dilemmas themselves could be seen as a basis for positive change and a stimulus to improve teaching practices.