Observing teacher well-being in the classroom: a feasibility study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite scholarly calls for multi-source assessments, the well-being of teachers has thus far generally been measured through self-reports. This paper explores whether it is possible to observe the well-being of teaching professionals via a structured observation tool for teacher classroom behaviour. The tool proposes a four-factor structure for assessing the verbal and non-verbal classroom behaviour of teachers. It focusses on the observation of the positive emotions, engagement, relationships, and achievement of teachers. To evaluate the feasibility of such an approach, observational data and teacher self-reports were gathered during 90 lessons in 19 German primary schools. Analyses revealed satisfactory results for internal consistency, interrater reliability, and convergent validity. Statistically significant small- to medium-sized relationships between observation scores and the data from the self-report scales were indicated by correlation analyses. Notably, correlations were strongest where observations and self-reports assessed identical well-being dimensions. Given these results, observations could be considered a promising method for assessing teacher well-being. They may prove particularly valuable within multi-method approaches for mitigating the limitations of other relevant measures such as self-reports. Additionally, observations of teacher well-being could be adapted for use as interventions or for periodic assessments by school leaders. These and other implications are discussed, as are limitations and avenues for future research.