Abstract
This paper describes the basic results of a survey into the occupational well-being of school staff related to various aspects of the ‘worker and work’ and working conditions, and to outline development requirements of school communities across Finland and Estonia. The baseline survey data were collected between 2009 and 2010 using the web-based Well-being at your work index questionnaire and analysed statistically. Using participatory action research, the project runs from 2009 until 2013 within the SHE (Schools for Health in Europe) network in Finland and Estonia. According to the results, approximately 40 % of Finnish and 20 % of Estonian participants were unhappy with the mental workload of their work. 67 % of Finnish and 50 % of Estonian participants felt unable to complete work at their workplace within working hours. In addition results showed the need for enhancement of working conditions in Finnish schools, e.g. providing air conditioning, and that Estonian school staff view their occupational well-being more positively than the Finns. The results apply to Finnish and Estonian school communities but could also be applied on a broader scale when developing international intervention research and development projects. This paper contains research-based information on the occupational well-being of school staff for use by school management and staff, and healthcare professionals.
Highlights
The health and well-being of teachers and other school staff members can be harmed by excessive workloads caused by, for example, inordinate demands made on a person’s time and work resources [1,2,3,4]
The workload of school staff can be considered to be at a satisfactory level based on both the opinion of the respondents and their views on developmental needs
The results of this research show that staff members have mentally stressful jobs in both Finnish and Estonian schools and that there is a lot of improvement required to their working conditions
Summary
The health and well-being of teachers and other school staff members can be harmed by excessive workloads caused by, for example, inordinate demands made on a person’s time and work resources [1,2,3,4]. My workplace pre-school comprehensive school upper secondary school other Total Profession subject teacher/special teacher primary school teacher principal/school director school nurse other support staff for the school (psychologist, social worker, remedial teacher, school helper) other occupational group (cook, cleaner or other) Total Sex male female Total Age ≤ 35 36–50 ≥ 51 Total My contract type permanent temporary Total Finland n (0.4) Estonia n their opinions of each statement (12 statements related to working conditions and 12 statements related to the ‘worker and work’) separately (from 1 = totally disagree to 5 = totally agree) and to evaluate the need for development of the issues presented in the statements (from 1 = needed very much to 5 = not needed at all). In the ‘working conditions’ aspect, four sum variables were formed from the 12 variables based on both the opinion and the need for development sets of answers These variables included working space, postures and equipment, physical factors, no chemical and biological factors and permanent working site (Table 5).
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