Teachers' Professional Well-Being: State and Factors

Abstract

The study is aimed, firstly, at the formation of a holistic, relevant, reliable picture of modern Russian teachers in the context of such characteristics as their professional well-being, and secondly, at the identification of factors and conditions of the educational space that contribute to or negatively affect the growth of professional well-being of a secondary school teacher. The article considers the problem of teachers' professional well-being, which is one of the determining factors in a teacher's professional growth, success, motivation, and professional activities. The problem of the low level of social prestige of the profession in society remains relevant, considering the constant increase in the importance of tasks, complexity of functions, and growth of expectations and requirements from the society, state and public. The authors analyze the phenomenon of professional well-being in Western and Russian psychology and sociology, defining by its essential determinants the state of professional activity processes and an individual's attitude toward the results in the multicomponent structure of social and psychological well-being. The article is empirical. In order to measure the professional well-being of teachers, the methods of factorization, psychometric measurements, mathematical and statistical data processing were applied. The measurement was based on a system of descriptors: professional growth, professional self-acceptance, positive relationships with colleagues and autonomy in professional activities. The study involved 192 teachers. The level of professional well-being of school teachers has been determined based on the descriptors; some factors and conditions that positively affect their professional well-being have been identified.