Job demands and job resources as predictors of teacher motivation and well-being

"SHIELDing" Our Educators: Comprehensive Coping Strategies for Teacher Occupational Well-Being

BACKGROUND

Teaching is a physically and mentally challenging profession that demands high emotional involvement, often leading to stress and anxiety. Understanding how teachers cope with these demands is essential for enhancing their well-being and effectiveness.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to (1) investigate personal and school-based well-being initiatives that teachers use for maintaining their occupational well-being, and (2) develop a coping strategy model that enhances teachers' occupational well-being.

METHODS

This study utilised a qualitative phenomenological approach to explore the coping strategies of Australian primary school teachers.

RESULTS

The twenty-one participants interviewed employed ten diverse coping strategies classified into five personal and five school-based well-being-enabling initiatives. The personal strategies included setting boundaries, exercise and physical health, social support and interactions, mental health and mindfulness, and work-life balance. The school-based initiatives comprised supportive leadership, colleague support, flexibility and autonomy, resource availability, and proactive approaches to address challenges. A novel SHIELD model incorporating Support, Health, Interaction, Empathy, Leadership, and Development strategies was formulated as a holistic coping strategy for enhancing teachers' occupational well-being.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings highlight the necessity of a holistic approach to teacher well-being, integrating both personal and institutional support systems. Schools can enhance teacher well-being by fostering a supportive and empathetic culture, providing necessary resources, and encouraging healthy lifestyles. The SHIELD model offers a comprehensive framework for supporting teachers and improving educational outcomes.

Systematic review of teacher well-being research during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction

The COVID-19 period posed great challenges to global education systems, especially teachers even after lock-down. Teachers' wellbeing has been a concern because they have to balance health with work. Since the role of teachers is pivotal in education, there is increased in research on their wellbeing status.

Method

The current systematic review aims to analyze the distribution of research on teacher wellbeing from 2020 to mid-February 2024 using a quantitative method. It focuses on yearly distribution of studies, the research methods adopted by scholars, and the group of teachers investigated over the period. The PRISMA guidelines were followed, and 103 empirical studies were selected for the analysis.

Results

The review shows notable increase in research, particularly in 2022 and 2023, representing 37.9% and 35.9% of studies, respectively. This suggests a growing interest in teacher wellbeing among educational researchers. The findings also indicate that researchers mostly adopted quantitative methods in form of surveys (79.6%) for studies on teacher wellbeing. However, there has been an increase in qualitative and mixed-methods research recently, with qualitative research accounting for 9.7% and mixed-method research accounting for 10.7%. The review also identified a greater focus on teachers in general than on specific group of teachers.

Mechanisms Explaining the Longitudinal Effect of Psychosocial Safety Climate on Work Engagement and Emotional Exhaustion among Education and Healthcare Professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the education and healthcare sectors were severely affected. There is a need to investigate the ways in which these workers in at-risk sectors can be protected and through what mechanisms. The aims of this research are, therefore, (1) to assess the mediating role of job demands and resources in the relationship between psychosocial safety climate (PSC) and work engagement and emotional exhaustion, and (2) to test for sector-specific differences among education and healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the study, which employed a longitudinal design including three measurement times, 70 education professionals and 69 healthcare professionals completed a questionnaire measuring PSC, psychological demands, social support, recognition, work engagement, and emotional exhaustion. The results show that PSC was significantly higher among education professionals than among healthcare professionals. When considering both job sectors together, mediation analyses show that social support mediates the PSC-work engagement relationship, while psychological demands mediate the PSC-emotional exhaustion relationship. Moderated mediation analyses show that job sector is a moderator: among education professionals, colleague support and recognition mediate the PSC-work engagement relationship, and psychological demands mediate the PSC-emotional exhaustion relationship. PSC is associated with more balanced job demands and resources, higher work engagement, and lower emotional exhaustion among education and healthcare professionals. The study of these two sectors, which are both vital to society but also more exposed to adverse work conditions, shows the importance that managers and executives must attach to their mental health by improving their respective working conditions.

Emotional wellbeing in teachers

Wellbeing is determined by happiness and both positive and negative affects. These constructs are, in turn, related to emotional intelligence and play an important role in individual behaviour. This study examined the relationship between happiness, emotional intelligence, and positive and negative affects in a sample of 344 (121 men 35.17 % and 223 women 64.83 %) trainee teachers, with an average age of 22.36 years. Happiness and affects yielded lower values, which may be related to the age of the participants. All variables under study were found to be correlated, which suggests that they are measuring the same construct: subjective wellbeing. Network analysis indicated that the self-regulation of emotions was the axial factor in the relationship. Finally, it was found that only the factor of emotional intelligence that measures the self-regulation of emotion and affects (both positive and negative) can be used to predict happiness. The present investigation reveals that more research is needed that takes more variables into consideration to describe the effect of these variables on personal wellbeing. The study offers empirical support to models that argue for a relationship between happiness, emotional intelligence, and affects, and emphasises the need to work on future teachers during their training to address their psychological wellbeing.

Psychological wellbeing in teachers. Study in teachers of early childhood and primary education

Recently, there has been a growing interest in emotional wellbeing, even from the early stages of education. In order to work wellbeing among the students it is essential to analyze the wellbeing of the teachers who are teaching and working with the children. This study examines psychological wellbeing in early childhood (0-6 years) and primary school teachers (6-12 years). The study comprised 236 early childhood and primary school teachers - 76 men (32.2%) and 160 women (67.8%) - with ages ranging from 25 to 61 years (average 37.69 years - s.d.=2.47). The study examined psychological wellbeing (happiness, eudemonic wellbeing, self-esteem, and life satisfaction) and several sociodemographic variables (gender, age, years in the job, type of contract, and educational stage). Participants answered an ad-hoc sociodemographic questionnaire and subjective happiness, eudemonic wellbeing, self-esteem, and life satisfaction standard questionnaires. Early childhood schoolteachers yielded higher wellbeing-related scores. All the wellbeing-related variables were found to be correlated with one another, except for happiness and self-esteem. Teachers working in different educational stages were found to yield significantly different wellbeing-related scores. For the first time, network analysis revealed differences in the associations of the variables under study among Early Childhood Education and Primary Education teachers. Thus, while happiness and satisfaction with life were found to be correlated in both groups, stronger correlations between self-esteem and eudaimonic wellbeing were found in early childhood education teachers, while in primary education teachers the correlation was with satisfaction with life, which indicates that early childhood teachers present greater spiritual and existential understanding, leading to eudaimonic wellbeing. These differences between educational stages are considered greatly significant. It was concluded that more research is needed, ideally with broader and longitudinal studies, to understand and describe the relationship between personal and even structural variables and wellbeing.

Are student engagement and disaffection important for teacher well-being? A longitudinal examination of between- and within-person effects

Although a lot is known about how teachers influence student motivation, evidence on the importance of student engagement for teacher well-being is lacking. In addition, studies investigating the effects of student behavior on teachers have mostly focused on the between-person perspective while neglecting the within-person processes. Thus, in the present study, we examined longitudinal associations between perceived student behavioral and emotional engagement and disaffection and teacher well-being (i.e., job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion) by acknowledging their fluctuating nature and investigating the associations at both the between- and within-person levels. Specifically, we conducted a full-panel four-wave longitudinal study involving 1141 secondary school teachers and employed a random-intercept cross lagged panel modeling approach to analyze the data. At the between-person level, teachers who perceived their students as being more emotionally and behaviorally engaged, but less emotionally and behaviorally disaffected, tended to have higher levels of job satisfaction and lower levels of emotional exhaustion. At the within-person level, higher than usual levels of student emotional engagement were concurrently associated with higher than usual levels of job satisfaction and lower than usual levels of emotional exhaustion, whereas the associations concerning disaffection showed the opposite pattern. Regarding the longitudinal spill-over effects at the within-person level, behavioral and emotional engagement positively predicted job satisfaction whereas behavioral disaffection negatively predicted job satisfaction and positively predicted emotional exhaustion. Our results highlight the importance of student motivation for shaping teacher occupational well-being and indicate that efforts aimed at increasing student motivation could also be beneficial to teachers.

Psychosocial work factors affecting safety incidents of long-distance bus drivers in Ghana: Mediating role of psychological well-being

Background

Improving psychosocial work environment of long-distance bus drivers is essential for their psychological well-being and on-the-road safety. Despite the importance of the work environment of bus drivers, it has received little research attention in Ghana and other developing nations. Hence, this study examined the influence of psychosocial work factors (job demands and job resources) on safety incidents of long-distance bus drivers and how psychological well-being mediates this association.

Methods

This cross-sectional survey sampled 7315 long-distance bus drivers who commute from the cities of Accra and Tema to other parts of Ghana and other cities in the West Africa sub-region. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test four hypotheses.

Findings

The results suggest that job demands and job resources have direct association with safety incidents of the long-distance bus drivers. The psychological well-being of the bus drivers played a partial mediation role in the association between psychosocial work factors and safety incidents of the drivers.

Conclusion

The job demand-resource model provides a useful model for understanding the impact of the work environment on driving performance among these long-distance bus drivers. Providing the drivers with high job control and supportive work culture can equip and support them to value the critical roles they play in the transport sector. Managers of bus transport companies and individual bus owners should implement effective communication strategies like the bottom-up communication approach, conduct periodic assessments to identify and address drivers' precarious work conditions, create safety on the road, and reduce crashes and associated fatalities.

EFL teachers' engagement: The impact of well-being and emotion regulation

As foreign language education is a challenging and complex activity, investigating the factors that influence English as foreign language (EFL) teachers' engagement may be an interesting area of research. In this field, teachers' engagement is considered an important factor related to people's perception of work. With the emergence of Positive Psychology (PP), and with regard to the role of constructive emotion variables in teachers' engagement, more attention was paid to the practical aspects of life, and it views well-being as a crucial concern for individuals' success. Emotion regulation (ER), as another emotional trait, is noteworthy as it aids in managing the favorable and unfavorable emotions educators commonly encounter in educational settings. Therefore, the constructs of well-being and emotion regulation and their role in the EFL setting have been highlighted. Therefore, the current study sought to assess the effects of well-being and emotion regulation in EFL teachers' engagement. To this end, 410 Chinese EFL teachers were chosen to complete three scales, namely engagement, well-being and ER. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was run to inspect the responses of the teachers. The results specified that both ER and well-being had significant impacts on the engagement of Chinese EFL teachers. Indeed, 65 percent of changes in the EFL educators' engagement can be predicted by their well-being, and about 73 percent can be predicted by their emotional regulation. The consequences for EFL instructors, teacher trainers, and other academic stakeholders are also presented in detail.

Prevalence of stress and its relevance on psychological well-being of the teaching profession: A scoping review

Background

Well-being among teachers contributes toward quality work and better student support. Teachers' well-being persists to be a concern in school settings; there is a lacuna in understanding the concept of well-being among them. This scoping review identifies the stress factors and map their association with the psychological well-being of teachers employed in schools. Additionally, to identify the methodology and the interventions used in reducing teachers' stress and their relevance on their psychological well-being.

Methods

First, Pubmed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were searched for eligible studies with MeSH terms for stress factors, well-being, and teachers from 2010 to 2022. Identified studies were screened thoroughly and excluded or included based on prior established criteria. Data from the included studies were extracted and summarized according to the study protocol.

Results

Among the 60 studies that met our inclusion criteria, the majority were quantitative, with cross-sectional studies. Several studies focused on emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished personal accomplishment aspect among teachers. Almost half of the included studies focused on organizational and social pressures such as administration workload, classroom management issues, lack of supervisor and team support, students' behaviour, and pressure from parents. The most used interventions to overcome stress were coping strategies and mindfulness training intervention tools.

Conclusions

The findings from the current scoping review will reveal the different stressors which impact psychological well-being. Focus on the most used interventions to overcome stress among schoolteachers. This will also provide recommendations to regulators and management to identify the factors causing stress among teachers and their relevance to their psychological well-being, overcome employee turnover and absenteeism issues. Also, different alternatives available to reduce the stress may benefit the stakeholders and policymakers to confirm a suitable intervention that will benefit the teaching profession.

Working time reduction, mental health, and early retirement among part-time teachers at German upper secondary schools - a cross-sectional study

Objective

Many secondary school teachers work part-time in order to cope with the high workload and to remain as healthy as possible until regular retirement. However, due to the acute shortage of teachers, the increase in the teaching obligation for part-time teachers (PTT) has become a topic of discussion in Germany. Whether a reduction in teaching hours is associated with benefits for mental health has not yet become evident. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship between the real working hours of PTT and their mental health as well as individual pension prognosis.

Methods

The cross-sectional study included 5,905 PTT at German upper secondary schools (female proportion: 81%, average age: 44 ± 9 years) who logged their working hours over four weeks. Four part-time groups (PTG) were formed based on the proportion of a full-time position worked: maximum (<100-90% = PTGmax - reference group - 17%), high (<90-75% = PTGhigh - 34%), medium (<75-50% = PTGmed - 40%) and low (<50% = PTGlow - 9%) teaching commitment. These groups were compared in terms of their average weekly working hours, mental health (inability to recover, risk of burnout) and predicted retirement age.

Results

The contractually agreed working time is exceeded to a relevant extent for PTT. The extent of unpaid overtime increases significantly the lower the teaching obligation is and lies on average between -0.4 (PTGmax) and 7.3 (PTGlow) hours/week. A reduction in teaching hours is neither related to the mental health of teachers nor to their decision to retire early (42%) or regularly (58%). However, predicted retirement is mainly explained by mental health status, gender and age (variance explanation: 24%, OR of predictors: maximum 2.1). One third of PTT reported inability to recover, 47% burnout symptoms and 3% a burnout syndrome.

Conclusion

Mental health is also a risk for PTT; reducing teaching hours alone does not improve it. However, good mental health increases the chance of regular retirement. Therefore, instead of a legal obligation, PTT should be encouraged to increase the number of teaching hours voluntarily in order to counteract the general shortage of teachers.

Affective work rumination as a mediator of the reciprocal relationships between job demands and exhaustion

High levels of job demands are considered as the main predictor for teachers' exhaustion, but longitudinal studies of the causal effects are few. Recently it has been suggested that research should further explore possible reciprocal relationships between stressors and strain and investigate if work rumination contributes to explain these relationships. In a sample of teachers (n = 1067) using a three-wave design, we hypothesized positive causal effects of job demands (work pace and role conflict) on affective work rumination, and of affective work rumination on exhaustion. We also hypothesized a positive reversed causal effect of exhaustion on affective work rumination, and of affective work rumination on job demands. Furthermore, affective work rumination was expected to mediate the positive causal and reversed causal effects between job demands and exhaustion. The results partly confirmed the expected causal and reversed causal effects. However, affective work rumination was only found to mediate the reversed causal effect of exhaustion and role conflict. Furthermore, a reciprocal relationship was only found between role conflict and exhaustion. The empirical, theoretical, and practical implications of the study are discussed.

The role of psychosocial risks in burnout, psychosomatic disorders, and job satisfaction: lineal models vs a QCA approach in non-university teachers

This study aims to assess the effect of psychosocial risks and resources on burnout, psychosomatic disorders, and job satisfaction using Hierarchical Regression Modelling (HRM) and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA).

METHOD

The sample consisted of 9020 non-university public education teachers (Mage = 45.33 years, SD = 9.15; 72.5% women).

RESULTS

Demands variables (Workload, Emotional labour, Imbalance, and Interpersonal conflict) were better predictors than resources variables (Job autonomy, Social support, and Resources at work). Resources also significantly improved the model's predictive capacity, except in the case of Indolence. In the QCA results, none of the conditions seems to be necessary. Regarding sufficiency, the combination of the different conditions explains between 44-49% of high levels of Burnout and between 40-47% of low levels of Burnout; between 44-47% of high levels of Psychosomatic disorders and 40-47% of low levels of Psychosomatic disorders; 49% of high Job satisfaction levels and 45-56% of low Job satisfaction levels.

CONCLUSIONS

The results show that QCA models have better explanatory capacity than HRM. Some variables were not significant in HRM, but they were present in combination with other QCA model variables. The findings contribute to understanding how psychosocial risks affect workers' health and job satisfaction.

On the outcomes of teacher wellbeing: a systematic review of research

Introduction

Teacher wellbeing is a growing area of research that has seen a steady increase in publications in recent years. The subsequent need to synthesize and structure this existing research has been articulated and addressed by a handful of systematic research reviews. However, no previous reviews have examined the potential outcomes of teacher wellbeing as a primary theme.

Methods

Following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, this review has identified and evaluated the studies investigating the possible outcomes of teacher wellbeing. A keyword search identified 397 records. After the records were screened, 44 research studies analyzing data from over 76,990 teachers were included in this in-depth analysis; the concepts, methods and findings of these studies were examined.

Results and discussion

The results of this review highlight the significant relationship of teacher wellbeing with several factors and desirable outcomes, including teachers' sleep quality, teacher retention, teacher-student relationships, and student outcomes. However, only a few of the included studies employed methodologies that support causal interpretations of these effects. In light of the present findings, this paper offers three main recommendations to support future progress in this field.

Collective teacher culture and school goal structure: Associations with teacher self-efficacy and engagement

One purpose of this study was to test a model of a collective teacher culture (CTC) proposed by Skaalvik and Skaalvik (Skaalvik and Skaalvik, Social Psychology of Education 24:1389–1406, 2021). In this model, a second-order CTC variable was indicated by four first-order variables: positive and supportive social relations with colleagues, collective teacher efficacy, shared goals and values, and value consonance. A second purpose was to test how a CTC was associated with teachers’ perceptions of the school goal structure (learning and performance goal structures). A third purpose was to explore relations between the two dimensions of the school goal structure, CTC, teacher self-efficacy, and teacher engagement. Participants in the study were 1145 teachers in elementary school, middle school, and high school. The data were analyzed by means of confirmatory factor analyses and SEM analysis. The factor analyses supported the proposed model and revealed that a CTC was positively and strongly associated with a learning goal structure and positively and moderately associated with both teacher self-efficacy and teacher engagement. In contrast, a CTC was negatively associated with a performance goal structure. A learning goal structure was also positively associated with teacher self-efficacy and engagement. In the SEM model, CTC partly mediated the associations between a learning goal structure and teacher self-efficacy and engagement.

The Role of Dyadic Teacher-Student Relationships for Primary School Teachers' Well-Being

Teacher well-being is not only relevant for the effectiveness of individual teaching and student learning but also for general school quality and societal functioning, because teacher well-being is related to lower burnout risks and lower attrition. Previous research identified social relationships in school as a crucial source of teacher well-being. However, studies investigating the role of teacher-student relationships as a determining factor for teacher well-being are still scarce. This study takes a qualitative approach toward investigating the role of dyadic teacher-student relationships in teacher well-being. We analyzed twenty-six semi-structured interviews with Swiss primary school teachers, using a qualitative content analysis. The results showed that dyadic teacher-student relationships played an important to a very important role in the everyday life of teachers and were a source of both positive and negative emotions, cognitions, and physical sensations. The quality of the dyadic teacher-student relationship was reflected in the social-emotional competence of both teachers and students. Conflicts were not necessarily inhibiting teacher well-being. The findings of this study can be used to inform teacher-training institutions, as well as authorities, on how to support teachers in building relationships with their students and, in turn, foster their well-being.

'Teachers are the guinea pigs': teacher perspectives on a sudden reopening of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic

Primary and secondary education systems experienced substantial disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about how public health policy has affected Australian teachers during the pandemic. This study examines teacher perspectives on a sudden change of policy, whereby schools were abruptly opened to students at the beginning of the pandemic. At the same time, strict social distancing rules applied to the remainder of the population. Qualitative data from 372 Western Australian schoolteachers were analysed using thematic analysis. Results highlight substantial impacts on teachers' workloads and adverse effects on wellbeing. Perceptions that they were acting as guinea pigs and subjected to different social distancing rules than other citizens were particular stressors. Findings highlight substantial consequences of public health policies on the roles and wellbeing of teachers.

University students in COVID-19 lockdown: The role of adaptability and fluid reasoning in supporting their academic motivation and engagement

This study drew on Job Demands-Resources theory and data from 500 Australian university students to investigate the role of COVID-related lockdown, perceived adaptability, and fluid reasoning in students' self-efficacy-and the role of these factors in students' engagement and disengagement. Lockdown was associated with higher disengagement; perceived adaptability was associated with higher self-efficacy; and both perceived adaptability and fluid reasoning were significantly and positively associated with engagement. Self-efficacy significantly mediated the relationship between perceived adaptability and engagement and disengagement, while moderation tests revealed that fluid reasoning yielded a significant positive role for the self-efficacy of students in lockdown. These findings shed light on factors during COVID-19 that are implicated in students' academic development and provide direction for psycho-educational interventions.

Shifts in Stressors, Internalizing Symptoms, and Coping Mechanisms of Teachers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

As the frontline of our education system, teachers endure greater job-related stress than other professionals, even under the best of circumstances. While they were already exposed to certain stressors affecting their emotional health, the pandemic outbreak introduced new challenges putting teachers at risk of experiencing higher rates of emotional distress. This longitudinal study aimed to identify changes in teaching stressors and teachers' coping strategies in the period before the pandemic to the immediate outbreaks of COVID-19 in Fall 2020. In addition, we examined the correlation of teachers' coping approaches with stress, anxiety, and depression to understand if coping strategies correlate and predict such emotional distress. To this end, 376 English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in Iran in the first wave and 351 in the second wave completed a battery of validated inventories capturing their emotional distress, teaching stressors, and coping approaches. The mean scores of the stressors and coping strategies across two waves indicated significant shifts toward using functional coping strategies upon experiencing new demands. Furthermore, we found that novice teachers experienced higher rates of stress and anxiety, which were positively associated with dysfunctional coping strategies. The results of the stepwise regression analysis with (dys)functional coping strategies indicated that coping mechanisms significantly account for 25% of variances in stress, anxiety, and depression. The implications of the study regarding promoting teacher mental health through identifying the risk factors associated with dysfunctional coping strategies have been discussed.

The analysis of main stressors among high-stress primary school teachers by job positions: A nationwide survey in Japan

Objectives

A school teacher's job is considered one of the most stressful occupations worldwide. To maintain the mental health of teachers, it is crucial to clarify the factors affecting work-related stress among teachers. The present study thus aimed to examine the main stressors among primary school teachers considering the difference in job positions by using data from a large-scale nationwide survey.

Methods

We analyzed the data from a nationwide survey of public school teachers conducted between June and December 2021. The total number of participants was 138,651. The information of perceived main stressors, working hours per day, job workloads, job control, workplace support, and stress response scores were assessed by job position.

Results

Among all teachers' job positions, the working hours of vice-principals were the longest, but their stress response scores were the second lowest. In contrast, the stress response scores among diet and nutrition teachers and health education teachers were the highest; their supervisors' and co-workers' support scores were the lowest among all teachers. Quantitative and qualitative workloads, job control, workplace support from supervisors and co-workers are significantly associated with teachers' stress responses in all job positions. Perceived main stressors among teachers were different depending on job positions. However, regardless of job positions, relationships with supervisors and co-workers were significantly associated with stress response scores among teachers. Dealing with difficult students and parents as well as workloads of clerical tasks were also associated with teachers' stress responses depending on job positions.

Conclusions

Perceived main stressors among teachers were different depending on job positions. However, relationships with supervisors and co-workers were significantly associated with stress response levels among teachers regardless of job positions. This study highlighted the importance of interpersonal relationships at the workplace in terms of teachers' mental health. The results suggest that providing interpersonal skills training targeting co-workers' relationships and harassment prevention measures would be crucial to maintain teachers' mental health. The results also suggest that increasing school staff and providing sufficient organizational support for teachers will be required to prevent teachers' burnout.

Application of a Model of Workforce Resilience to the Education Workforce: Expanding Opportunities for Support

The current study analyzed 502 responses from members of the education workforce on the Resilience at Work (RAW) scale and other measures of health and job satisfaction as part of an initiative offering training and technical assistance to support student and staff well-being. A latent profile analysis using scores on components of the RAW identified three resilience profiles: lower, moderate, and higher capacities for resilience. Profiles were differentiated across components related to resilience capacity including alignment of work and personal values, level of social support, and ability to manage stress. Differences between profiles were observed across days of poor physical health, days of poor mental health, days of activity restriction, general health rating, and domains of burnout, compassion satisfaction, and secondary traumatic stress. These findings reinforce calls to support the education workforce through changes that allow access to meaningful work, an evaluation of demands including workload, relevant training on emotional wellness, positive experiences, connections with others, and stress management.

How trait gratitude relates to teachers' burnout and work engagement: job demands and resources as mediators

The benefits of gratitude in the workplace, in general, and for teachers, in particular, are still understudied. In the present study, we investigated whether teachers' trait gratitude is linked to their work engagement and burnout. Moreover, we explored whether perceived job demands and job resources mediate the relation between employees' gratitude and these two outcomes. A sample of 312 Romanian teachers participated in the study. Participants filled out questionnaires assessing trait gratitude, perceived job characteristics, as well as burnout and work engagement. Results indicated that teachers' trait gratitude was positively associated with their work engagement and negatively with burnout. The relation between trait gratitude and work engagement was mediated by perceived job resources, whereas the link between trait gratitude and burnout was mediated by both job demands and job resources. Our findings suggest that educational institutions could cultivate teachers' gratitude in order to create a healthier and more motivated workforce.

Significance of the Work Environment and Personal Resources for Employees' Well-Being at Work in the Hospitality Sector

The aim of the study was to investigate whether different elements of the work environment (manifested by job demands, job control, and social support) and personal resources were linked to employees' well-being at work. Based on data gathered from 574 employees in the hospitality industry in Serbia, it was also tested if personal resources, expressed through self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience, could moderate the relationship between work environment and employees' well-being at work. Correlation analyses showed that high job demands had negative effects on employees' well-being, causing negative emotional reactions to their job, while job control and social support developed positive relationships with positive employees' well-being. The moderating effect analysis found that personal resources can fully moderate the relationship between job demands and well-being at work, and job control and well-being at work. On the other side, personal resources were not a significant moderator in the relationship between social support and well-being at work, indicating that even when employees have adequate personal resources, they are not enough to decrease the negative effects of lack of social support on employees' well-being at work. This shows how important the support of supervisors and colleagues is for employees in hospitality.

Influence of job environment on the online teaching anxiety of college teachers in the online teaching context: The mediating role of subjective well-being

Background

Online education has been conducted widely in higher education in recent years. While online teaching brings many opportunities, it also poses numerous challenges and issues. This is especially true for college teachers, for whom teaching is considered to be a profession with a high level of burnout and anxiety. The large-scale application of online teaching methods has put teachers in an even more challenging context, which may lead to teaching anxiety affecting their mental health. In online teaching contexts, the question of what factors affect college teachers' online teaching anxiety is worth exploring to help reduce their online teaching anxiety so as to promote their work performance. In this study, therefore, we conducted a survey of college teachers to develop a model of job environment (job demands and job resources), subjective well-being, and online teaching anxiety, and to explore the influences of job environment and subjective well-being on their online teaching anxiety, as well as the mediating effects of subjective well-being between job environments and online teaching anxiety.

Method

Of the 1,060 college teachers who participated, 524 were male (49.4%) and 536 were female (50.6%). An online questionnaire was sent to the teachers in January, 2022. Online teaching anxiety, subjective well-being, and job environment scales were adapted and developed. Descriptive analysis, reliability and validity analysis, and structural equation modelling were used to analyse the collected data.

Results

The study model showed an adequate fit (χ² = 440.983, RMSEA = 0.070, GFI = 0.942, AGFI = 0.914, NFI = 0.949, and CFI = 0.956), confirming the relationships of job demands and online teaching anxiety (β = 0.310, p < 0.001), job resources and online teaching anxiety (β = - 0.086, p < 0.01), job demands and subjective well-being (β = - 0.411, p < 0.001), job resources and subjective well-being (β = 0.204, p < 0.001), and subjective well-being and online teaching anxiety (β = - 0.435, p < 0.001). Meanwhile, the results also proved the effects of the mediating role of subjective well-being between job demands (95% CI = [- 0.138, - 0.225]), job resources (95% CI = [- 0.119, - 0.064]), and online teaching anxiety. The model accounted for 33.8% (f ² = 0.401) of online teaching anxiety.

Conclusion

The results of this study indicated that it is important to reduce job demands and increase job resources to alleviate college teachers' online teaching anxiety to maintain good mental health; while maintaining a high level of college teachers' subjective well-being is also helpful for promoting their work performance. Furthermore, the indirect effects of job demands and job resources on online teaching anxiety mediated by college teachers' subjective well-being were also significant.

Effects of the A+ intervention on elementary-school teachers' social and emotional competence and occupational health

Teaching is, to date, one of the most prone jobs to experiencing occupational stress and burnout. Owing to burnout's negative personal, social, organizational and economic impacts, researchers, practitioners and education policy leaders are interested in developing practices and interventions aimed at preventing/reducing its prevalence. With teachers' main professional demands to be of a social and emotional nature, interventions designed with a view to promote teachers' social and emotional competence appears to be particularly promising, positively impacting teachers' well-being and personal accomplishment and contributing to a decrease in their psychological distress, namely emotional exhaustion. However, theoretical and empirically grounded interventions with ecological validity and specifically targeting teachers are still scarce. Thus, to bridge the previously identified gaps, the present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and the quality of the intervention's implementation of the A+, an online social and emotional learning intervention for elementary-school teachers. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with a total of 81 participants (96.3% female, MAge = 46.21, SDAge  = 4.82, n = 42 assigned to the experimental group) from three different school contexts. School clusters were similar in size, organizational structure and socioeconomic level, and as regards previous attendance at social and emotional learning interventions; however, they differed with regards to perceived organizational climate. Data on the efficacy of the A+ was collected across four waves using a set of self-report questionnaires that assessed proximal variables (i.e., social and emotional skills) and distal variables (e.g., well-being, burnout symptoms), and analyzed through Robust Linear Mixed-Effects Models. Coefficient omegas suggested adequate reliability of the measures. Additionally, two trained observers completed an observation grid to evaluate the quality of the A+ implementation (e.g., participant responsiveness, fidelity), with excellent inter-rater reliability. Results suggested that, over time, the A+ had positive impacts across proximal (e.g., increased self-regulation, positive relationship, conflict management skills) and distal variables (e.g., increased emotional well-being, decreased occupational stress and emotional exhaustion symptoms) favoring the experimental group. However, results differed across the school contexts. These findings were accompanied by good implementation quality indicators, namely high fidelity in the delivery of the A+ contents and high participants' responsiveness. Despite its limitations, this study contributes to a growing body of research which reinforces the importance of investing in social and emotional learning interventions to prevent teachers' burnout and improve their occupational health. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of implementation quality research as a component of program planning with a view to enhancing programs' efficacy, as well as the need to adapt and consider context variables in research and practice.

Perceived Collective School Efficacy Mediates the Organizational Justice Effect in Teachers' Subjective Well-Being

Trust and team communication are central aspects for the achievement of both individual and common goals, which affect not only work efficiency but also the well-being of its members. In addition, organizational justice could affect these indicators, as well as the perception of collective efficacy within organizations, in this case, schools. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of organizational justice on teachers' subjective well-being, and how this is affected/mediated by collective efficacy. We worked with a sample of 693 teachers across Chile. Multiple mediation analysis was carried out, where the latent variables of the study were estimated (subjective well-being, organizational justice, and two dimensions of collective efficacy). The results indicate that there is full mediation of the collective efficacy dimensions between the predictor-criterion relationship. Our findings allow us to hypothesize that perceptions of collective efficacy are central to explaining well-being as an intrinsic factor.

Teachers' occupational well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of resources and demands

During the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers suddenly faced multiple challenges related to closed schools and remote teaching. This study investigated teachers' occupational well-being (stress, exhaustion, job satisfaction) and its relation to job resources (e.g., support from colleagues), job demands (e.g., technical difficulties), and personal resources (e.g., self-efficacy with digital media). 3250 teachers (82.8% female, M age = 40.16) throughout Germany answered an online survey on resources, demands, and occupational well-being. The resource support from colleagues was particularly positively related to job satisfaction and negatively to stress and exhaustion. The results pattern remained mostly stable after including personal resources in the model.

English as a foreign language teachers’ professional success in the Chinese context: The effects of well-being and emotion regulation

Given the significance of teachers’ professional success in the adequacy of education, exploring the determinants of this variable appears crucial. To address this need, this inquiry inspected the role of well-being and emotion regulation in Chinese EFL teachers’ professional success. For this purpose, 357 Chinese EFL teachers were selected to answer three pre-designed questionnaires. Structural equation modeling (SEM) using Smart-PLS was implemented to analyze teacher participants’ responses. The structural model revealed a strong, favorable connection between well-being, emotion regulation, and professional success. The model also demonstrated that both well-being and emotion regulation were highly influential in Chinese EFL teachers’ professional success. The potential implications for EFL teachers, teacher educators, and educational authorities are further discussed.

What Levers to Promote Teachers’ Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond: Lessons Learned from a 2021 Online Study in Six Countries

To highlight effective levers to promote teachers’ wellbeing worldwide, particularly during difficult times such as the COVID-19 pandemic, we investigated work-related factors associated with teacher wellbeing, across borders and cultures. In six countries/territories, we examined the factors that were most consistently and strongly associated with two indicators of wellbeing at work: (i) job satisfaction; and (ii) work/life balance, and three indicators of general wellbeing: (i) subjective health; (ii) mental health; and (iii) life satisfaction. Between May and July 2021, after 18 months of the pandemic, 8000 teachers answered the first edition of the International Barometer of Education Personnel’s Health and Wellbeing (I-BEST): 3646 teachers from France, 2349 from Québec, 1268 from Belgium, 302 from Morocco, 222 from The Gambia, and 215 from Mexico. For each country/territory and each wellbeing indicator, we used a forward stepwise regression procedure to identify important determinants among a carefully selected set of 31 sociodemographic, private, and professional life factors. Aside from healthcare access, the factors most consistently and strongly associated with teacher wellbeing in France, Québec and Belgium (samples whose size were ≥1000) were related to the psychosocial and the organizational dimensions of work, namely: feeling of safety at school, autonomy at work, and the quality of relationships with superiors and quality of relationships with students. In the smaller samples of teachers from the three remaining countries (Morocco, The Gambia and Mexico), exploratory analyses showed that the feeling of safety and autonomy at work were, there too, consistently associated with wellbeing indicators. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the factors most consistently associated with teachers’ wellbeing across countries were related to security and autonomy at work, supporting the importance to consider these aspects in a continuous, structural way at school. Factors associated with teachers’ wellbeing in very different contexts require further cross-cultural study.

Teacher Trainees’ Well-Being—The Role of Personal Resources

Teacher well-being is intrinsically associated with their personal resources, including health literacy and occupational self-regulation. However, there are few empirical findings on teacher trainees’ health literacy. Furthermore, occupational self-regulation has so far only been associated with indicators of occupational well-being. From a public health perspective, research on teacher trainees’ general well-being will benefit from taking both research aspects into account. In this study, we analysed data from 407 teacher trainees in Germany. Latent profile analysis confirmed the four occupational self-regulatory types (healthy-ambitious, unambitious, excessively ambitious, and resigned), which differed significantly on the health literacy dimensions self-regulation, self-control, self-perception, proactive approach to health, communication and cooperation, and dealing with health information. The health literacy dimensions of self-regulation and self-control were mainly related to occupational self-regulation. Independently of each other, the self-regulatory types and the health literacy dimensions of self-regulation, self-control, and proactive approach to health predicted teacher trainees’ general well-being. If both constructs are considered together, the health literacy dimensions explain more variance in teacher trainees’ general well-being than the self-regulatory types. Research and practical implications are discussed.

Teacher victimization and teachers' subjective well-being: Does school climate matter?

Guided by the job demands-resources model, we examined the multilevel associations between victimization experience with student violence directed against teachers, school climate, and teachers' subjective well-being (i.e., school connectedness and teaching efficacy) among 1711 teachers (7th-12th grade) from 58 middle and high schools in China. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses revealed that teachers who reported more frequent teacher victimization perceived a lower level of teaching efficacy; however, teachers in schools with a higher level of teacher victimization scores at the school level perceived a higher level of teaching efficacy. Although school climate was positively related to teacher well-being at both teacher and school levels, the negative association between teacher victimization and teachers' subjective well-being at the teacher level was exacerbated in schools with a more positive school climate at the school level. The significant cross-level moderating effect of school-level school climate in the association between teacher-level victimization and subjective well-being was consistent with the "healthy context paradox" but contradicted with the "emotion contagion hypothesis." Our findings support the risk influence of teacher victimization and the promotive role of positive school climate on teachers' subjective well-being. Our results also indicate that teachers in schools with a more positive and collective perception of school climate tend to be more attuned to the negative influences of teacher victimization on their subjective well-being than teachers in schools with a less positive and collective perception of school climate.

HOW the tourism & hospitality lecturers coped with the transition to online teaching due to COVID-19: An assessment of stressors, negative sentiments & coping strategies

This study identified stressors and relevant coping strategies used by the hospitality & tourism lectures (N = 369) during Covid-19 around the globe. It also intended to reveal how intensely the coping strategies of Brief-COPE scale contribute to forecasting the significant positive and negative result constructs. Stressors and coping strategies were measured by grouping them into -avoidant and approach coping. Results of correlations found that significant positive emotional results (well-being, resilience, post-traumatic growth, happiness, and health) linked negatively with avoidant coping and positively with approach coping. However, avoidant coping was found to be constantly associated with negative results (stress, frustration, anxiety, etc.).

Perceived Vulnerability to Disease and the Relationship with Teacher Satisfaction in South Africa during COVID-19: The Serial Role of Burnout, Role Conflict, and Ambiguity

Teachers' work roles and responsibilities have changed dramatically because of the COVID-19 pandemic. These unprecedented changes have the potential to generate role stress and burnout and reduce teachers' job satisfaction. This study investigated the serial relationship between perceived vulnerability to disease, role stress, burnout, and teaching satisfaction. It was hypothesised that individuals who perceive themselves to be at high risk of contracting COVID-19 would report high role conflict and ambiguity in the workplace, which would in turn lead to high levels of burnout and low satisfaction with teaching. Participants were schoolteachers (N = 355) who completed the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Questionnaire, the Role Orientation Questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Teaching Satisfaction Scale. Path analysis confirmed that perceived vulnerability to disease was associated with role conflict and ambiguity, which was in turn associated with emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and low teaching satisfaction. Teachers who appraised themselves as being more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 experienced greater role stress, which was associated with high levels of burnout and low teaching satisfaction. This study highlights that threat appraisals related to contracting COVID-19 represent an additional job demand and this needs to be matched by job resources that can facilitate coping.

Profiles of Work Engagement and Work-Related Effort and Reward Among Teachers: Associations to Occupational Well-Being and Leader–Follower Relationship During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study examined teachers’ occupational well-being by identifying profiles based on teachers’ self-ratings of work engagement as well as work-related effort and reward. It also did so by examining whether the identified subgroups differed with respect to teachers’ self-reported occupational stress and emotional exhaustion as well as with respect to work-related resources such as the individual resource of work meaningfulness and the leader-level resource of the leader–follower relationship. The participants in the study were 321 Finnish elementary school teachers. The data were collected in spring 2021, that is, at the time when the COVID-19 pandemic was present, yet there were no national school closures. Three groups of teachers were identified with latent profile analysis: (1) teachers recognized as being poorly engaged with the highest effort and lowest reward (4.7%); (2) teachers recognized as being averagely engaged with higher effort than reward (32.1%); and (3) teachers recognized as being highly engaged with higher reward than effort (63.2%). The subsequent analyses examining the differences among the profile groups revealed, for example, that each profile group differed with respect to the individual resource of work meaningfulness and profile groups 2 and 3 differed with respect to the leader-level resource of the leader–follower relationship. Thus, the findings indicate that there are differences in the ways in which teachers are able to benefit from the work-related resources and how they cope with job-related demands during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Engagement of Academic Staff Amidst COVID-19: The Role of Perceived Organisational Support, Burnout Risk, and Lack of Reciprocity as Psychological Conditions

The COVID-19 crisis has resulted in radical changes within the higher education system, requiring academia to rapidly transition from the traditional learning model to a distance or blended model of learning to ensure continuity of educational processes. These changes have placed additional demands on academic staff who already have a heavy workload. According to the job demands-resources model, these additional demands may have an impact on the burnout risk, engagement, and well-being of academic staff. In alignment with the premises of positive psychology the primary objective of this study was to explore the interplay of three psychological conditions (meaningfulness, safety, and availability) needed to stimulate engagement. To investigate this interplay, the researchers connected Kahn’s theory on engagement with current concepts that focus on the person-role relationship, such as those dealt with in the job demands-resources model, organisational support theory, and perceptions of reciprocity. Mediating effects between burnout risk, engagement, and psychological well-being, as well as the moderating effect of lack of reciprocity, were tested using structural equation modelling. The study used a purposive, non-probability sampling method and a cross-sectional survey research design. Participants were 160 academic staff members employed at a university in South Africa. The findings of this study revealed that the three psychological conditions (meaningfulness, safety, and availability), which were operationalised as lack of reciprocity, perceived organisational support, and burnout risk, were significantly related to emotional engagement. Perceived organisational support (job resources), which met the criteria for psychological safety and some components of meaningfulness, displayed the strongest association with engagement. Policymakers within higher education institutions should be sensitive to the issues this study focused on, especially as regards the need to provide organisational support in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Job Performance of Working Mothers: Mediating Effect of Workplace Deviance

The current study takes its philosophical roots from organizational behavior and psychology domains to investigate the impact of sleep deprivation on the job performance of mothers working in primary, secondary, and higher education institutions (HEIs) of Pakistan. It also examines the mediating role of workplace deviance in the relationship between sleep deprivation and the job performance of working mothers. The authors followed the non-probability convenience sampling technique to study the relationship between sleep deprivation, workplace deviance, and job performance. The structural analyses indicated that sleep deprivation has a significant negative impact on the job performance of working mothers and sleep-deprived individuals often tend to perform poorly at the workplace. Such workers are also more likely to engage in workplace deviant behaviors. Moreover, workplace deviance is also found to act as a mediating variable in the relationship between sleep deprivation and job performance. The present research bridges the literature gap on the rarely investigated factors, namely sleep deprivation and workplace deviance, and provide a detailed understanding of how these factors can influence the performance of working mothers, specifically in Pakistan.

A quantitative study on the impact of working environment on the well-being of teachers in China's private colleges

Teacher well-being is a prominent issue in policy and public debates. Those teachers working in private schools deserve concern given concerns about their working environment. Focus of this study: to learn about the level and main characteristics of teacher well-being in private schools and to explore the impact of working environment on their well-being. Methodology: The data were collected via an online questionnaire among 1161 language teachers at 58 China’s private colleges in 22 provinces, and were quantitatively analyzed with SPSS 23.0. Findings: These teachers have an intermediate level of overall well-being. Performance evaluation, student academic foundation, and pressure of research work are the main negative impacting factors; while social support from leaders and colleagues, work autonomy, training and development opportunities, and appraisal feedback guide are key resources enhancing their well-being. Discussions: The impacting factors of working environment on teacher well-being in private schools are unique due to the special scenarios. Implications: The results of this study may apply to similar private schools, suggesting pertinent stakeholders to take targeted measures, to guarantee enough economic input into running school, and to put democratic and professional leadership into practice for promoting teacher well-being in the private education sector.

Teachers' working time as a risk factor for their mental health - findings from a cross-sectional study at German upper-level secondary schools

BACKGROUND

The work of teachers has changed due to an increase in the range of tasks. However, there is a lack of current information on working hours, task distribution and the possible health effects.

METHODS

For the first time for Germany as a whole, a cross-sectional survey determined how long teachers at upper-level secondary schools work per week, what influences their working hours and how different recording methods affect the total working hours. To this end, 6,109 full-time teachers estimated their working hours based on twelve categories and then documented these daily over 4 weeks. Afterwards, the effects of long working hours on teachers' ability to recover and emotional exhaustion were analysed.

RESULTS

The article shows the large interindividual variance in the working hours of teachers and a significant influence of sex, age, and subject profile. Self-reported working hours varied substantially by method used to record working time with work time reported via daily diaries totaling 2 h per week more than hours recorded by a single estimation. A substantial proportion of the teachers (36%) work longer per week than European guidelines allow (> 48 h); 15% work even more than 55 h per week. Teachers who work more than 45 h per week suffer more often from inability to recover (46%) and emotional exhaustion (32%) than teachers who work less than 40 h per week (26% and 22% respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Taking professional experience and teaching subjects into account could in future contribute to a fairer distribution of workload among teachers. This could protect individual teachers from long working hours, ensure sufficient recovery and also reduce the risk of emotional exhaustion. In order to identify teachers whose health is at risk at an early stage, voluntary preventive care offers would be considerably helpful.

Gender Differences in the Work and Home Spheres for Teachers, and Longitudinal Associations with Depressive Symptoms in a Swedish Cohort

The high level of stress among teachers is a frequently reported problem globally but less is known about how demands and resources among teachers affect depressive symptoms, and to what extent gender differences in these conditions can explain potential differences in depressive symptoms. The present study investigated gender differences in teachers’ self-reported depressive symptoms, and differences in their demands and resources in both work and home spheres. Associations between demands and resources, respectively, and depressive symptoms as well as gender differences in these associations were examined. Results from univariate and parallel growth modelling (N = 1,022), using data from six time points (2008 to 2018), found higher levels of depressive symptoms, higher emotional and quantitative work demands, and more time doing unpaid work among female teachers, whereas male teachers reported more time on leisure activities. Emotional and quantitative work demands were associated with depressive symptoms at baseline, and these associations also developed in parallel over time. Leisure time had a negative association with depressive symptoms at baseline. There were no gender differences in the strength of these associations. Findings suggest that gender differences in teachers’ depressive symptoms could be attributable to women’s greater demands in the work sphere and fewer resources in the home sphere than men as opposed to their being more vulnerable to workplace stressors.

Self-Efficacy, Job Satisfaction and Teacher Well-Being in the K-12 Educational System

Teacher job satisfaction and well-being have a significant impact on educational outcomes, considering that teaching is the main objective of the educational process. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between teacher job satisfaction and four main categories of determinants: self-efficacy, relational aspects (colleague collaboration, student behavior, school management), work-related aspects (administrative workload, teaching tasks), and working conditions, in order to identify various implications for teachers’ well-being. The study employs a survey delivered to 658 K-12 (pre-university) teachers, from the North-West region of Romania. We used factorial analysis and a structural equation model to test eight proposed hypotheses. The results showed that self-efficacy, promotion, positive student behavior, and working conditions have significant effects on job satisfaction. These factors influence job satisfaction and well-being in the teaching profession because they ensure a positive work environment in which teachers and students thrive, thus leading to higher levels of involvement from teachers, students, and parents alike. An efficient work environment decreases attrition, burnout, emotional exhaustion, and teacher turnover, while increasing job satisfaction, well-being, and teacher retention.

Teachers' perceived time pressure, emotional exhaustion and the role of social support from the school principal

Many teachers experience high levels of work-related strain due to time pressure, which over time can lead to various health problems, such as emotional exhaustion. However, there is growing evidence that this could be a reciprocal effect. Moreover, it is known that perceived social support can buffer the negative effects of stress, such as time pressure, on health outcomes. Less is known about buffering effects of received social support. Based on longitudinal data of n = 1071 Swiss primary and secondary school teachers over the course of one school year, the present study examined the reciprocal relationship between teachers’ perceived time pressure and emotional exhaustion and whether received social support from the school principal buffers this relationship. Results of a random intercept cross-lagged panel model show a strong relationship between teachers’ perceived time pressure and emotional exhaustion at the between-person level, but no effects at the within-person level. Further, received social support was directly related to less perceived time pressure and less emotional exhaustion. The results showed neither evidence for reciprocal effects between perceived time pressure and emotional exhaustion nor for a buffering effect of received social support from the school principal. Concluding, present findings indicate that the receipt of social support from the school principal is a central job resource that beneficially relates to teachers’ experience of time pressure and emotional exhaustion.

Collective teacher culture: exploring an elusive construct and its relations with teacher autonomy, belonging, and job satisfaction

One purpose of this study was to analyze relations between four possible indicators of a collective teacher culture by means of confirmatory factor analyses. The indicators were termed “shared goals values”, “value consonance”, “collective teacher efficacy”, and “supportive colleagues”. A second purpose was to explore relations between collective teacher culture and teachers’ experiences of autonomy, belonging, and job satisfaction. Participants were 760 Norwegian teachers in elementary school and middle school. The data were analyzed by means of confirmatory factor analyses and SEM analyses. The correlations between the four indicators of a collective culture ranged from .44 to .63 and both a model with first order factors and a model with a second order collective culture variable had good fit to the data. The analysis showed that a second order collective teacher culture variable was strongly and positively associated with the teachers’ experiences of autonomy, belonging, and job satisfaction.

Teachers' mental health during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland

BACKGROUND

Teaching work is stressful, moreover during the pandemic teachers' stress might have been intensified by distance education as well as by limited access to social support, which functions as a buffer in experiencing stress. The aim of the research was to investigate the relation between distance education and teachers' well-being, and their close relations and other social relations during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

The research was conducted in two stages on 285 Polish primary and secondary school teachers who were recruited by means of the chain referral method. The following measures were used: The Depression Anxiety & Stress Scales-21, Berlin Social Support Scales, The Relationship Satisfaction Scale and The Injustice Experience Questionnaire.

RESULTS

The teachers experienced at least mild levels of stress, anxiety and depression, both during the first as well as the second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. It has been confirmed that there is a negative relation between relationship quality change and social relations quality change, and stress, anxiety and depression. The variables taken into consideration in the research have provided the explanation for the variation of stress-from 6% in the first stage of the research to 47% in the second stage; for the variation of anxiety-from 21% to 31%; and for the variation of depression-from 12% to 46%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The research results show that due to distance work the distinction between professional work and family life might have been blurred, and as a consequence teachers' well-being could have been worsened. The isolation put on to stop the spreading of the virus might have contributed to changes in social relations, in close relations in particular, and at the same time negatively influenced teachers' abilities to effectively cope with the crisis situations.

The Role of Self-Compassion in the Job Demands-Resources Model, an Explorative Study among Crisis Line Volunteers

The job demands-resources (JD-R) model has hardly been studied in volunteer organizations and there is a scarcity of studies evaluating self-compassion as a personal resource within the JD-R model. The present study addresses these gaps in current knowledge, first by examining the applicability of the JD-R model in a crisis line volunteer organization. Second, self-compassion is examined, both in terms of its moderating role on the exhaustion process as well as its role on the motivation process. Structural equation modelling was used for the analyses. The influence on the organizational outcome 'compassion towards others' was examined using a multiple regression analysis. The results showed that the JD-R model has an acceptable fit on this sample and supports the central assumption that exhaustion and motivation are two independent but related processes. This study provides evidence that self-compassion is a valuable addition to the JD-R model, as it has an indirect effect on both processes, and increases the explained variance in compassion towards others by 7% through the exhaustion process and by 3% through the motivational process. These findings point to the importance of focusing on self-compassion in training and supervision in volunteer organizations.

Adaptability and High School Students' Online Learning During COVID-19: A Job Demands-Resources Perspective

The present study investigated the role of adaptability in helping high school students navigate their online learning during a period of COVID-19 that entailed fully or partially remote online learning. Drawing on Job Demands-Resources theory and data from a sample of 1,548 Australian high school students in nine schools, we examined the role of adaptability in predicting students’ online learning self-efficacy in mathematics and their end of year mathematics achievement. It was found that beyond the effects of online learning demands, online and parental learning support, and background attributes, adaptability was significantly associated with higher levels of online learning self-efficacy and with gains in later achievement; online learning self-efficacy was also significantly associated with gains in achievement—and significantly mediated the relationship between adaptability and achievement. These findings confirm the role of adaptability as an important personal resource that can help students in their online learning, including through periods of remote instruction, such as during COVID-19.