Workforce
Peer support
Job characteristics linked with greater teacher wellbeing and lower attrition .
By Rebecca Collie
Low teacher wellbeing and high teacher attrition are issues faced by many teachers , schools and educational systems . Pinpointing job supports that are associated with greater wellbeing and lower attrition among teachers is , therefore , important .
This is particularly true during COVID-19 , when teachers are facing many additional challenges at work . My recent study , published in Educational
Psychology , set out to examine the role of several job supports and challenges in relation to teachers ’ workplace experiences during the first wave of COVID-19 in 2020 .
The study examined two important outcomes . One related to teacher wellbeing and the other to teacher attrition :
• Work vitality was the wellbeing-related outcome and refers to teachers having energy for and feeling excitement about their work .
• Intentions to quit was the attritionrelated outcome and refers to teachers ’ plans to leave their current job .
JOB SUPPORTS AND CHALLENGES In relation to those two outcomes , the study examined the role of two job supports and two job challenges .
The two job supports focused on teachers ’ relationships at work .
• Relatedness with colleagues refers to feeling connected to one ’ s work colleagues .
• Relatedness with students involves feeling connected to one ’ s students .
The two job challenges are common challenges faced by teachers .
• Time pressure refers to the sense of having inadequate time to complete all the necessary tasks in one ’ s workload .
• Disruptive student behaviour refers to students ’ actions that disturb or distract from learning . The study used data collected from
325 teachers working in schools across Australia . Data were collected during the first wave of COVID-19 in May 2020 .
It was anticipated that teachers ’ experiences of the two job supports would be associated with greater work vitality and lower intentions to quit , whereas the job challenges would be associated with lower work vitality and greater intentions to quit .
WHAT DID THE STUDY FIND ? Results showed , as expected , that relatedness with colleagues was associated with greater work vitality , and that relatedness with students was linked with lower intentions to quit . These findings support prior research highlighting just how important relationships are for teachers .
In contrast , time pressure was associated with lower work vitality and greater intentions to quit . This finding is not surprising given growing recognition that teachers ’ workloads have risen to unsustainable levels . It adds further weight to recent calls to reassess teachers ’ workload .
Disruptive student behaviour was linked with greater intentions to quit , which highlights the importance of ensuring teachers are well-supported for managing students ’ behaviour in the classroom .
WHAT WAS THE ROLE OF COVID-19 ? Alongside the main results , the study also asked teachers about their working situation during the first wave of COVID-19 . Some teachers were working in-person as usual , some were working fully remotely , and others were working in a hybrid approach ( i . e ., teaching some students remotely and some in-person ).
Results showed that teachers who were hybrid teaching reported more time pressure than teachers working fully inperson . This was not the case for teachers working fully remotely , who did not report greater time pressure than teachers working fully in-person .
These results make sense considering hybrid teachers were teaching students in-person and remotely , often at the same time . However , the results do raise questions for managing educational disruptions in future . Given time pressure was linked with lower work vitality and greater intentions to quit , schools may want to decrease where feasible the amount of time they use the hybrid approach in future .
IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOOL LEADERS Autonomy-supportive leadership practices are helpful to foster positive interpersonal relationships in schools . For this , school leaders can endeavour to :
• listen to students ’ and teachers ’ points-of-view ,
• provide rationales to students and teachers for the school-level decisions that are made , and
• offer regular opportunities for students and teachers to provide their input . Schools and education systems may also want to reassess workloads , such as reconsidering the amount of time teachers spend on non-teaching aspects of work ( e . g ., admin ) that have increased in recent years .
Professional learning can help teachers to effectively manage disruptive behaviour . Research ( Pianta , R . C ., Hamre , B . K ., & Allen , J . P . ( 2012 )) suggests this might involve asking teachers to set specific goals for enhancing their interactions with students , reflecting on their interactions with those students , and refining their strategies and approaches with those students as needed . ■
Rebecca Collie is Scientia Associate Professor of Educational Psychology in the School of Education ( Educational Psychology Research Group ) at UNSW .
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