Novice teachers’ mental well-being at work : the role of self-leadership skills and work community support
Suutari, Marianne (2021)
Suutari, Marianne
2021
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021082417117
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021082417117
Tiivistelmä
Teaching is a demanding profession that involves a high cognitive and mental load. The occupational well-being of early career educators has recently caused concern. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate factors that promote novice teachers’ mental well-being at work. Based on the theoretical framework and prior research, the influence of self-leadership, motivation and work community support was examined. As the study was commissioned by the Sustainable Brain Health Project, a multidisciplinary project coordinated by Tampere University of Applied Sciences, also causes of brain load were explored.
Nine novice teachers working in basic education in Tampere, Finland participated in the study. In addition, nine principals were included in the research to examine their views on sense of community at work and novice teachers’ self-leadership skills. A mixed methods research approach was adopted in this study. The novices’ perceptions were collected by conducting a survey, and with a motivation self-report, the Reiss Motivation Profile. A survey and a focus group interview were used to gather information from the principals. Closed-ended questions were analysed quantitatively while qualitative analysis methods, such as thematic analysis, were utilized with open-ended questions and the Reiss Motivation Profile.
The results indicate that collaboration with colleagues, support from the work community, utilization of self-leadership strategies and having time to recover from psychological workload factors, such as information overload, increased the young educators’ well-being at work. In addition, the findings suggest that the participating teachers were intrinsically motivated by the teaching profession. Although the novices’ work engagement was high, they experienced stress and were found not to fully recover from their workload.
Thus, more support should be provided for early career educators, for instance, through structured mentoring programmes as well as organizational, cognitive and affective ergonomics practices. Special attention should be paid to and resources allocated for the enhancement of education professionals’ brain and mental health. Further research is, nevertheless, required to examine the effect of self-leadership skills on novice teachers’ workplace well-being.
Nine novice teachers working in basic education in Tampere, Finland participated in the study. In addition, nine principals were included in the research to examine their views on sense of community at work and novice teachers’ self-leadership skills. A mixed methods research approach was adopted in this study. The novices’ perceptions were collected by conducting a survey, and with a motivation self-report, the Reiss Motivation Profile. A survey and a focus group interview were used to gather information from the principals. Closed-ended questions were analysed quantitatively while qualitative analysis methods, such as thematic analysis, were utilized with open-ended questions and the Reiss Motivation Profile.
The results indicate that collaboration with colleagues, support from the work community, utilization of self-leadership strategies and having time to recover from psychological workload factors, such as information overload, increased the young educators’ well-being at work. In addition, the findings suggest that the participating teachers were intrinsically motivated by the teaching profession. Although the novices’ work engagement was high, they experienced stress and were found not to fully recover from their workload.
Thus, more support should be provided for early career educators, for instance, through structured mentoring programmes as well as organizational, cognitive and affective ergonomics practices. Special attention should be paid to and resources allocated for the enhancement of education professionals’ brain and mental health. Further research is, nevertheless, required to examine the effect of self-leadership skills on novice teachers’ workplace well-being.