Browsing by Subject "työuupumus"

Tavoitteet. Opettajien työstressi ja -uupumus on kiinnostanut tutkijoita jo vuosikymmenen. Opettajan ammatti on useassa tutkimuksessa todettu yhdeksi kuormittavimmista. Opetusalan ammattijärjestön tuoreimmassa työolobarometrissä raportoidaan useista suomalaisia opettajia uuvuttavista stressitekijöistä. Toisaalta Talis 2018-selvityksen mukaan suomalaiset opettajat ovat innostuneita ja sitoutuneita työhönsä, jossa tuntevat olevansa kyvykkäitä. Tutkielmani tavoite on perehtyä kirjallisuuskatsauksen avulla opettajien työuupumuksen tutkimukseen sekä työuupumuksen taustalla vaikuttaviin tekijöihin. Erityisesti pyrin löytämään vastauksia siihen, minkälaisilla metodeilla, välineillä ja mittareilla opettajien työuupumusta tai toisaalta ammatillista hyvinvointia on tutkittu. Lisäksi etsin opettajan ja oppilaan välisiin suhteisiin liittyviä tekijöitä, jotka vaikuttavat opettajan työuupumuksen kehittymisen taustalla. Tarkastelen näitä tekijöitä Maslachin määritelmän avulla, jossa työuupumus kehittyy pitkän kroonisen stressin seurauksena uupumisen, kyynistymisen ja riittämättömyyden tunteen kautta. Lisäksi tarkastelen opettajan ja oppilaan välistä suhdetta työn vaatimusten ja resurssien mallin avulla. Menetelmät. Tutkimus toteutettiin kuvailevana kirjallisuuskatsauksena. Aineisto koostui 21 vertaisarvioidusta artikkelista, joissa tutkittiin suomalaisten varhaiskasvattajien ala- ja yläkoulun opettajien, lukion opettajien sekä ammatillisen koulutuksen opettajien työhön liittyvää uupumusta tai hyvinvointia. Tulokset ja johtopäätökset. Työuupumuksen tutkiminen on haastavaa ilmiön monimutkaisuuden takia. Kehityskulut työuupumuksen taustalla ovat monista tekijöistä riippuvaisia. Katsaukseni tutkimuksista puolet tarkasteli aihetta uupumuksen ja stressin näkökulmista, puolet hyvinvoinnin ja sen edistämisen näkökulmista. Selkeä enemmistö tutkimuksista oli kvantitatiivista tutkimusta. Opettajan ja oppilaan välinen vuorovaikutus nousi merkittäväksi tekijäksi opettajan uupumisen tai hyvinvoinnin taustalla yhdeksässä aineistoni artikkelissa.

Goals. The aim of this study was to examine what sort of achievement goal orientation profiles it is possible to identify among young adults in work life and how differently motivated young adults differ regarding wellbeing at work. Achievement goal orientations describe ones general orientations and tendencies towards learning. They are associated with different patterns of goals, meaning, coping, and behavior. This tendency develops through individuals experiences. Work wellbeing is examined with subjective perceived eagerness and burnout. Burnout can be defined with three dimensions, it includes exhaustion, cynicism and inadequacy. It is important to examine the connection between wellbeing and motivation in order to support young adults’ work wellbeing and decrease and prevent possible burnout. Methods. The data (N = 170) was collected from young adults working and living in Helsinki Area. Participants filled in questionnaires that measured work motivation and - wellbeing. In this study, person-oriented approach was utilized. In this approach, it is crucial to identify dif-ferent subgroups and examine group differences. Participants were divided into groups by using Two-Step Cluster analysis. Group differences in engagement and burnout were exam-ined by means of analysis of variance. Results and conclusions. Three different achievement goal orientation groups were identified. The groups were labelled as mastery-, performance-, and avoidance-oriented. Mastery-oriented young adults expressed higher engagement and lower inadequacy and cynicism at work than the other groups. There were no differences in wellbeing between performance- and avoidance-oriented. It seems that striving for learning and mastery is especially beneficial in terms of well-being. The result was in line with previous studies examining the connection between motivation and wellbeing.

The aim of this thesis was to examine what kind of achievement orientation goal profiles can be identified among employees, and how the employees belonging in different profiles differ in work burnout and engagement. The topic was viewed in the context of transition from studies to working life. Achievement goal orientations describe individual and generalized ways of dealing with achievement situations and preferring certain types of goals. Work burnout consists of exhaustion, inefficacy and cynicism, and work engagement consists of vigor, dedication and absorption. Connections between achievement goal orientations and well-being have been found in the study context, so it is meaningful to study this topic in the work context as well. The first hypothesis was that three or four achievement goal profiles can be found among the employees. According to the second hypothesis, learning- and success-oriented employees will experience high work engagement, but success-orientation is connected to higher burnout. Avoidance-orientation and being uncommitted is most likely connected to lower engagement and higher burnout. The data of this thesis was a part of a data collected for the FinEdu-study in the fall 2016 and spring 2017. The participants (n = 535) were 28- to 30-year-old employees who were at the beginning of their professional careers, and they filled in a questionnaire that measured achievement goal orientations, work burnout and work engagement. A person-centered approach was used, so the participants were first divided into achievement goal profiles using a cluster analysis. The differences between the profiles concerning work burnout and engagement were analyzed with analysis of variance. Four different achievement goal orientation profiles were identified in the data: mastery-oriented, success-oriented, indifferent and disengaged. Mastery-oriented employees experienced quite a lot of work engagement and only a bit of burnout. Success-oriented employees were also engaged, but they experienced more burnout than mastery-oriented employees. The indifferent and disengaged employees weren’t as engaged, indifferent employees experienced efficacy and cynicism, whereas burnout of the disengaged employees was average. Overall, however, the employees experienced more work engagement than work burnout. The results can be applied for example when there is a will to help employees set their personal goals, improve work environment and tasks and enhance well-being at work.

Aim of the study. Students and their difficult behavior are, according to several studies, one of the most significant burdensome factors in teaching work. In the field of research on teacher well-being at work or stress and burnout, this aspect is often emphasized. The im-portance of the teacher-student relationship for teacher well-being, job satisfaction, and commitment to work is well known. This study aims to look at the teacher-student relation-ship as a resource for teaching work. In my research, I try to find out what kind of teacher-student relationship promotes teacher well-being. Also, the study examines the extent to which the teacher-student relationship protects the teacher from risks to their well-being in terms of managing workload. Methods. The research approach was hermeneutic-phenomenological, aiming to understand and interpret an individual’s experiences and their associated meanings. The study was a qualitative interview study, the material of which consisted of interviews with six (6) classroom teachers. The body of the interview was a semi-structured interview. The inter-views were recorded and transcribed, after which they were analyzed. The method of anal-ysis was content analysis, typical of qualitative research. Results and conclusions. Based on my research material, I have divided the factors of the teacher-student relationship that promote teacher well-being, into those related to the teacher's professional skills, as well as those relating to the student's willingness and ability to participate in building the teacher-student relationship. The results showed that the teacher-student relationship is, to the greatest extent possible, a resource for teaching work. A warm teacher-student relationship was perceived as a significant and meaningful factor in teachers' work. However, it does not appear to protect teachers from overwork, and interviewees reported that other approaches are required to manage their workload and to protect themselves from exhaustion. The role of the teacher leans heavily towards interpersonal work, and the ability to tailor approaches to different students to build relationships is important. Attention is often paid to the teacher-student relationship only when problems arise, even if it would be beneficial for both the teacher and students' well-being to focus on building successful teacher-student relationships.

Aims. The study examined teachers’ self-compassion in relation to burnout, work engagement and the meaning of work. Previous studies have shown the positive effects of self-compassion on well-being. Little is known about the teachers' self-compassion and how it is related to work well-being. Studies have shown that a self-compassioned teacher has more positive attitudes towards inclusion and they are socio-emotionally more capable. Methods. The data was collected via an online questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent to special education students at the University of Helsinki. All the students had a degree in education, and at least three years of work experience in the education sector. Answers were received from 85 students. The questionnaire measured self-compassion, work engagement, meaning of work and burn out. The analysis of the data was done by statistical methods using the SPSS program. Results and conclusions. More than half (61.2%) of the respondents (N = 85) were in the group's average self-compassion level. The high self-compassion level was 14.1% of the respondents, and the low self-compassion level was up to about one quarter of the respondents (24.7%). A comparison between the three groups showed that the average level and high self-compassion level groups had better protection against burnout and higher work engagement than the low self-compassion teachers. The study showed that the meaning of work was in relation to self-compassion. High self-compassion level is in relation to lower burnout levels and higher work engagement. Teaching self-compassion skills to future teachers improves the well-being of teachers and could lower their levels of burnout. Teachers’ well-being also increases the well-being of students.

The purpose of this thesis is to chart teachers' experiences concerning job burnout and the role of social support in gaining well-being at work. The theoretical base of this study is in Maslach's, Schaufeli's and Leiter's (2001) research on job burnout and in House's (1981) and Cohen's and Wills's (1985) research on social support. Burnout of teachers appears to be a special phenomenon compared to other occupations, which is due to the nature of the teachers' job. My research questions are as follows: 1. How does job burnout appear on teachers' speech and stories? 2. How does social support appear in teachers' work in relation to job burnout and what kind of forms of social support have they experienced and would like to experience? 3. How are teachers' stories and their collective memory about job burnout and social support reflected in the data? I collected the data through a narrative interview in a focus group. The group consisted of seven teachers. I analysed the data through content analysis and narrative analysis. The teachers described their experiences of job-related rush and burnout. They felt that their burnout was increased by the lack of superior support and by role conflicts. In contrast, the support from their superior and their peers helped them to gain well-being at their work. In the narrative analysis, it appeared that their experiences of burnout were collective and their stories about job burnout were based on collective memory. Social support appears to be carnivalistic according to Bakhtin (1979). In the carnival, people can free themselves from society's norms and the boundaries between the roles are blurred. As a conclusion, I can state that job burnout is a common problem among teachers and social support helps them to gain well-being at their work. For teachers, it is important that there is support at hand. It would be important to intervene at an early stage of job burnout before it becomes severe.

Work related exhaustion is widely known phenomenon in the field of teaching. It is stated to be negatively correlated with teachers work results, the well-being of the work community and the quality of ones personal well-being and private life. Previous study indicates sicnifigant amount of teachers to be exhausted due to the factors in work. This exhaustion leads to absence and even to change of career. The goal of this research is to study the amount and quality of experienced exhaustion in terms of teachers’ age and work experience. The data was gathered from 163 teachers from six different schools from the Helsinki metropolitan area between March 2019 and February 2020. The group of respondents consisted of subject-, primary- and class teachers working primary schools. The data was collected with a survey which included an open ended question: ”What are the factors in your work that make you exhausted?” In addition teachers’ age and the amount of years in duty were sorted out. The quality and quantity of workload were measured with data-driven content analysis, theme design and scoring. For the analysis respondents were divided into three different groups based on their age and to five different groups based on their work experience. The quality and the quantity of work related stress in terms of teachers’ age and work experience were analysed reviewing correlations, running regression- and variance analysis and finally with crosstabulation. Age and work experience were noted to measure the same thing and therefore the analysis concentrated on age as a factor. The results show that age and the amount of experienced exhaustion are correlating negatively. In other words generally younger teachers were more exhausted whereas older teachers were not as exhausted. In addition the differences between age groups were significant in terms of the amount of exhaustion From the exhaustion themes ”students”, work-enviroment”, ”uncontrollability” and co-operation with parents” correlated negatively with teachers’ age. The age groups differed in terms of the quality of the workload, with younger teachers perceiving students, the amount of workload, resources, uncontrollability, the work environment and co-operation with parents as the most burdensome issues in their work. Middle-aged teachers found the lack of time and co-operation with professionals the most stressful factors in their work. The oldest teachers found additional non-core tasks/issues and poor management to be the most burdensome factors in their work. The results were largely in line with the previous study. Lack of time was the biggest exhaustion theme experienced regardless of the group. It is possible that the research results were partly explained by the demands placed on teachers by the change in society, the disregard for the needs of the individual in education policy, the harmful structures of the school for an individual and the individual's lack of influential opportunities. In further research, it would be important to consider the cause-and-effect relation-ships of different work load themes more profoundly and to include a broader and thus more generalized sample of respondents in the research. The research can be utilized in the development of teachers' well-being at work and as a tool in further research.

Tämän tutkielman tarkoituksena oli selvittää mitä työuupumus on, miten se kehittyy ja miten se ilmenee. Lisäksi tutkielman tavoitteena oli selvittää, mitkä tekijät johtavat opettajien työ-uupumukseen. Tutkielmani tutkimuskysymykset syntyivät aiheen ajankohtaisuudesta, sillä opettajien työssä jaksaminen ja työuupumus ovat suosittuja aiheita yhteiskunnallisessa kes-kustelussa. Aihetta on tutkittu paljon, mutta merkittäviä tuloksia opettajien työhyvinvoinnin li-sääntymisestä ei ole saatu. Tämä tutkielma toteutettiin kuvailevana kirjallisuuskatsauksena. Aineistoksi löytyi pääosin suomalaista kirjallisuutta, sekä tutkimuksia, mutta myös ulkomaalaisia tutkimuksia on mukana katsauksessa. Hain aineistoni hyödyntäen Helka- kirjaston hakupalvelua, Googlea, sekä Google Scholaria. Tutkielmani tulosten mukaan työuupumukselle ei ole olemassa virallista, yleisesti hyväksyttyä määritelmää. Useissa määritelmissä nousee kuitenkin esille kolme keskeistä oiretta: uupumusasteinen väsymys, kyynistyneisyys ja heikentynyt ammatillinen itsetunto. Lisäksi tutkielmani osoitti, että työuupumuksen kehityksestä on olemassa useita eri malleja. Näissä malleissa uupumuksen taustalla nähdään olevan useita eri lähtökohtia ja syitä. Eroja mallien välillä aiheutti myös se, että tyypillisten oireiden nähtiin ilmenevän eri järjestyksessä. Tutkielmani osoitti myös, että opettajat joutuvat kohtaaman työssään useita erilaisia kuormitustekijöitä, joiden voidaan nähdä olevan vaikuttamassa työuupumuksen kehittymiseen. Kirjallisuudessa nousi esiin erityisesti opettajien työolojen ja työympäristön kuormittavuus, sekä vuorovaikutuksen kuormittavuus. Lisäksi opettajan työn muutos aiheutti kuormitusta.

Aims. It is important to study factors to manage work-related stress to get more tools to support sustainable ways of doing work and flourishing work environments. The purpose of this study was to examine what extent servant leadership, sense of community and workaholism are associated with burnout and recovery from work. Job Demands-Resources Model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007) and Conservation of Resources Theory (Hobfoll, 2001) were used as a theoretical framework of the study. In this study servant leadership and sense of community were considered as resources and workaholism as a work-related demand. Previous studies have shown that servant leadership and sense of community are negatively associated with burnout, whereas no previous research exist focusing on the associations between servant leadership, sense of community and recovery. According to previous studies, workaholism is positively associated with burnout and negatively associated with recovery. In this study, following the JD-R model, it was hypothesized that servant leadership and sense of community are negatively associated with burnout and positively associated with recovery. In addition, it was also hypothesized that workaholism is associated positively with burnout and negatively with recovery. Methods. This study is a part of an occupational health study, in which three large organizations (N = 1415) were examined by using an e-mail questionnaire. The participants answered questions concerning burnout, recovery, servant leadership, community and workaholism. The data was analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis. Results and conclusions. The results showed that servant leadership and sense of community were negatively associated with burnout and positively associated with recovery. Workaholism was positively associated with burnout and negatively with recovery. As a conclusion, servant leadership and sense of community can serve as important social resources against burnout and support recovery from work. Thus, promoting servant leadership and employees’ sense of community might serve as advantages for organizations. In addition, it would be important to actively recognize workaholism to reduce its threat for employees’ well-being.

Aims. This study investigated to what extent servant leadership is associated with teachers’ work engagement and burnout and whether the form of teacher’s employment relationship influenced this association. The job demands-resources (JD-R) model and conservation of resources theory were used as a theoretical framework of the study. Previously it has been found that servant leadership is positively associated with work engagement and negatively associated with burnout. There are incoherent results on the effects of the form of employment relationship on work engagement and burnout, but recent study suggests that those on a permanent contract experience more work engagement compared to those on a fixed-term contract. It is hypothesized that servant leadership is positively associated with work engagement and negatively associated with burnout. It is also hypothesized that servant leadership and permanent contract are positively associated with work engagement and for those on fixed-term contracts, servant leadership is negatively associated with burnout. Methods. The material of this study is from a study in which teachers from Mind the Gap -research schools participated in 2015. The participants filled in an online questionnaire concerning servant leadership, work engagement and burnout. The data was analysed using linear regression analysis. Results and conclusions. The results showed that servant leadership was positively associated with work engagement and negatively associated with burnout. Considering the form of the employment relationship, it was noticed that for both those with a fixed-term and permanent employment relationship, servant leadership was positively associated with work engagement and negatively associated with burnout. As a conclusion, leadership style is associated with employees’ wellbeing at work. Workplaces could pay attention to leadership styles and develop policies that support wellbeing at work. There should be more specific studies about the association between employment relationship and wellbeing at work.