Browsing by Author "Svanljung, Heidi"

Objectives. The purpose of this research was to examine kindergarten teachers’ perceptions of the concept of well-being at work and the factors which increase their well-being at work. The main research questions are: 1. How do kindergarten teachers perceive the concept of well-being at work? 2. Which factors increase kindergarten teachers’ well-being at work? Well-being at work has a significant impact on the satisfaction, motivation and commitment of an employee. Well-being at work is a multidimensional concept which can be understood in many ways and which has been modelled in various ways. This research focuses on job resources; the factors which increase well-being at work. Kindergarten teachers’ well-being at work has significant impacts on the well-being of the child group and the quality of early childhood education, and therefore it is important to examine this subject. Previous research shows that kindergarten teachers’ main job resources include children, support from work community and chief, possibilities to have an impact on the job, variability of the job and positive feedback from the parents. Methods. This research is a qualitative study. The used data collection method was theme interviewing. The participants of the study were three people who had completed kindergarten teacher education and had over ten years of work experience in the field of early childhood education. The approach of the study was phenomenographical, and the data analysis method was the use of themes. Results and conclusions. Kindergarten teachers included in the concept of well-being at work the responsibility of an individual employee, both physical and mental well-being, a healthy lifestyle and the importance of well-being at work in relation to the quality of life. The job resources which increase the well-being at work for kindergarten teachers were according to the participants of this study: children, benefits of team work, support from chief, possibilities to educate oneself, variability of the job and possibilities to have an impact on the job. The results of this study were very similar with the results of previous research. The field of early childhood education should pay active attention to job resources, so that the level of kindergarten teachers’ well-being at work would be as high as possible and they could experience work engagement as well.