Browsing by Subject "työhyvinvointi"

Teachers' well-being at work is a common theme in public debate as well as in the research field of well-being research. Despite numerous studies and development proposals, teachers' experience of well-being at work has not increased. The development of self-leadership skills has been proposed as a new solution to teachers' weakened experience of work well-being. There is a demand for research focusing on teachers' self-leadership skills, as the topic has been studied very little both nationally and internationally. The purpose of this study is to provide new information about teachers' self-leadership skills and their importance for well-being at work. In addition, the task is to find out what challenges teachers’ self-leadership. The research material consisted of interviews with five primary school teachers. The interviews were carried out as individual interviews using a semi-structured theme interview. A phenomenographic research sample was used in the analysis of the data. According to the results of the study, teachers understand that self-leadership skills consist of organizational skills, a solution-oriented way of working and taking care of one's own self-sufficiency. The teachers considered the challenges of self-leadership to be challenges related to the job description, ignorance of self-management skills, and the effects of the rest of their lives. Self-leadership was considered important for well-being at work and was seen especially as a promoter of well-being at work. Insufficient self-leadership skills were perceived as a factor that undermines work well-being. For example, a feeling of inadequacy, was described as one the causes of weak self-leadership skills. In addition, the work community and peer support were seen important to both self-leadership and well-being at work

Teachers’ well-being at work is an important factor for both teachers themselves and school community. This Master’s Thesis focuses on teachers’ well-being at work in a certain elementary school in Helsinki Metropolitan Area during one school year. Aim of the research was to find out 1) level of teachers’ well-being at work during one school year, 2) which factors teachers find decreasing their well-being at work, 3) which factors teachers find supporting their well-being at work. The level of well-being at work is measured by five different factors: stress, strain caused by teaching and guiding, burnout, work engagement and meaningfulness of the work. The research is a mixed methods case study. The level of teachers’ well-being at work was studied through quantitative data and both decreasing and supporting factors of well-being at work was studied through qualitative data. The quantitative data was analysed by studying statistics and averages and the qualitative data was analysed by tools of data-driven and theory-driven content analysis. Research material consists of answers of questionnaires which measure teachers’ well-being at work. The material was collected as a part of ”KILO Työhyvinvointia / KILO Well-being at work” -project during school year 2022–2023. The project was funded by OAJ’s Occupational Wellbeing Fund (Trade Union of Education, Työhyvinvointirahasto), Finnish Basic Education Unit of city of Espoo and Elementary School of Kilo. Findings of the research show that teachers’ well-being at work was on relatively good level during the whole school year. Amount of stress, strain caused by teaching and guiding and burnout remained at reasonable level and at the same time experiences of work engagement and meaningfulness of the work were strong. Factors that especially decreased teacher’ well-being at work were different demands towards the work of a teacher and pressure as well as pupils and teaching group. Most often mentioned demands towards the work of a teacher were tasks outside of teaching work, amount of the work and lack of time. Among factors that put a strain on teachers and were connected to pupils and teaching group were mentioned behaviour of pupils and pupils that need support, and tasks related to this supportive work. The study shows that the most important factors that increased teachers’ well-being at work were delimitation of the work, work community and support it can offer, as well as focusing and investing in both physical and mental well-being. Results of the research indicate that it is important to focus on teachers’ well-being at work also in the future. This Master’s Thesis produces important information about factors that cause stress and strain in teachers’ work, and which should be taken into account. In addition to this, research points out factors that teachers can use, in order to support their well-being at work.

Objectives. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of work and family coordination. The study focused on parents of young children working shortened work week as well as their superiors and the HR experts of their organizations. The study also looked at whether the employees experience conflicts of roles in the coordinating work and family as well as the importance of the organization and the management of the organization in work and family coordination. The theoretical background consisted mainly of theories and interaction models describing work and family as well as the models describing organizational culture and the well-being at work. Methods. Interviews which were collected from three organizations were used as the research material. The interviewees were parents of young children working shortened work week as well as their superiors and the HR experts of their organizations. Total number of interviewees was 11. The study was a qualitative study and the analysis method used was content analysis. Results and conclusions. The results of the study showed that the experiences of coordinating work and family were mainly positive and the employees felt having succeeded quite well in coordinating work and family. The importance of management and supervisors in the success of coordinating work and family turned out to be very significant. Even though the employees in this circumstance did not feel the need for specific personal support, they saw it important that the family-friendliness is reflected in the attitudes, behavior and organizational culture. The study results highlighted the division of labour between the spouses and the taking care of their own areas of responsibility to succeed in coordinating the everyday life effectively. Problems seen involved with coordinating work and family were career stagnation, as well as the fact that the workload didn't decrease in relation to working hours. The study results confirm the importance of the individual's own decisions, the organization's participation as well as the opportunities offered by the society in coordination of work and family. The study results support the views expressed in the theory on coordinating work and family life and on the family-friendliness of the organizations. Further research, particularly on male-dominated fields would be important for men's voice to be heard and to think about what types of incentives would make fathers to join the arrangements more often.

Objectives: Teachers' well-being at work has been studied especially from the perspectives of work-related stress factors. However, experts from the field of well-being at work have pointed out that studies should focus more on studying factors that promote well-being than on factors that weaken well-being at work. The self-determination theo-ry (SDT) is part of motivational psychology. The theory considers that the fulfillment of basic psychological needs (BPN) is essential for human well-being. Based on the theory of self-determination this study develops Basic Psy-chological Needs of Teachers Scale (BPNTS) to measure the basic psychological needs of teachers. The scale is used to study the manifestation of basic needs factors related to the work of crafts teachers and teachers. The scale is also used to examine whether there are differences between craft teachers and other teachers in the realisation of basic needs factors, and whether background factors have an impact on the basic needs experiences of craft teach-ers. Methods: To measure the basic psychological needs of teachers a 7-step Likert -scaled survey was created. The survey was distributed through various online channels to craft teachers and teachers in the spring of 2021. 367 responses were received. 229 responses were from craft teachers and 138 from other teachers. The research data was analysed using statistical methods using IBM SPSS Statistics software. The manifestation of basic psychological needs of teachers was studied using exploratory factorial analysis (EFA). The differences between craft teachers and teachers in relation to the manifestation of basic psychological need factors were investigated through descriptive results, correlation examinations, a T-test of independent samples, as well as one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The association of background factors - teachers' age, place of work, gender and job title with teachers' basic needs experiences was investigated using one-way analysis of variance and correlation analysis. Results and conclusions: With the Basic Psychological Needs of Teachers Scale (BPNTS) was managed to measure the dimensions of the initial theory quite well. The scale turned out to be functional and reliable. As a result of the factorial analysis, 4 basic work-related needs dimensions were identified – Autonomy, Competence, Relatedness and Freedom. According to the theory, the results reinforced the assumption of the independent influence of basic psychological need factors. Both groups of teachers estimate that the studied dimensions were realized quite well on average in their work. Craft teachers felt that freedom to work was best realized and that relatedness was realized weakest. Statistically, a very significant difference between the teacher groups appeared in relation to the freedom and empowerment experienced at work. Crafts teachers estimate that these are fulfilled better in their work compared to other teachers. Of the background factors, the workplace was found to have some impact on the fulfillment of the basic needs of craft teachers. It has been noticed that to promote teachers' well-being at work, it would be important to be able to analyse well-being factors at work more effectively. The Basic Psychological Needs of Teachers Scale (BPNTS) provides a useful model for more accurately mapping and studying the basic needs dimensions that affect teachers' well-being at work.

Principals' well-being at work has been researched in Finland in recent years with Principals' Barometer. According to it, principals’ well-being at work has weakened year by year, especially due to the constant rush, lack of free time and increased concern for students and teachers. The goal of this thesis is to bring out the factors that increase and decrease principals' well-being at work in the school's everyday life, so that their own voice is heard. The theoretical background of my study include research literature about well-being at work and educational leadership, as well as the Self-Determination Theory of Ryan and Deci (2000). The research material has been produced with a written assignment for educational leaders about their best and worst working days and analyzed with qualitative content analysis. The factors that increase and decrease principals' well-being at work are often opposites of each other. Well-being is affected by several factors related to work tasks, social and physical aspects and life outside of working hours. In particular, feelings of urgency, meaningfulness and inadequacy, work community, atmosphere, well-being of teachers and students, feedback, challenging situations, physical well-being, own attitude affect well-being at work.

Goals. According to Warr's (1999) and Hakanen's (2011) models, the different states of well-being at work can be perceived through four key concepts. These include job satisfaction, burnout, stress and work engagement. Although teachers are mostly satisfied with their work, well-being at work has developed in an alarming direction in recent years and the stress experienced by teachers has increased. There has also been much public debate about the pandemics effects on well-being. Based on previous research, teachers have experienced more stress than normal during the exceptional circumstances caused by the coronavirus. The aim of this master's thesis was to find out how classroom teachers have experienced their well-being at work during the COVID-19 pandemic and to increase understanding of what factors contributed to well-being. In addition, the study sought to find out how classroom teachers well-being at work was promoted at that time. Methods. The study was conducted as semi-structured thematic interviews. The data consists of interviews with eight classroom teachers and one special classroom teacher. The data was analyzed using theory-guided and data-driven qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusions. The COVID-19 pandemic affected teachers well-being at work in many ways. Teachers found the distance learning period particularly stressful. Stressors included an increase in workload, uncertainty and the combination of work and free time. On the other hand, for some teachers the distance learning period increased work engagement and job satisfaction. Some felt that towards the autumn 2020 the situation had recovered close to the time before pandemic, while some felt that exceptional circumstances were still having a strong impact on well-being. The most important support for promoting well-being at work came from the work community, which provided empathy, shared gatherings, and assistance in planning and teaching. Teachers also felt the empathy received from their principal important. Teachers themselves tried to separate work and free time, to exercise and to stick to their basic task. Teachers expressed dissatisfaction with the activities of municipalities and political decision-makers.

Objectives. The purpose of this thesis was to examine curiosity and persistence and their associations with occupational well-being (measured as work engagement and burnout) among Finnish school principals during the Covid-19 pandemic. The theoretical framework was social and emotional skills and their associations with well-being described by the OECD. Previous studies have shown that social and emotional skills are generally positively related to life satisfaction, occupational well-being, and success. It was hypothesized that curiosity and persistence are positively associated with work engagement and negatively with burnout. In addition, it was examined whether principals' age and gender had any effects on the results. Methods. This thesis used data from the Principal Barometer 2021 research study. A structured questionnaire was sent electronically to 1,200 school principals across Finland in the spring of 2021. The sample consisted of 656 principals, of which 58.7 % were women. The average age of the respondents was 51 years. The data was analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis. Results and conclusions. The results showed that both curiosity and persistence were positively associated with work engagement (vigor, dedication and absorption). Furthermore, persistence was negatively associated with burnout (exhaustive fatigue, cynicism and impaired occupational self-respect). In this thesis, principals' age and gender had no effects. The results indicated that curiosity and persistence are positively reflected in principals' occupational well-being, and it would be useful to foster and develop these skills. It is important to increase understanding of principals' occupational well-being, not only because of principals' own well-being, but also because their well-being is reflected in the well-being and success of teachers and students as well.

Objectives. The aim of the study is to observe whether a game designed to improve teamwork can have a positive effect on a teams' systems intelligence and communication when the game is not played. Methodology. This study is characterized by action research. The data was collected from public early childhood education and care units in the city of Helsinki. Four teams participated in the study, N=14. The teams that were selected for the study played Topaasia, a game designed to improve work communities, for three months, on an average of twice a week. Before playing the game, the participants filled a questionnaire called systems intelligence inventory (Törmänen, Hämäläinen & Saarinen, 2016). The systems intelligence inventory was repeated after the game sessions. The participants also filled a questionnaire measuring their experience of the game sessions. The questionnaire contained open ended questions and Likert-scaled questions. The questionnaire was modified from Hannula and Harviainen's Hyötypelaaminen kehittämistoiminnassa –questionnaire. Findings and conclusions. Regarding systems intelligence, there was no great difference before and after the game was played. Systemic perception however differed before and after the intervention. Change was visible in teams that were known to struggle with interaction and communication. The game experience questionnaire provided insight to questions relating to the usefulness of the game, and its influence on communication during times when the game was not played. Increased communication was mentioned in the open answers to the game questionnaire. Usefulness of the game correlated with high scores in systemic perception.

The deteriorating occupational well-being of teachers is an internationally recognized phenomenon and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on teachers’ work further increased its media coverage. In Finland, the promotion of teachers’ occupational well-being is one of the objectives of OAJ, The Trade Union of Education. It publishes the magazine Opettaja 22 times a year and claims all teachers, supervisors and decisionmakers in the field of education as the magazine’s target group. Due to the organization’s role, the magazine’s writings can influence the readers’ perceptions of the organization as the protector of their interests and of the situation in the education sector, as well as on the education policy. In my research I aimed to find out how the teachers’ occupational well-being is being talked about in the editorials of Opettaja magazine. In the study, the teachers’ occupational well-being was examined by utilizing the Job Demands-Resources Model and specifying the most typical demands and resources in teachers’ work environment. The research is qualitative and is based on the social constructionist understanding of knowledge as being constructed in the interaction between people. The material consisted of 47 editorials of Opettaja magazine, which dealt with teachers’ occupational well-being. The basis of limiting the data was the arrival of the coronavirus in Finland, so the studied material was gathered from magazines between a period from January 2020 to August 2022, when the analysis was started. Discourse analysis was used as a method to identify different ways of speaking of teachers’ occupational wellbeing in the editorials. As a result of the research, three discourses were identified, the ill-being discourse, the responsibility discourse, and the meaningful work discourse. In the ill-being discourse teachers’ occupational well-being was portrayed as weak and their working conditions challenging in many ways. In the responsibility discourse the occupational well-being was discussed in a solution-oriented manner, and the main focus was on obliging various parties to take care of it. In the meaningful work discourse the occupational well-being was described as something teachers earn for their important work and as a prerequisite for Finland’s success now and in the future. Based on this study, information obtained from well-being research is widely utilized in the occupational well-being speech of Opettaja magazine’s editorials, which most likely promotes the union’s image as an expert on the subject. Efforts to influence the readers can also be distinguished from the speech. Each discourse can be interpreted as having its own function in the speech of the trade union from the point of view of both groups of readers. By taking their potential effects into account, it is possible to better understand and anticipate, for example, solutions that teachers make regarding working in their profession.

Tämän työn tavoitteena oli luoda työhyvinvointia mahdollisimman kattavasti mittaava kysely ja toteuttaa se valitsemassani organisaatiossa. Tavoitteena oli myös tuottaa tutkimustuloksiin perustuvia kehitys- ja toimenpide-ehdotuksia henkilöstön työhyvinvoinnin ylläpitämiseksi ja parantamiseksi kohdeorganisaatiossa. Tarkastelin työhyvinvointia kuormituksen ja uupumisriskin, psykologisten perustarpeiden täyttymisen, työn imun kokemisen sekä työn vaatimusten ja voimavarojen näkökulmasta. Loin työhyvinvointikyselyn aiemmissa tutkimuksissa käytettyjen, erilaisia hyvinvoinnin osa-alueiden tutkimiseen luotujen mittareiden pohjalta. Toteutin kyselyn kohdeorganisaatiossa koko sen henkilöstölle ja analysoin tuloksia kvantitatiivisin menetelmin. Kokonaisuudessaan työhyvinvoinnin tila näyttäytyi kohdeorganisaatiossa hyvänä: psykologiset perustarpeet tyydyttyivät ja työn imua koettiin hyvin, minkä lisäksi työn voimavarat olivat työn vaatimuksia vahvemmat. Työhyvinvoinnin osa-alueiden väliltä löytyi tutkimuskirjallisuutta tukevia yhteyksiä. Työn voimavarat korreloivat positiivisesti psykologisten perustarpeiden toteutumisen ja työn imun kanssa. Työn imu korreloi puolestaan negatiivisesti kuormituksen määrän kanssa. Työn vaatimusten kasvaessa myös kuormitus kasvoi, kun taas psykologisten perustarpeiden toteutumisen vahvistuessa kuormituksen määrä laski.