Browsing by Subject "etätyö"

Goals. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of teachers work arrangements, digital skills and age to teacher’s well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Spring 2020. Well- being was examined through three basic psychological needs of the self-determination theory. Three basic needs are autonomy, competence and relatedness. These needs indirectly affect the teacher's well-being, as the social and physical environment affects the satisfaction of the needs. It is important to examine and support the well-being of teachers because it affects students’ learning, well-being and success at school. Methods. The data (N=717) was collected from teachers around Finland during the Spring 2020 as part of the Bridging the Gaps – research project. Participants filled in questionnaires that measured well-being, work arrangements, digital skills and self-determination. Participants were divided into groups based on their work arrangements during the school closures. Differences in psychological needs between the groups were examined by analysis of variance. Two-way ANOVA was used to analyse the effects of teacher’s age, digital skills and work arrangements to teachers three basic needs. Finally, the long-term effects of the pandemic were examined with t-tests by dividing teachers into two groups according to the date of response. Results and conclusions. Generally, teachers’ well-being was strong during the pandemic but few differences between the groups were identified. Teachers working remotely experienced weaker relatedness than teachers working in classrooms. In addition, poor digital skills were found to be linked to a lower sense of competence and relatedness. Teacher’s age seems to be also linked to teachers' competence, autonomy and digital skills, with older teachers experiencing stronger autonomy and competence than their younger counterparts. Inversely younger teachers have better digital skills than teachers with more seniority. The results were mainly in line with previous studies, but in the future, closer examination of the effects of the pandemic would be necessary to be able to better support teachers in atypical situations.

The COVID-19 pandemic drove knowledge workers to work remotely from their homes starting from spring 2020. The purpose of this study is to identify the stressors and resource factors that are reflected in knowledge workers’ experiences when changing to work remotely. In addition, this thesis aims to identify the changes that both individuals and organizations have made in their practices and activities in order to support well-being at work during a pandemic. In this thesis, the experiences of the interviewees are examined from the perspective of the job demands and resources model. In addition, the theoretical framework of the study is also based on self-determination theory which looks at the effect of satisfaction of the basic psychological needs on the experience of work-related well-being. The study was conducted qualitatively and the research material consisted of ten semi-structured interviews. The participants of this research were knowledge workers in different fields, and they had all moved to do their work remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The interview questions focused on the use of technology and its changes, differences in social interaction, and the support received by the organization during the remote work period. Both the workload and resource factors were noticeable from the research results. In this study, workload factors were divided into psychosocial, cognitive, and physical. The workload factors were related to the challenges of interaction and communication experienced in remote communication, the longing for physical interaction, the challenges of reconciling work and other life, the challenges of recovering from work, and the challenges of physical ergonomics. The job resources in remote work consisted of the support received from the work community, the increased flexibility and efficiency of work, the accessible leadership perspective, and the facilitation of reconciling work and family life. Individuals and organizations adapted their work practices and activities so that the workload requirements were reduced and the resource factors were strengthened. Individuals created new practices to address communication challenges in remote work, sought to increase a sense of relatedness in the work community, paid more conscious attention to their own recovery from work, and tried to avoid the occurrence of cognitive stress by influencing their own attitudes. Organizations identified the workload factors of remote work and adapted their practices by providing support to employees to minimize cognitive, psychosocial, and physical strain. This research provides targeted information on the effects of the transition of knowledge workers well-being at work following the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, this research will provide more information about workload and resource factors in remote work and the ways in which individuals and organizations can influence the occurrence of these factors in remote work.

Goals. The aim of the study was to determine whether the classteachers’ relatedness was protectively associated with burnout during the phases of the corona pandemic. The aim was to examine whether the association between classteachers' relatedness and burnout varied according to the way of working or the stages of a corona pandemic. Relatedness was examined through the communal dimension of the self-determination theory. Relatedness was examined through the dimensions of satisfaction and frustration. Classteachers’ relatedness is associated with lower levels of burnout. The corona pandemic has brought new challenges and demands to teaching example new learning environments. The uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and the adaptation to new ways of working have increased the workload of classteachers. It is important to look at the links between relatedness, burnout, and way of working in order to protect classteachers’ well-being even in exceptional times. Methods. The data (N = 1286) was collected in cooperation with the OAJ at three measurement times in spring 2020, autumn 2020, and spring of 2021. Measurement times examined the different phases of the corona pandemic. Teachers filled out a questionnaire that measured relatedness, burnout, and way of working. Remote work percentage was divided into ways of working, which were classified as remote work, hybrid work, and face-to-face work. The relationship between relatedness and burnout was examined using hierarchical regression analysis. In addition, the interaction terms examined whether there was a variation according to the way of working or the phases of the corona pandemic. Results and conclusion. The relationship between classteachers' relatedness and burnout was protective during the corona pandemic. In addition, there was variation in the relationship between relatedness and burnout according to the way of working and the different stages of the corona pandemic. Hybrid work was associated with greater level of exhaustion than face-to-face work. In the spring of 2021, classteachers with high levels of relatedness satisfaction expected less exhaustion than in spring 2020. According to previous studies, the study confirms the importance of relatedness in protecting classteachers' from burnout. It would be important to continue to examine the effects of the corona pandemic on the well-being of teachers to better safeguard the well-being of teachers in similar exceptional times in the future.