A Preliminary Measure of Teachers’ Occupational Well-Being in Baku Schools and Contextual Factors Affecting It

Abstract

Teachers’ occupational well-being is the work-related aspect of teacher’s well-being. This study investigates the levels of occupational well-being of Baku school teachers and the factors that may influence them. The studied indicators of occupational well-being are self-efficacy, job satisfaction, psychosomatic symptoms, and social relations (among colleagues, principals, and students), and the studied contextual factors are school type, classroom size, gender, age, experience, and education. A quantitative questionnaire based on an OECD instrument was implemented among 100 participants to assess their levels of occupational well-being and compare the above-mentioned contextual factors. The data showed positive levels of the participants’ occupational well-being, the teacher-student relations were notoriously strong, and the teacher-principal relations were significantly low. The classroom size and teachers’ educational level showed the most notorious differences in occupational well-being, while the quality of teachers’ relation with their principal was a predictor of job satisfaction and self-efficacy. The most frequent psychosomatic symptom among the participants was fatigue, which showed some differences across groups. The minor participation of male teachers did not allow for the analysis of the data based on gender. More details and other findings, as well as implications for research and practice, are discussed.