Get to know » Teachers » Self-reflection:
Teacher well-being
Teachers were asked to indicate how frequently they experienced specific challenges regarding their own well-being in their role. They could respond with ‘Never’, ‘Rarely’, ‘Sometimes’, or ‘Often’.
The responses in the sections below are from teachers who reported experiencing the listed challenges either ‘Sometimes’ or ‘Often’.
Students with teachers experiencing well-being challenges
The results in Table TT2.11 show the percentage of students who have a teacher who is either ‘Sometimes’ or ‘Often’ experiencing well-being challenges in their role.
In Papua New Guinea, on average, 76% of students had teachers who ‘Often’ or ‘Sometimes’ experienced stress in their role, while 73% had teachers who ‘Often’ or ‘Sometimes’ felt overwhelmed by their role. Across the PILNA countries, the proportions of students with teachers who ‘Often’ or ‘Sometimes’ experienced stress ranged from between 52% to 100%. Most teachers in Papua New Guinea are experiencing work-related stress and feelings of being overwhelmed due to their role, and these feelings are relatively frequent.
Approximately a third of students have a teacher who believes their job is having an adverse effect on their mental health (33%), and their physical health (35%).
Beyond these key findings, an average of more than half the students in Papua New Guinea have a teacher who has difficulty sleeping because they think about work-related issues (61%) and who reported they do not have time for their personal life (66%), to eat healthily (51%), or to exercise (54%) because of their job.
Teacher well-being and teacher characteristics
From the responses to the eight sentences about challenges to teacher well-being, a regional scale was formed. The more teachers agree with the statements that form the scale, the higher their scale scores, and the lower their levels of well-being.
Each teacher’s scores on this scale were compared with several demographic factors and other qualities to see if any differences existed. These factors were gender (male or female), age group (either 20–35 or over 35 years old), teaching experience (either less than 10 years’ experience or more than 10 years’ experience), and their highest qualification (either below degree level or degree level and higher).
There were no well-being score differences between teachers with degree level or higher qualifications and teachers with below degree level qualifications, or who were more or less experienced.
There were, however, differences found in the age group and gender comparisons. Teachers under 35 years of age had higher well-being scores than teachers over 35 years of age. Female teachers also had higher well-being scores than male teachers.
What does this mean?
The results are worrying for teacher well-being. A high proportion of students in Papua New Guinea have teachers who are experiencing stress in their job and feeling overwhelmed by their job. Over half the students have teachers who reported not having enough time for managing their well-being through their personal life – eating healthily and exercising – due to their job. Further, a third of students have teachers who believe their job is having an adverse effect on their physical and mental health. High proportions of students in Papua New Guinea are being taught by teachers who are experiencing well-being challenges in their job. It is important that the reasons for this are understood and that the appropriate support mechanisms are put in place to increase teacher well-being.
Some demographic factors may also be associated with teacher well-being. Female and younger teachers tended to have higher levels of well-being than older and male teachers. The reasons for this are unclear but one possibility is that younger teachers may have higher levels of resilience in coping with the stresses of the occupation than their older counterparts.
