Abstract
Research indicates that teacher wellbeing influences student performance, including students’ academic achievement and wellbeing, and the overall quality of teaching practice. However, in New Zealand, education policies tend to prioritise individual student wellbeing, with limited focus on teacher wellbeing. Given the apparent educational impact of poor teacher wellbeing, it is essential to understand the factors contributing to or hindering it.
This thesis reports on a study that sought to explore the state of teacher wellbeing in New Zealand and identify the factors that influence it, as seen from teachers’ perspectives. The study examined the following three research questions: How does the wellbeing of a sample of New Zealand primary and secondary teachers compare with that of the general New Zealand population? What differentiates teachers with high levels of wellbeing from other teachers? How does a sample of New Zealand primary and secondary teachers perceive their wellbeing? Additionally, it examined three supplementary questions: What strategies do teachers employ to support their wellbeing? What factors do teachers perceive as contributing positively to their wellbeing? What factors do teachers perceive as contributing negatively to their wellbeing?
Prior to this study, research had primarily focused on teacher stress and burnout. In contrast, this study focused on teacher wellbeing, comparing teachers’ wellbeing to the wellbeing of the general New Zealand population. The study employed a mixed methods approach, specifically, an explanatory sequential two-stage design. Stage One (completed in 2018) involved administering the Sovereign Wellbeing Index questionnaire (Jarden et al., 2013) supplemented with additional teacher-centric questions and open-ended prompts to capture additional insights. A stratified random sampling approach was applied to select 25% of New Zealand state and state-integrated schools, with principals forwarding participation invitations to teachers. The questionnaire yielded 597 valid responses from primary and secondary school teachers. After analysis, a purposive sample was selected for interviews. Stage Two (completed in 2019) involved ten semi-structured interviews with teachers to clarify themes from the questionnaire, particularly around workload, work-life balance, the concept of time, and the role of interpersonal relationships in teachers’ wellbeing.
The study revealed four key findings. Firstly, teachers in New Zealand reported lower wellbeing than the general population. Secondly, teacher workload negatively impacted their wellbeing. Third, school leadership had a considerable impact on teacher wellbeing, both positively and negatively. Lastly, relationships with colleagues other than leaders also played an important role in shaping teacher wellbeing both negatively and positively.
This thesis offers several recommendations for policy, practice, and wellbeing initiatives in the education sector. These include the need to reduce workload pressures for teachers, strengthen leadership capability, foster positive school cultures, integrate wellbeing education in initial teacher education, and prioritise teacher wellbeing in national policy. Study recommendations provide a pathway for improving teacher wellbeing and retention in Aotearoa New Zealand, and potentially, educational outcomes.