School map wellbeing

Research identified teaching as one of the most stressful jobs physically and mentally with one of the lowest levels of job satisfaction amongst professions Wellbeing Coordinator Johnson 2005. Stress leads to up to 50% of teachers leaving the profession during the first five years in Australia the US and the UK Jalon go & Heider 2006 Sucher 2016 Foster 2018. In cross national study Zou et al. 2017 noticed that in comparison with educators from the US and Turkey Pakistani teachers exhibit the lowest levels of well being. These numbers and comparisons indicate that poor educators well being is still an international concern and a special critical issue in Pakistan.

Lack of educators well being EWB adversely impacts all stakeholders but not limited to educators students and school leaders. As a result of a disparity between personal and professional lives teachers are highly likely to experience stress and psychological as well as physical health problems Kebbi 2018.

It results in high teacher turnover Blackburn 2017 and can also prevent teacher student relationships Ayyub 2018 which also influence the well being of students McCallum and Price 2010. Furthermore high turnover disrupts the settled school climate Guinn 2004 exacerbates teacher shortages Carver Thomas & Darling Hammond 2017 and worsens problems of poor School Student wellbeing EWB for the remaining teachers Adnet 2017.

This international issue of teacher turnover also has a cost as the funds invested in teacher training do not reach its aim Roffey 2012 Spilt 2011. While there is a lack of data regarding the percentage of teacher turnover in Pakistan there is ample literature that indicates the poor well being of Pakistani teachers at different levels Tahir 2011 and worse well being compared to their counterparts Student Behavior Management in high income and upper middle income nations Özel 2017.

Even within the limited Pakistani literature there is a specific dearth of research on the well being of senior secondary teachers. Through this research I filled in this gap by consulting with Pakistani senior secondary classroom teachers and school leaders to learn about the prevailing issues pertaining to EWB.

Objectives

My research aim was to learn how school leaders could offer cohesive support to the senior secondary teachers in Pakistan in order to enhance their well being. Here the teachers used interchangeably with the term educators are described to be class teachers for senior secondary levels in the Cambridge Education System.

In order to attain this goal firstly I discovered and contrasted the teachers and school leaders response regarding educators burnout utilizing Maslach Burnout Inventory Educator Survey MBI ES. Second I investigated the gaps encountered between teachers and school leaders’ measures of educators burnout through interviewing teachers and school leaders. Through these interviews, the similarity and difference encountered while teachers and school leaders view the EWB, and what are the factors influencing EWB.

My comparison between teachers and school leaders revealed whether the two views are aligned with one another during Phase I and how they are alike or dissimilar during Phase. Because
school leaders have significant power to shape EWB Butt and Retallick 2002 my research offers suggestions to school leaders to construct a harmonious support system for teachers to enhance their well being. This study targeted senior secondary teachers teaching in the schools or colleges that are under the Cambridge Assessment International Education CAIE in Pakistan. The senior secondary teachers here refer to those who teach either Cambridge Ordinary Level commonly referred to as O Levels grades11 or Cambridge Advanced Level commonly referred to as A Levels.

Literature Review

Here I have reviewed the literature surrounding teachers and their well-being. In order to grasp the EWB from the viewpoints of school leaders and teachers defining the term well being is the solution to developing an understanding of the two views.

Thus I undertook Cambridge Pastoral System a multi disciplinary literature review of the literature surrounding well being in order to develop a conceptual framework for EWB. This conceptual framework pictured was formulated based on the definition and interpretation of well being by Dodge 2012 White 2008 and Nic Marks 2012. In addition I examined Pakistani literature surrounding EWB during the period between 2000 Academic and Emotional Balance, Student Records, Office of Student Affairs, Wellbeing Reporting, Parental Engagement, and 2020 to ascertain the country specific socio cultural factors which can affect teachers and their well being.

What is well being

Well being has been a vague and ill defined concept in literature. The vagueness of the term is extensively debated with some Student Resilience Programs consensus on elements and views of how one should define this term. Nevertheless it is still used extensively in everyday language. Thus defining the term well being is essential. Referring back to the philosophical accounts on well being I researched the origin of this term from the hedonic and eudaimonia views.

The hedonic view or hedonism Kahneman 1999 viewed well being as subjective happiness or the state of being with contentment in various areas of life Acton & Glasgow 2015 Pete gem 2005 Camfield. 2010 Split Komen & Thijs 2011 Dodge 2012 and is related to one School Mental Health Strategy pleasant or unpleasant behaviors or moods Surgy 2012 Diener & Lucas 1999. Deneuve & Cooper 1998 discovered that extraversion and agreeableness two among the big five personality traits Costa and McCrae 1992 were correlated positively with an individuals well being whereas neuroticism adversely impacted well being.

Whereas the hedonic approach concentrated on happiness the eudaimonia approach or eudaimonism concentrated on meaning and self realization Ryan and Deci 2001 Waterman 1993. It implies that eudaimonism expanded beyond happiness and viewed an individual to be well when they live.

The eudaimonia view is inseparably associated with the process of psychological well being White 2008 as well as Maslow 1943 stage of self Student Engagement actualization that is attained after satisfying the fundamental needs and progressing towards finding the inner self Ruff 1995. The eudaimonia view has also been described by some scholars as a quality of life Zikmund 2003 Rees 2020 Stratham & Chase 2010 which is frequently associated with the extent to which one’s actions are in accordance with deeply values held Waterman 1993.

In addition Ryan and Deci 2001 posited that well being is a multidimensional phenomenon with overlapping elements in the hedonic as well as the eudaimonia view. For the sake of this essay I drew on both views to incorporate a comprehensive image of EWB. From hedonism I incorporated subjective well being that varies across different life phases and is affected by the world around them. For educators it may be the environment in school for teachers which has an impact on their well being. Hedonism introduces the dynamic element into the construct of well being that Nic Marks 2012 has defined as some kind of dynamic dance on a radio show.

From eudaimonism

I have used the idea of self-actualization Eudaimonic view is seen in the scenario where the teachers who come into the teaching field to satisfy their passion have varying levels of well being in comparison to the teachers who come into this field simply because it is easy to enter and offers ease of flexibility. Thus understanding well being from the eudaimonia and hedonic viewpoints would lead to an integrated vision of the EWB.

Psychological well being Psychological well-being is concerned with emotions mental health or morbidity and other issues which are concerned with our mind such as psychosocial views Pollard & Lee 2003. Although it covers project based learning benefits emotions and mental well-being it goes much further than mental distress. Riff 1995 states It is to have positive self regard environmental mastery autonomy good relationships with other people a sense of purposefulness and meaning in life and feelings of continued growth and development.

Social well being

Social well being can be divided into five dimensions of social integration social contribution social coherence social actualization and social acceptance Keyes 1998. We can also examine it in terms of social and personal relations of individuals White 2008 such as relations of love and care networks of support and obligation sociocultural identities inequalities and violence conflict and in security.

Material well being

The material well-being dimension encompasses the day-to-day welfare and living standards of an individual. It was defined by White 2008 as the set of factors of human capital one possesses or controls and factors that are resources in common property shared with others. These factors can have objective levels or subjective Cambridge school system levels Alwin 1987 where the gap between these levels generates discontent which is interpreted as bad well being of an individual.

Owned components of material well being encompass the functional welfare and standards of living of an individual frequently established using income wealth or assets and other monetary natural and physical capital like education and skills and physical health White 2008. Common resources comprise the natural or the physical environment shared with others like access to different facilities like quality shelter and environmental quality like quality shelter clean water and clean air. What is educators well being EWB The term EWB has been of strong interest over the past 20 years when scholars shifted from research on educator stress and burnout to research on EWB as an integrated concept.

Historically, research on EWB was conducted primarily through a deficit model with an extensive amount of literature centered on deficiency areas such as teacher stress and burnout. The concentration of the literature on a single element of well being was indicative of the deficits being highlighted in advantages of project based learning lieu of examining both deficits and strengths. The entire consideration of well being was also prioritized by Pollard and Lee 2003 who contended that if well being is examined through a deficit model then other topics of discourse aside from stress and burnout are negatively impacted.

In the present study I analyzed the EWB model from the teacher and school leaders’ point of view and as a comprehensive idea encompassing strengths and weaknesses to take requisite actions for educators for their overall well being minimizing their stress and burnout too. In addition, I analyzed challenges and resources in all four dimensions to comprehend overall EWB more effectively through the seesaw model.

Physical Well being of educators Physical well-being is affected by the physical resources and challenges that are encountered in a number of forms including but not limited to class size teachers’ physical fitness high levels of noise or work involving strenuous physical exertions like rushing between classrooms or grading many exam Peer Mediation, Positive Behavior Support, Social Inclusion, Behavioral Support, Learning Mentors, papers Kiriakou & Sutcliffe 1978. To counteract the effect of some of these physical challenges resources accessible to teachers can balance their overall well-being.

Psychological Well being of educators

For the intention of this research psychological well being encompasses affective and cognitive elements Acton & Glasgow 2015 102 encompassing Cambridge school system feelings and emotions Parveen & Bane 2019 perceptions concerning oneself Hussain 2019 and control over one’s own choices Acton & Glasgow 2015 Bradley 2007. Further more psychological well being has close relationship with the other areas of well being including material Lehr 2009 social Karam 2019 and physical.

Previous studies revealed the relationship between the aforementioned factors Perceived job control or autonomy over the teacher’s responsibility was found to be strongly related with effective performance Bradley 2007 while educators self perception of rewards attained contribute significantly to their psychological distress.

Lehr 2009 revealed a correlation between educators perceived rewards and efforts. If what they expect as rewards is proportionate to their efforts then they tend to be happier than if their perceived rewards are not commensurate with their School efforts. This is where the imbalance leads to psychological distress and lower self motivation in their profession.

Conclusion

This study investigates the seemingly contradictory results of strategic academic interventions to enhance General Certificate of Education GCE Cambridge O and A Level achievement in one of Pakistan largest private school chains. Designed to counteract a Safe School Environment three year slide in high performing AA grades the differentiation strategy sorting students based on ability for targeted instruction was introduced in an effort to enhance academic outcomes and restore the institutions reputation.

In spite of past success the Southern Sector of the education system was subjected to ongoing poor performance after COVID fueled by heightened competition changing student expectations and the growth of tuition centered institutions.

A recovery program based on differentiation differed from campus to campus with inconsistent results. Although the initiative effectively curbed failing grades it failed to cause a notable surge in high performing students. Evidence showed that there had been a decline in U grades between 2021 and 2023 but with a concurrent fall in high achievers raising serious questions about the effectiveness of the approach. Based on case analysis classroom observations focus groups and monitoring of academic performance on 22 Academic Pressure Management campuses the research concludes that although differentiation can assist underachievers in achieving pass grades it has the unintended consequence of excluding high performers and resulting in stagnation or decrease in AA outcomes.

Mixed ability groups on the other hand encouraged collaboration peer learning and emotional support arguing that social dynamics within learning spaces could affect performance outcomes more than academic segregation. The research also highlights working challenges poor teacher training irregular implementation of differentiation and burnout from overworked roles. The widespread private tuition culture additionally made in school learning experience more challenging. High achievers Anxiety Support tended to be left to self-direct while teacher time was devoted to assisting struggling learners under pressure to keep school averages and broaden overall grade distributions.