How Teacher Well-Being Impacts Educational Success?
A new report prepared in collaboration between Jennifer Merriman, the global director of research, policy, and design at the International Baccalaureate Organization, and the Oxford University Centre for Wellbeing Research has revealed that teacher well-being significantly contributes to school success.
The research reveals that factors such as teachers’ workload, school climate and perceptions of support directly affect teachers’ overall well-being. According to a survey conducted by Gallup in 2022, 44 per cent of K-12 education workers in the United States stated that they felt burnout constantly or very often in their jobs, and teachers stood out as the group with the highest burnout rate.
Merriman emphasizes the need for a closer focus on teacher well-being following the difficulties experienced by schools during the pandemic and points out that research in this area is limited. This study, the second of the International Baccalaureate’s three research series, divides teacher well-being into factors such as job satisfaction, physical health, work-life balance and class size, and discusses how schools should approach these issues.
The report lists school climate, salary satisfaction, supportive professional relationships, job security, continuous learning and workplace recognition as school-level factors that increase teacher job satisfaction. Merriman points to the important link between the well-being of teachers and students, stating that schools need to understand what really matters to teachers and staff and explore what drives school satisfaction in the local context.