Examining Well-Being in School Context: Weekly Experiences of Pupils and Teachers

Abstract

The present study investigates the determinants and intercorrelations between teachers’ and pupils’ well-being and motivation in the school context. Based on self-determination theory and job demands-resources theory, we hypothesize that (a) teachers’ weekly self-concordant work motivation promotes teachers’ weekly work-related well-being (i.e. work-related positive affect and work engagement), and (b) that a crossover effect of teachers’ weekly work-related well-being on pupils’ weekly school-related well-being exists, while controlling for trait-level teachers’ antecedents of trait-level teachers’ work-related well-being: job demands and job resources. A quantitative weekly diary methodology is employed. Participants are primary school pupils and their teachers from six European countries.

Keywords

• teachers’ work-related well-being
• self-concordant motivation for work
• pupils’ well-being
• diary study