A study highlights the keys to improving teachers' motivation and commitment

Ensuring that teachers are motivated and fully committed to their work is crucial for their well-being, as well as for guaranteeing their students' educational success. With this in mind, an international study coordinated by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and involving the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and the Universitat de Barcelona (UB) analysed and compared the preferences of primary and secondary school teachers in urban environments in Chile, Norway and Catalonia regarding various aspects of their work, such as rewards and types of assessment. The results, which have been published as open-access in Teaching and Teacher Education, show that the value of those surveyed attach to specific aspects of their work varies significantly depending on the context.

"One way to address teachers' dissatisfaction and burnout is not to apply the same policies everywhere, but instead to tailor education policies to their specific preferences, taking the country or cultural context into account. This tailored approach could help prevent the dissatisfaction that arises when teachers believe that policies are not aligned to their situation," said Gerard Ferrer Esteban, a member of the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences and coordinator of the Social Education Laboratory (LES) research group at the UOC. He co-authored the article with Antonina Levatino, a researcher at the UB when the study took place who is now working at the University of Seville, and Antoni Verger, a professor in the Department of Sociology at the UAB, the institution coordinating the research.

"For example, in places like Catalonia and Norway, which have a tradition of horizontal school governance, more importance is placed on collegiality than individual financial rewards. In these cases, qualitative assessment and collective rewards can help improve teachers' well-being and reduce burnout and the loss of motivation. However, in places like Chile, where working conditions are more unstable, school governance policies that cater to teachers' material needs and expectations tend to be prioritized," said Verger.

Despite these differences between the three education systems, the study also identified some common preferences among the teachers in all three places, which the researchers believe can shape educational policies to improve teachers' motivation and well-being:

1. More diverse and equitable schools

A common characteristic among the teachers in the three education systems is their preference for socially mixed classes, which create richer and more inclusive learning environments. According to the researchers, this preference is related to the idea that working in different environments fosters collaboration and adaptation, and enriches teaching.

According to Ferrer Esteban, school desegregation policies are crucial for ensuring diversity in the classroom, and preventing students from being segregated according to their socioeconomic or ethnic background. "These policies can not only improve overall educational outcomes, but also help reinforce social cohesion and mutual respect. More diverse and equitable schools also create a more positive and enriching work environment for teachers, which increases their professional satisfaction and levels of commitment," he said.

2. Qualitative assessment methods

The area in which the study identified the most striking similarities between the preferences of the teachers in the three countries was in the methods used for assessing their work. The teachers in all three education systems prefer to be assessed with qualitative methodologies based on their classroom practices, such as classroom observation by colleagues and constructive feedback, rather than using outcome-based methods and metrics according to external standardized tests.

"It's not true that teachers don't want to be assessed, as people from outside education often say. What teachers don't want is to be assessed with instruments that are only based on their students' results, and which therefore do not take the complex nature of their work into account," stressed Ferrer Esteban. The participants in the study see qualitative methods as more constructive and less stressful, as they provide a more comprehensive view of educational practice and promote continuous improvement by means of collective feedback and professional reflection. "This type of assessment also fosters collegiality and teamwork, which are important factors in teachers' satisfaction and well-being," he said.

3. Collective rewards for the school

Another common feature among the participants in the study is their rejection of management practices that foster competition between teachers, rigid hierarchies and pressure to obtain results. These practices, which are often associated with public management models inspired by organizational techniques widely used in the private sector, such as new public management (NPM), can create tensions and unhappiness, as they erode trust and collaboration between colleagues, which are crucial for creating a good working environment.

In contrast to competition between colleagues, collective rewards, implemented in the school (and not individually), which could foster a more motivated, cooperative and cohesive working environment, are preferred in all three contexts studied. "This could have a positive impact on teachers' well-being and on the school's overall performance," explained Ferrer Esteban.

4. Clear goals and effective communication

Another shared preference is for clear and well-communicated goals. According to the researchers, teachers are more confident in their work when educational objectives are clearly defined and shared, and the levels of stress associated with uncertainty or a lack of direction are lower. "These objectives, combined with the right assessment and effective communication, help to create a structured and motivating work environment, which improves the teachers' professional experience," emphasized Ferrer Esteban.

Innovative methods to avoid bias

In order to obtain these results, the researchers asked the participants in the study to choose between pairs of schools which differed in terms of five characteristics related to different work dimensions: school's composition, teacher evaluation, goal-setting, support, and results-based financial rewards. "These are aspects that have been directly or indirectly affected by recent educational reforms," explained the authors.

According to the researchers, this is an innovative approach in the field of the social sciences which helps to overcome the limitations of surveys containing direct questions, as it provides an unbiased estimate of the importance that teachers attribute to the different dimensions of their work. In specific terms, these experiments offset the potential bias of social desirability, i.e. when participants answer in a way that they believe is socially desirable, rather than according to their real beliefs. "This bias can appear when teachers are asked about productivity-based financial rewards and other instruments that are controversial and often seen as politically charged," concluded Ferrer Esteban.

This research, funded by the European Research Council (ERC) within the framework of the Reformed research project coordinated by the UAB, contributes to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: inclusive, equitable and quality education.

Reference article:

Levatino, A., Ferrer-Esteban, G., & Verger, A. (2024). Unveiling teachers' work preferences: A conjoint experiment on the implications of school governance reform across three countries. Teaching and Teacher Education, 146, 104631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2024.104631

UOC R&I

The UOC's research and innovation (R&I) is helping overcome pressing challenges faced by global societies in the 21st century by studying interactions between technology and human & social sciences with a specific focus on the network society, e-learning and e-health.

Over 500 researchers and more than 50 research groups work in the UOC's seven faculties, its eLearning Research programme and its two research centres: the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) and the eHealth Center (eHC).

The university also develops online learning innovations at its eLearning Innovation Center (eLinC), as well as UOC community entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer via the Hubbik platform.

Open knowledge and the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development serve as strategic pillars for the UOC's teaching, research and innovation. More information: research.uoc.edu.