Teacher's Professional Agency and Well-being in the Classroom

This longitudinal dissertation examined the development of the professional agency
of class teachers and its relation to (1) teachers’ work-related well-being, and (2) stu-
dents’ study well-being. In this study, teacher’s professional agency describes the
teacher's motivation, efficacy, and strategies to learn and to enable students' learning
in the classroom. Class teacher’s work-related well-being was examined by identify-
ing teacher’s experiences of socio-contextual burnout symptoms and abilities to pro-
actively regulate workload in teaching work, independently and together with col-
leagues. The study also examined the well-being of primary school students and stu-
dent groups (Grades 4 and 5) by identifying the perceived symptoms of study burn-
out and study engagement.
This dissertation consists of three studies that utilised two longitudinal data sets.
Study I utilised the teacher survey data collected in 2011 and 2016 (n = 815). Studies
II and III utilised teacher–student survey data that included a 3-year follow-up
teacher survey collected in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and a 3-year follow-up student sur-
vey collected in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Study II examined the 3-year follow-up teacher
survey (n = 1920) and Study III examined the combined teacher–student survey data
collected in 2017 and 2018 [n(teachers) = 102, n(students) = 1893]. The research data
were analysed using longitudinal variable-centred and person-centred structural
equation modelling methods that included a cross-lagged panel model, longitudinal
latent profile analysis and multi-level modelling.
Study I explored the level and stability of professional agency experience among
class teachers and its association with feelings of inadequacy in teacher–student in-
teraction over a 5-year period. The results of Study I showed that class teachers ex-
perienced strong and stable professional agency over a 5-year time. In particular, the
teacher's strive to transform classroom practices flexibly and collaboratively reduced
their feelings of inadequacy in terms of succeeding in their work. However, in con-
trast, the results indicated that a teacher’s strong aspiration and desire to learn new
things and reflect on their own actions as a teacher can even increase their feelings
of inadequacy when aiming to find pedagogical solutions to meet the needs of the
student group.
Study II examined the profiles of the professional agency development of class
teachers and their connection to the teachers’ experiences of socio-contextual burn-
out symptoms and abilities to regulate burnout in work. The results showed that the
class teachers were divided into four different profiles in terms of the development
of their professional agency. The majority (73%) of class teachers experienced strong
and stable agency, about a quarter (23%) experienced moderately high agency and
only a few experienced increasing (3%) or decreasing (1%) agency. Teachers who
were part of the high and stable agency profile experienced the least of the following
burnout symptoms: (1) feelings of inadequacy in teacher–student interaction, (2)
cynicism towards the work community and (3) exhaustion. Respectively, they expe-
rienced the greatest abilities in regulating their workload proactively by utilising self-
and co-regulation strategies.
Study III examined the relationship between the class teacher’s professional
agency and primary school students’ study well-being at the student and class group
level. The results showed that study burnout and study engagement are relatively
stable, and they are negatively related to each other at the student level over a 2-year
period among primary school students who were examined in Grades 4 and 5. At
the class level, the differences between student groups in terms of perceived study
burnout are very stable over time; therefore, they require conscious pedagogical prac-
tices to strengthen students’ study well-being. In addition, the results show that stu-
dents’ prolonged study burnout at the student group level seems to predict the class
teacher’s impaired experience of their professional agency.
In light of this dissertation, class teachers experience strong and stable profes-
sional agency. In other words, the majority of class teachers want, have efficacy for
and feel that they can learn and modify their work methods when working with stu-
dents. A strong experience of professional agency protects and strengthens the
work-related well-being of the class teacher and, at best, supports the study well-
being of the students in the class. However, the strong experience of study burnout
in the student group challenges the study well-being of the student group and the
professional agency of the class teacher.
In conclusion, the collaborative practices of the class teacher and the students
and the co-regulation of the teacher community play a key role in the teacher's pro-
fessional agency and well-being at work along with the well-being of the student
group. Thus, achieving overall well-being in the classroom cannot be the sole re-
sponsibility of the class teacher, it requires the support of functioning school com-
munity structures, such as opportunities for student participation and co-regulation
of teachers.