The emotional well-being of educational professionals and the organization of work

Assessing psychosocial risks associated with the field of education

Ariadna Galtes Camps

Psychologist. Henka Program.

Henka

Benestar emocional professionals educatius i organització del treball

Educational professionals feel undervalued, have high psychological demands and are exposed to difficult work environments with an increased incidence of violence in the classroom. These are some of the conclusions of the International Barometer of Health and Well-being of Education Personnel (I-BEST 2023) report published by the Red Educación y Solidaridad association and the Fundación de Empresa para la Salud Pública . This study was carried out in different countries that, despite having a very diverse social structure, share results and highlight the concern for the health and emotional well-being of these figures who are largely responsible for educating the adults of tomorrow.

To understand the discomfort of education professionals, we must look at social changes and focus on the organization of work . Faced with changes in society, we must question how we reorganize work. Due to the social changes of recent years, the reality in classrooms has changed a lot and at a very frenetic pace. The technological revolution , for example, arrived to turn everything upside down and, over time, we are seeing the pros and cons of its use in classrooms. Then the pandemic arrived and great changes occurred again, shaking the forms of relationship and learning of the entire educational community. In addition, the high incidence of different forms of emotional discomfort and mental health problems in adolescents today are also a challenge for the entire community, and directly impact educational professionals.

The importance of promoting resilience in adolescent students

All these events have altered organizations and educational centers and, from the perspective of occupational health, we must question what implication they have on the health of teachers and different educational professionals, since with these social transformations, health problems associated with work may increase.

First, we must focus on the organization of work: new realities generate new needs that require new forms of organization and planning. In occupational risk prevention, psychosocial factors are defined as those health risk factors that originate in the organization of work and that generate physiological (neuroendocrine reactions), emotional (feelings of anxiety, depression, apathy, etc.), cognitive (concentration, creativity, decision-making, etc.) and behavioral (substance abuse, assumption of unnecessary risks, etc.) responses that are popularly known as stress and that can be precursors of illness in certain circumstances of intensity, frequency and duration . According to the Law on Prevention of Occupational Risks, the tool we have to measure exposure to psychosocial risk, the risk that is not seen but that is there and can make us sick, is the psychosocial risk assessment .

Psychosocial factors are those health risk factors that originate in the organization of work and that generate physiological, emotional, cognitive and behavioral responses that can be precursors of illness in certain circumstances of intensity, frequency and duration.

15 dimensions of psychosocial risks

To assess exposure to psychosocial risks and improve working conditions, we have a validated, reliable instrument adapted to the reality of our country, the Method for the Assessment and Prevention of Psychosocial Risks CoPsoQ PSQCAT (version 2) , of great international prestige. According to this methodology, psychosocial risks can have up to 15 different dimensions:

Quantitative psychological demands : these are those derived from the amount of work.
Work pace : refers to the intensity of work (ratio of amount of work to time to carry it out).
Emotional psychological demands : derived from emotions and working with people.
Double presence : synchronous demands between the work and domestic-family spheres.
Influence : margin of autonomy in the day-to-day work in general.
Development possibilities : opportunities offered by carrying out tasks to put skills into practice and acquire new ones.
Meaning of work : meaning related to the utility, social importance, learning, that we give to work.
Leadership quality : characteristics of team management of managers.
Predictability : having all the appropriate information to be able to perform tasks well.
Role clarity : is the specific knowledge of the tasks to be performed.
Role conflict : contradictory demands that arise at work.
Job insecurity : concern about the future of losing your job.
Insecurity about working conditions : concern about changing working conditions (working hours, schedule, salary, etc.).
Vertical confidence : the certainty that one is acting competently.
Justice : has to do with labor management practices and the level of participation.

By carrying out an assessment of psychosocial risks in the educational center, we will be able to detect which factors its professionals are exposed to and, by creating a working group, decide which preventive measures we can apply to reduce the risk of getting sick (of suffering stress, cardiovascular diseases, anxiety, contractures, among others).

In the case of teachers, as with other professions where there is direct work with people, there are certain exposures that we cannot avoid, that is, that are part of the nature of the task, such as emotional demands . When the task involves the relationship with adolescent boys and girls and the particularities of this stage , this emotional dimension is key.