Well-being at work and working conditions in primary and secondary school teachers

Abstract

Working conditions refer to the particularities of the environment in which work activities are carried out. Throughout history, teachers' working conditions have undergone continuous transformations under different educational reforms, which have an impact on their well-being at work. The research objective was to analyze the relationship between the assessment of working conditions and perceived occupational well-being in 132 primary and secondary teachers from public and private schools in the city of Cali, Colombia. It was carried out by means of a quantitative methodology with a correlational design and intentional non-probabilistic sampling. It was evidenced that increasing in the time devoted to performing the teaching function, organization and workload affects teachers´ welfare. Additionally, a significant relationship was found between the working conditions and the labor well-being of teachers. The type of short-term contracting generates job insecurity and instability and some collateral effects such as somatization and exhaustion, which are detrimental to their work performance, health, and wellbeing.