Title: Teachers' perceptions about professional motivation and well-being: an actual perspective

Authors: Helena Dias; Inês Oliveira Gonçalves; Susana Sá; Joana Costa; João Pascoinho; Aldina Sofia Silva

Addresses: Center for Research, Development and Innovation – CIDI, Rua Universitária, Medelo, Apartado 178, 4824-909 Fafe, Portugal ' Center for Research, Development and Innovation – CIDI, Rua Universitária, Medelo, Apartado 178, 4824-909 Fafe, Portugal; Research Center in Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal ' Center for Research, Development and Innovation – CIDI, Rua Universitária, Medelo, Apartado 178, 4824-909 Fafe, Portugal ' Center for Research, Development and Innovation – CIDI, Rua Universitária, Medelo, Apartado 178, 4824-909 Fafe, Portugal ' Center for Research, Development and Innovation – CIDI, Rua Universitária, Medelo, Apartado 178, 4824-909 Fafe, Portugal ' Center for Research, Development and Innovation – CIDI, Rua Universitária, Medelo, Apartado 178, 4824-909 Fafe, Portugal; Research Center in Training, Innovation and Intervention in Sport, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

Abstract: At COVID-19 health crisis, teachers were considered first-line professionals in education. Nevertheless, the impact of the teaching career statute revision, teachers' social and economic devaluation, the school management and administration model, and teachers' performance assessment is still a cause of demotivation and dissatisfaction. Therefore, our aim was to understand the motivation and well-being of teachers with the educational policies applied in recent years. For that, a questionnaire was applied to 238 teachers. Subjects were not very motivated, unsatisfied with their profession, little recognised, and perceived their working conditions as unsatisfactory. Moreover, there is an unsatisfactory perception of leadership and their professional future. In conclusion, teachers reveal they were exhausted and unmotivated with their professional conditions due to the educational policies applied in recent years, the statute of the teaching career the main cause of the discomfort, namely teaching performance assessment and the lack of professional social recognition.

Keywords: motivation; leadership; school environment; learning; teaching.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEED.2025.143624

International Journal of Education Economics and Development, 2025 Vol.16 No.1/2, pp.199 - 208

Received: 24 May 2023
Accepted: 30 Nov 2023
Published online: 02 Jan 2025 *

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