An Investigation into the Views of Refugee Students’ Teachers on Their Subjective Well-Being: A Qualitative Descriptive Study

Nejat İra, Eylem Yalçınkaya Önder & Tuğçe Gül Çetin

doi:https://doi.org/10.29329/epasr.2020.345.16

Original article | Educational Policy Analysis and Strategic Research 2021, Vol. 16(2) 354-365

An Investigation into the Views of Refugee Students’ Teachers on Their Subjective Well-Being: A Qualitative Descriptive Study

Nejat İra, Eylem Yalçınkaya Önder & Tuğçe Gül Çetin

pp. 354 - 365 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.29329/epasr.2020.345.16 | Manu. Number: MANU-2104-15-0003.R1

Published online: May 27, 2021 | Number of Views: 198 | Number of Download: 507

Save PDF

Abstract

The negative effects of natural and social issues on individuals have necessitated the discussion of the concept of subjective well-being as a major health concern. Teachers' subjective well-being has a crucial role in the functioning of the education system. This qualitative descriptive study aims to examine the views of refugees’ teachers on their subjective well-being. The data obtained in the study were collected with semi-structured interviews. The data were collected from seven teachers working at a public primary school in Çanakkale, Turkey in the fall semester of the 2020-2021 academic year. The analyses of the semi-structured interviews with the teachers of the refugee students produced four subjective well-being themes – i.e., family relationships, communication with refugee students, cooperation with parents, and working conditions. The data revealed that teacher's good relationships with the refugee students’ family members and parents, culture-sensitive education-oriented communication with students, and working conditions with a supporting school environment were key to enhancing subjective well-being of the refugees’ teachers. This result presented a crucial implication for policymakers to prepare in-service training for the population of the interviewed teachers.

Keywords: Subjective Well-Being, Primary School Teachers, Refugee Students, Primary Schools

How to Cite this Article?

APA 6th edition
Ira, N., Onder, E.Y. & Cetin, T.G. (2021). An Investigation into the Views of Refugee Students’ Teachers on Their Subjective Well-Being: A Qualitative Descriptive Study . Educational Policy Analysis and Strategic Research, 16(2), 354-365. doi: 10.29329/epasr.2020.345.16

Harvard
Ira, N., Onder, E. and Cetin, T. (2021). An Investigation into the Views of Refugee Students’ Teachers on Their Subjective Well-Being: A Qualitative Descriptive Study . Educational Policy Analysis and Strategic Research, 16(2), pp. 354-365.

Chicago 16th edition
Ira, Nejat, Eylem Yalcinkaya Onder and Tugce Gul Cetin (2021). "An Investigation into the Views of Refugee Students’ Teachers on Their Subjective Well-Being: A Qualitative Descriptive Study ". Educational Policy Analysis and Strategic Research 16 (2):354-365. doi:10.29329/epasr.2020.345.16.

References

Albuquerque, I., de Lima, M. P., Figueiredo, C., & Matos, M. (2012). Subjective well-being structure: Confirmatory factor analysis in a teachers’ Portuguese sample. Social Indicators Research, 105(3), 569-580. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9789-6 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
Arslan, G. (2018). Understanding the association between positive psychological functioning at work and cognitive wellbeing in teachers. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 2(2), 113-127. [Google Scholar]
Bashaireh, S., & David, S. A. (2019). Appreciate leadership and teacher’s subjective well-being: An Appreciative tool for an appreciative outcome. Specialty Journal of Psychology and Management, 5(3), 46-63. [Google Scholar]
Bergman, M. M., & Scott, J. (2001). Young adolescents' wellbeing and health-risk behaviours: Gender and socio-economic differences. Journal of Adolescence, 24(2), 183-197 [Google Scholar]
Biswas-Diener, R., Diener, E., & Tamir, M. (2004). The psychology of subjective well-being. Daedalus, 133(2), 18-25. [Google Scholar]
Calaguas, G. M. (2017). Satisfied and happy: Establishing link between job satisfaction and subjective well-being. Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 5(1), 104-111. [Google Scholar]
Cansoy, R., Parlar, H., & Turkoglu, M. E. (2020). A predictor of teachers’ psychological well-being: Teacher self-efficacy. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 12(4), 41-55. [Google Scholar]
Cenkseven-Onder, F., & Sari, M. (2009). The quality of school life and burnout as predictors of subjective well-being among teachers. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 9(3), 1223-1235. [Google Scholar]
Chan, D. W. (2010). Gratitude, gratitude intervention and subjective well‐being among Chinese schoolteachers in Hong Kong. Educational Psychology, 30(2), 139-153. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410903493934 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
Çetin, A. (2019). An analysis of the relationship between teachers’ subjective wellbeing and their occupational resilience. Sakarya University Journal of Education, 9(3), 506-521. [Google Scholar]
Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being, the science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychologist, 55(1), 34-39. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.34 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
Diener, E., Suh, E., & Oishi, S. (1997). Recent findings on subjective well-being. Indian Journal of Clinical Psychology, 24, 25-41. [Google Scholar]
Eid, M., & Diener, E. (2004). Global judgments of subjective well-being: Situational variability and long-term stability. Social Indicators Research, 65(3), 245-277. [Google Scholar]
Forgeard, M. J., Jayawickreme, E., Kern, M. L., & Seligman, M. E. (2011). Doing the right thing: Measuring wellbeing for public policy. International Journal of Wellbeing, 1(1), 79-106. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v1i1.15 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
Gülaçtı, F. (2010). The effect of perceived social support on subjective well-being. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 3844-3849. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.602 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
Haybron, D. M. (2000). Two philosophical problems in the study of happiness. Journal of Happiness Studies, 1(2), 207–225. [Google Scholar]
Heidmets, M., & Liik, K. (2014). School principals’ leadership style and teachers’ subjective well-being at school. Problems of Education in the 21st Century, 62, 40-50. [Google Scholar]
Hefferon, K., & Boniwell, I. (2011). Positive psychology theory, research and applications. Open University Press McGraw-Hill Education. [Google Scholar]
Hung, C. H., Lin, C. W., & Yu, M. N. (2016). Reduction of the depression caused by work stress for teachers: Subjective well-being as a mediator. International Journal of Research Studies in Psychology, 5(3), 25-35. https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsp.2016.1461 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
Jalali, Z., & Heidari, A. (2016). The relationship between happiness, subjective well-being, creativity and Job performance of primary school teachers in Ramhormoz City. International Education Studies, 9(6), 45-52. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v9n6p45 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
Janovská, A., Orosová, O., & Janovský, J. (2017). Head teacher’s social support, personality variables and subjective well-being of Slovak primary teachers. Orbis Scholae, 10(3), 71-87. [Google Scholar]
Myers, D. G., & Diener, E. (1995). Who is happy? Psychological Science, 6(1), 10-19. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1995.tb00298.x [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
Poormahmood, A., Moayedi, F., & Alizadeh, K. H. (2017). Relationships between psychological well-being, happiness and perceived occupational stress among primary school teachers. Archives of Hellenic Medicine/Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes, 34(4), 504-510. [Google Scholar]
Rahm, T., & Heise, E. (2019). Teaching happiness to teachers–Development and evaluation of a training in subjective well-being. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2703. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02703 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
Renshaw, T. L., Long, A. C., & Cook, C. R. (2015). Assessing teachers’ positive psychological functioning at work: Development and validation of the Teacher Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire. School Psychology Quarterly, 30(2), 289-306. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000112 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
Song, H., Gu, Q., & Zhang, Z. (2020). An exploratory study of teachers’ subjective wellbeing: Understanding the links between teachers’ income satisfaction, altruism, self-efficacy and work satisfaction. Teachers and Teaching, 26(1), 3-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2020.1719059 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
Situmorang, N. Z., Tentama, F., Mujidin, M., Sari, E. Y. D., Andini, Y., et al. (2019). Female teachers’ subjective well-being from the aspects of gratitude, optimism, and work-family balance. In (pp. 141-144) 1st International Conference on Life, Innovation, Change and Knowledge (ICLICK 2018), July. Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/iclick-18.2019.29 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
Tang, Y. (2018). What makes rural teachers happy? An investigation on the subjective well-being (SWB) of Chinese rural teachers. International Journal of Educational Development, 62, 192-200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2018.05.001 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
Üzar-Özçetin, S., Çelik, S., & Özenç-Ira, G. (2020). The relationships among psychological resilience, intercultural sensitivity and empathetic tendency among teachers of Syrian refugee children in Turkey. Health and Social Care in the Community. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13215 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
Veronese, G., Pepe, A., Dagdukee, J., & Yaghi, S. (2018). Teaching in conflict settings: Dimensions of subjective wellbeing in Arab teachers living in Israel and Palestine. International Journal of Educational Development, 61, 16-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2017.11.009 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

Volume 16 Issue 2

June 2021

All Articles