The psychosocial work environment among educators during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background The education sector has been heavily impacted by COVID-19. While the impact on school-aged children has received much attention, less attention has focused on the experiences of educators. Aims To compare various dimensions of the psychosocial work environment and health outcomes between educators engaged in online learning to those engaged in in-person learning in the Canadian province of Ontario. Methods Responses from 5438 educators engaged in either online or in-person learning were collected between 23 November and 21 December 2020; three months after the start of the 2020/21 academic year in September 2020. Psychosocial outcomes included quantitative demands, work pace, predictability, role conflicts, and social support from supervisors and co-workers; assessed using an abbreviated version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire. Secondary outcomes included burnout and sleep troubles. Ordinary Least-Squares regression models examined adjusted mean differences in the levels of outcomes for respondents in in-person versus online learning, after adjustment for a variety of covariates. Results Compared to respondents engaged in in-person learning, respondents engaged in online learning reported less predictability, higher role conflicts and less support from supervisors and co-workers. Statistically significant differences in work pace, burnout and sleep troubles were also observed across learning modes, although these differences did not exceed previously suggested thresholds for minimum important differences. Conclusions Important differences in the psychosocial work environment were observed between respondents engaged in in-person learning versus online learning. Addressing these differences is required, given the potential continued importance of online learning within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

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“…al., 2022). This is supported by Smith et. al (2022) that stated in their research that among education workers, those who engaged in online education have worse psychosocial exposures, leading to high rates of burnout.…”

Does the level of burnout differ between occupational groups in Lithuania?

“…The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has affected countries around the world, posing enormous challenges. The strain on healthcare systems and the education sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased psychological distress and burnout among healthcare workers and teachers ( 1 , 2 ). There is no doubt that employees of these occupational groups are working in the most adverse environment regarding psychosocial work conditions.…”

“…Researchers have demonstrated that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused psychological distress, anxiety, depression, and, in some cases, death by suicide among healthcare workers (3)(4)(5) also the sudden change in the educational system pressured schools to formulate a teaching-learning program that will meet the requirement of the new normal classroom setting. Teachers with online learning reported some problems such as higher role conflicts and less support from supervisors and co-workers, distress, and anxiety (2,6).…”