Consequences of COVID-19 Confinement for Teachers: Family-Work Interactions, Technostress, and Perceived Organizational Support

Abstract

The confinement experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a rethink of the teaching–learning process to which teachers have responded without planning and instead used their resources. This study aimed to analyze the relationships between work–family interactions, technostress, and perceived organizational support in teachers during the confinement period in Spain that began in March 2020. An online survey was administered to 640 pre-school, primary, and secondary school teachers. Positive reciprocal work–family interactions and their relationship with organizational support were found, with differences according to gender, with women showing a more negative perception of the impact on the family. There were no marked levels of technostress in the overall sample, although higher levels of perceived ineffectiveness and skepticism were found in teachers aged 46 years or older. Teachers in private and subsidized schools showed a higher level of perceived support than those in public schools. There is a need to continue this work to verify the values of these dimensions in other contexts and to apply institutional measures and public policies to improve these indicators in this group.

Impact of Organizational and Family Support on Work-Life Balance: An Empirical Research

“…Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison, and Sowa (1986) defined the term as "employees' global beliefs concerning the extent to which the organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being". Generally, an institution is responsible for providing its staff with a healthy and peaceful working life (Akter et al, 2021), whereas organizational WLB policies and practices can reduce their occupational stress and job burnout, thereby, adequate organizational support helps people to balance their professional and personal life (Asiedu-Appiah & Zoogah, 2019;Geevarghese & Devi, 2018;Nayak & Sharma, 2018;Solís García et al, 2021). Institutions and departments can assist people to perform their family (personal) obligations easily as well as to be compatible with their careers (Akter et al, 2021).…”

“…Lago Urbano & Real Castelao, 2021). To make the new teaching-learning strategy successful, they had to re-arrange their daily duties both at home and work (Solís García et al, 2021).…”

“…Lago Urbano & Real Castelao, 2021). To make the new teaching-learning strategy successful, they had to re-arrange their daily duties both at home and work (Solís García et al, 2021). Higher educational institutions in Bangladesh have been playing a crucial role in adapting to the changes in the global education systems and unlocking the potential future through ensuring quality education for the development of the country (Akter & Banik, 2019;Murad, Vanfretti, Rokonuzzaman & Tuhin, 2017).…”

“…These outcomes, therefore, have led to work-life balance research on academicians of Bangladeshi HEIs. Based on the human resource management practice, literature argued that family-friendly organizational policies can assist people to reduce their work-family conflict and to manage their job duties and family responsibilities (Baral, 2019;Hammer, 2021;Solís García et al, 2021). Research indicated the significance of organizational roles for making happiness in people's professional life (Akter, Tang & Adnan, 2021;Hammer, 2021).…”

“…Research indicated the significance of organizational roles for making happiness in people's professional life (Akter, Tang & Adnan, 2021;Hammer, 2021). It can be argued that when individuals can have a peaceful professional life, they can mitigate the issues of their personal life too, through organizational assistance (Hammer, 2021;Solís García et al, 2021). That is how the term 'work-life balance' has been pronounced in today's working environment, where the term is considered as the well-being among employees and organizations to improve both employee performance and organizational efficiencies.…”