Teachers’ Sense of Meaning Associations With Teacher Performance and Graduates’ Resilience: A Study of Schools Serving Students of Low Socio-Economic Status

Abstract

Adolescents from lower socio-economic status (SES) often experience distress in their personal life as well as at school. Moreover, their ability to overcome such difficulties and pave their path to a higher SES depends, to a certain extent, on their ability to develop resilience despite their disadvantaged background. Acknowledging the critical contribution of teachers to students’ development, in the present study, we focused on teachers as agents who may influence graduates’ resilience, and on their sense of meaning at work–a resource these teachers may draw upon to increase their performance and contribute to their disadvantaged students and to their relationships with them. Specifically, we postulated that teachers’ sense of meaning at work will be associated with teachers’ performance and that teachers’ relationships with their students would mediate this association, as they serve as the main vehicle through which teachers impact their students. We further suggested that teachers’ sense of meaning would have long-term effects on students’ coping abilities, reflected in school graduates’ resilience levels. The study comprised 857 participants, teachers and graduates, from 30 Arab vocational schools in Israel, comprising mainly low SES students. Teachers ( N = 436) completed self-report measures of their sense of meaning at work, relationships with students, and performance. Furthermore, to reveal potential long-term effects of teachers’ sense of meaning at work, school graduates ( N = 421) completed measures of their relationships with teachers and resilience. Analyses indicated a significant association of teachers’ sense of meaning with their performance, which was mediated by teachers’ reports of their relationships with students. Furthermore, teachers’ sense of meaning at work and graduates’ perceptions of their relationships with the teachers were both significantly associated with graduates’ resilience. The findings highlight teachers’ sense of meaning at work as a potential contributor to their performance, which may also contribute to students’ resilience in lower SES schools. They point to teachers’ sense of meaning as a potential resource for teachers of lower SES students and highlight the importance of nurturing and developing it in various programs and practices (e.g., teacher training, teacher development, organizational routines).

Ayurveda students' perception toward online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…This statement was supported by the researcher that innovative strategies should be implemented effectively for the identification of goals and objectives for online learnin g[11 ] by providing adequate skills and knowledge in assisting other needful features to the students. [ 12 ] As in the present study, students (43.9% agree and 26.5% strongly agree) have opined about the authenticity and quality of the learning material provided. Majority of the students (58.9%) have supported the optimum utilization of online teaching in regard to the teaching methods and media whereas 33.9% students were neutral about the statement due to the cognitive obstacles, misconceptions, language barriers, and difficult terminologies.…”

The Influence of Meaning in Life and Teacher Leadership on Teacher Professionalism through Structural Equation Model

“…As has been proven by several previous studies, meaning in life can increase teacher professionalism because they will feel that running a profession is a passion. Passion is the biggest capital for someone to work with full commitment and dedication (Lavy & Ayuob, 2019;Suyatno et al 2021). Meanwhile, the teacher leadership variable can be used to improve teacher professionalism in increasing learning effectiveness (Berry et al, 2010;Shah, 2017).…”

“…Steger and Bryan (2013) explained that meaning in life provides a foundation to develop goals and missions at work, then motivation and performance increase and promote them to contribute to the organization. Individuals with high meaning in life have the view that work is not a burden but a passion, hence success in understanding meaning in life will have an influence on professionalism at work (Erdem et al, 2014;Fu & Deshpande, 2014;Gewasari et al, 2017;Lavy & Ayuob, 2019;Milanie et al, 2019). Meanwhile, teacher leadership is a contributing factor to learning effectiveness (Berry et al, 2010;Bolkan et al, 2011;Shah, 2017).…”

Connection between Teacher Support and Student’s Achievement: Could Growth Mindset Be the Moderator?

“…Moreover, Xuan et al [30] explored that the teacher-student relationship was a mediator between school SES and students' math achievement. Furthermore, studies on teacherstudent relationships with low SES students reveal another important aspect-not only that teacher-student relationships are one of the main vehicles through which teachers can positively affect their students [31], but teachers' sense of meaning at work with their performance was mediated by teachers' relationships with students [32].…”