Work on the Quality of Life of Indian College Teachers

Abstract

One of the primary tasks of college teachers is to improve the learners’ quality of life by imparting knowledge and application through various courses. But what is the price of moving towards this excellence? The existing research suggests that college teachers’ quality of life is compromised. This, in turn impacts their effectiveness, enthusiasm and creativity in teaching, learning and assessment. Fostering teachers’ quality of life hence is crucial. This research investigation attempts to measure and compare three of the important predictors of teachers’ quality of life, i.e., their perceived meaningfulness at work, sense of coherence and self-actualizing tendencies. The study employs a cross-sectional survey design. A convenient, purposive randomly selected sample of 80 college teachers of a metro city college is administered standardized, psychometrically robust self-report questionnaires. Data was analysed with correlations, linear regressions and one-way ANOVA statistics. Findings reveal that a perceived sense of coherence and self-actualization strongly influences the average quality of teachers’ lives. Furthermore, spending time with family strongly correlated with all aspects of teachers’ quality of life: physical, psychological, social, and environmental health. These results strongly urge us to pay attention to teachers’ quality-of-life, create workspaces for them that provide opportunities for meaningfulness, and a sense of coherence. Re-defining their roles and workloads in the national policy-making of education is imperative, failing which the very pillars of education are at a threat.