Happiness at school : towards a plan of pastoral support for staff members

Abstract

The dissertation examines the need of prioritisation of staff happiness at school. What is at stake in this research is to establish and understand the need for pastoral support to aid sustain or achieve happiness in schools. Current pastoral support present in schools and ways which will help to strengthen or introduce this support, are identified. Research on pastoral support for school staff is limited, both in Malta and abroad. This research helps to shed light on what is needed for educators to be guided and supported in their work and personal life issues. Such support will lead teachers and school management teams (SMT) to be happy and fulfilled, which will positively influence students in schools. The literature on happiness identified two modes of happiness, hedonic and eudemonic. Hedonic happiness was found to be attained through the pursuit of extrinsic goals, whilst eudemonic happiness is acquired through intrinsic goals. People seeking both hedonic and eudemonic happiness have a fulfilling life. Personal effort has a great impact on happiness’ levels. Educators are faced with work-related health issues that include stress, emotional labour, anxiety, mental health problems and psychological strain. These all lead to unhappiness. Lack of coping skills lead over time to emotional exhaustion and burnout. Pastoral support is beneficial as it helps people in their quest for moral truth and tackles issues that impinge on persons’ work life. Pastoral ministers guide people in their pursuit for fundamental values, that are meaningful to the individual given their current situation. Pastoral care should be proactive and does not wait to respond until a problem arises. Social and emotional competences are required, by human beings, in their quest to find a meaningful life and to acquire a healthy mind, body and soul. These competences aid in the personal development of educators and are essential in the formation and maintaining of the relationships between teachers and students. Pastoral support helps in achieving self-awareness through the use of both emotional and spiritual intelligences. People have ingrained emotional, spiritual and intellectual intelligences, which aid human beings to reach their full potential and be happy.