An investigation into Maltese teachers’ perception of their wellbeing in the ELT Industry in Malta

Abstract

A considerable number of studies on the language teaching have concluded that the teaching profession in general is characterized by high occurrences of emotional exhaustion and burnout which very often lead to low levels of wellbeing in the teachers and which, in itself, is a major concern for the teaching profession (Collie et al., 2015; Mohammdi, 2015;). It has additionally been reported that teachers who experience low levels of wellbeing are more likely to suffer from mental health problems than those who experience high levels of wellbeing in their employment (Weale, 2020). The aim of the present study was to look into the current situation of the wellbeing of the English as a foreign language teachers (ELT) in Malta. Additionally, it focused on circumstances which could possibly, positively or negatively, influence teachers’ wellbeing in four domains of the teaching profession. These were, teachers’ understanding of their wellbeing, factors that strengthen or hinder teachers’ wellbeing in relation to their environmental wellbeing, their communal wellbeing, and, their personal wellbeing. Furthermore, the current study examined the self-regulation strategies the ELT teachers apply. Data for this present study was collected by means of semi-structured interviews as well as from the participants’ written narratives. Findings conclude that conditions such as low salary, working without a proper contract and students’ misbehavior, are the highest causative factors that negatively affected ELT teachers’ wellbeing. Conversely, students’ achievements are seen to be the most influential in boosting the wellbeing of teachers. Furthermore, findings show that teachers’ years of teaching experience enable them to deal with their daily stressors. Consequently, this study found that more wellbeing training programmers are needed so as to equip ELT teachers with the adequate tools to safeguard their wellbeing.