Education, Faculty of
Education, School of (Okanagan)
DSpace
UBCO
Tariq, Zainab
Master of Arts - MA
University of British Columbia
Owing to the critical role that teachers play not only in the success and wellbeing of students but also in the success and wellbeing of educational organizations, international scholars in the field of education are paying special attention to the wellbeing of teachers to address issues related to teachers’ wellbeing. But there is very limited research addressing this issue in the context of Pakistan. Aligned with growing research on the importance of wellbeing in schools internationally, this study is an attempt to explore and understand teachers’ perceptions and experiences of wellbeing and how they think leadership behaviours influence this sense of wellbeing in schools in Pakistan. In order to develop an insight into teachers’ sense of wellbeing and the impact of leadership, I used a qualitative case study research design. Thirteen teachers from different private schools in Lahore participated in this study to share their experiences through online open-ended questionnaires and follow-up Zoom interviews. The findings of this research study indicated that teachers develop a sense of positive wellbeing at work when they receive appreciation, positive relationships, ample professional development opportunities, and a supportive and positive work environment. It also highlighted that leadership behaviours impact all of these experiences of wellbeing at work and offers recommendations for leaders to create conditions to cultivate school environments that foster the positive wellbeing of teachers.
EXPLORING TEACHER WELLBEING AND THE INFLUENCE OF LEADERSHIP: A CASE STUDY OF PRIVATE SCHOOL TEACHERS IN PAKISTAN by Zainab Tariq Bachelor of Sciences, University of Balochistan, 2009 Master of Arts, Beaconhouse National University, 2015 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (EDUCATION) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) February - 2022 © Zainab Tariq, 2022ii The following individuals certify that they have read and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: Exploring teacher wellbeing and the influence of leadership: A case study of private school teachers in Pakistan submitted by Zainab Tariq in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Educational Leadership and Policy Examining Committee: Dr. Sabre Cherkowski, Okanagan School of Education, University of British Columbia Supervisor Dr. Lynn Bosetti, Okanagan School of Education, University of British Columbia Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Scott Douglas, Okanagan School of Education, University of British Columbia Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Fei Wang, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia Vancouver. University Examiner iii Abstract Owing to the critical role that teachers play not only in the success and wellbeing of students but also in the success and wellbeing of educational organizations, international scholars in the field of education are paying special attention to the wellbeing of teachers to address issues related to teachers’ wellbeing. But there is very limited research addressing this issue in the context of Pakistan. Aligned with growing research on the importance of wellbeing in schools internationally, this study is an attempt to explore and understand teachers’ perceptions and experiences of wellbeing and how they think leadership behaviours influence this sense of wellbeing in schools in Pakistan. In order to develop an insight into teachers’ sense of wellbeing and the impact of leadership, I used a qualitative case study research design. Thirteen teachers from different private schools in Lahore participated in this study to share their experiences through online open-ended questionnaires and follow-up Zoom interviews. The findings of this research study indicated that teachers develop a sense of positive wellbeing at work when they receive appreciation, positive relationships, ample professional development opportunities, and a supportive and positive work environment. It also highlighted that leadership behaviours impact all of these experiences of wellbeing at work and offers recommendations for leaders to create conditions to cultivate school environments that foster the positive wellbeing of teachers. iv Lay Summary Teacher wellbeing is required to ensure the success of educational organizations. However, teachers in schools in a developing country like Pakistan often experience low wellbeing. Despite its importance, there remains a lack of research on the wellbeing of teachers in Pakistan. To highlight this issue and improve the wellbeing of teachers in schools in Pakistan, I conducted a study with teachers working in different private schools in Lahore, Pakistan. Teachers shared their ideas and experiences of wellbeing and highlighted how they think leadership behaviours influence their sense of wellbeing. They indicated that when they experience appreciation, positive relationships, professional development, and a positive work environment they feel well at work. These teachers shared how school leaders play a critical role in creating these conditions that promote wellbeing. v Preface This thesis is an original intellectual product of the author, Zainab Tariq. The research reported in Chapters 3 to 5 was conducted through the protocols of The University of British Columbia’s Campus Behavioural Research Ethics Board (BREB) under the project title: Teachers’ Perceptions and Experiences of Wellbeing and Leadership in Pakistan: An Exploratory Study. UBC BREB NUMBER: H20-03524 As per UBC’s BREB guidelines, the data collection was conducted by Zainab Tariq under the guidance of the Principal Investigator and the thesis committee. The committee for this project included: • Dr. Sabre Cherkowski Graduate Supervisor and Principal Investigator Director, Okanagan School of Education. • Dr. Scott Roy Douglas Associate Professor, Okanagan School of Education. • Dr. Lynn Bosetti Professor, Okanagan School of Education.vi Table of Contents Abstract……….. ........................................................................................................................................................ iii Lay Summary ..............................................................................................................................................................iv Preface…………. ......................................................................................................................................................... v List of Tables.. ........................................................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .......................................................................................................................................................... viii Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................................................ix Dedication…….. ........................................................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 RESEARCH CONTEXT ......................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 OVERVIEW OF THE LITERATURE FRAMING THIS STUDY ............................................................................................. 9 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS FRAMING THE STUDY ...................................................................................................... 10 1.4 METHODS AND ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................ 11 1.5 OVERVIEW OF THE FINDINGS ........................................................................................................................... 12 1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH ........................................................................................................................ 12 1.7 OVERVIEW OF THE THESIS ............................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 2 Literature Review .............................................................................................................................. 14 2.1 RESEARCH INFLUENCES FOR STUDYING TEACHER WELLBEING IN PAKISTAN ............................................................... 16 2.2 CONTINUED FOCUS ON STRESS IN RESEARCH ON TEACHER WELLBEING IN PAKISTAN................................................... 17 2.3 TEACHER WELLBEING FROM A WESTERN WORLD PERSPECTIVE .............................................................................. 18 2.4 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP .............................................................................................................................. 20 2.5 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN PAKISTAN ............................................................................................................ 22 2.6 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP FROM A WESTERN WORLD PERSPECTIVE ....................................................................... 26 Chapter 3 Research Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 34 3.1 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ................................................................................................................................. 34 3.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND DESIGN .................................................................................................................. 36 3.3 PARTICIPANTS ............................................................................................................................................... 38 3.4 DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................................... 40 3.5 TRUSTWORTHINESS ........................................................................................................................................ 47 Chapter 4 Findings .............................................................................................................................................. 51 4.1 APPRECIATION .............................................................................................................................................. 52 4.2 POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS ................................................................................................................................ 58 4.3 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ......................................................................................................................... 63 4.4 WORK ENVIRONMENT .................................................................................................................................... 69 4.5 LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCES ............................................................................................................................... 78 Chapter 5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 81 5.1 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY................................................................................................................................ 81 5.2 FINDINGS ..................................................................................................................................................... 84 5.3 REFLECTING ON THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS ........................................................................................................ 87 5.4 RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 94 5.5 LIMITATIONS ................................................................................................................................................. 97 5.6 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................................ 97 References………....................................................................................................................................................... 99 Appendices……. ...................................................................................................................................................... 108 vii List of Tables Table 3.1 Demographics of the Participants ............................................................................... 39 Table 3.2 Categories Common Across Data ................................................................................ 45 Table 3.3 Categories Unique to Questionnaire and Interview Data ........................................... 46 Table 4.1 Four Major Themes Encompassing Sub-Themes ......................................................... 51 viii List of Figures Figure 5.1 Teacher Wellbeing Diagram ...................................................................................... 83 ix Acknowledgments It has been a privilege working under the kind guidance and support of the following amazing human beings over the period of my research journey: Dr. Sabre Cherkowski has been very patient and supportive throughout my research journey. She welcomed me into her supervision as an international student. Her knowledge and enlightenment helped me to enhance my research skills, reach my potential and produce a quality thesis document. I would also like to thank my research committee of Dr. Lynn Bosetti and Dr. Scott Douglas for their kind guidance and unwavering support. Their compassion and constrcutive feedback helped me to keep a track of my research and reach my goal. In addition, I extend heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Anber Rana, Dr. Monica Candal Rahim, Megan Udala, Sajni Lacey, Rina Garcia Chua, Jessica Lowry, and Maya Pilin for their time, efforts and support. This research came to life through the stories of the participants. I am grateful to them for being incredibly supportive and taking out time from their busy schedules to help me complete this research. Finally, I would like to extend my heartiest gratitude to my parents for their ongoing support, love, encouragement and motivation. Their unwavering support throughout, made me believe in myself and live my dreams. x Dedication I dedicate this research to my parents who worked against all the odds and supported my decision to come to Canada to pursue my studies and helped me to make my dream of studying at a top-notch research university and being a researcher come true. 1 Chapter 1 Introduction Teachers are one of the most important stakeholders in schools and play a significant role in the process of education. The importance of the role of teachers cannot be ignored as they are are in a direct relation to students. Therefore, it is extremely important for teachers to be well, motivated and fully engaged with the process of teaching so that they can help the students to stay well, motivated and fully engaged with the process of learning and reach their potential. The critical nature of the role of teachers and the stress associated with the teaching profession are well documented in the literature (Acton & Glasgow, 2015; Greenberg et al., 2016). Recently, teachers’ stress levels have increased with the changing educational landscape bringing increased expectations for schools to prepare the future generations to meet the emerging global challenges. Consequently, levels of teachers’ wellbeing have decreased because teachers are often overwhelmed meeting the rising demands of their jobs, and that is certainly the case with teachers in Pakistan. According to Hussain et al. (2019) who researched teacher wellbeing in Pakistan, “the ever increasing and complex responsibilities of schools have put teachers under stress across the world” (p. 144), and this includes Pakistan, the country within which he carried out his research. Although this phenomenon of increasing stress affecting teacher wellbeing has been observed globally, much of the research on teacher wellbeing has been done in what could be considered Western contexts (i.e., North America, Australia, Europe). My study aims to contribute knowledge to the research on teacher wellbeing through an exploration of teachers’ experiences of wellbeing in Pakistan. Wellbeing is often studied from the perspective of reducing stress. Stress is defined as the experience of negative and uncomfortable emotions marked by depression, anxiety and irritation caused by some internal or external factors related to work (Salami, 2010). These increased 2 levels of stress at work result in poor employee performance as well as a cost to personal life and health, which ultimately affects the whole system (Hussain et al., 2019). As asserted by Chaudhry et al. (2014) in their research on teacher wellbeing in Pakistan, stress is “a procedure in which the environmental forces threaten the person’s wellbeing” (p.72). Teachers are critical for the educational process and can be responsible for the success or failure of an educational organization in achieving its goals. Hence, assuring teachers’ wellbeing, satisfaction and happiness is crucial to the success and wellbeing of students. Unfortunately, these essential requirements for teachers are often ignored, resulting in exhaustion, uncertainty, anxiety, isolation, and stress for teachers (Bermejo et al., 2016; Fernet et al., 2012; Greenberg et al., 2016). Recent research indicates that the teaching profession has high rates of turnover with forty percent of teachers quitting their jobs even before completing half a decade of service due to high stress levels (Kilgallon et al., 2008; Le Cornu, 2013; Pillay et al., 2005). The turnover rate for teachers in Canada is about thirty percent in the first five years (Kutsyuruba & Tregunna, 2014). While those who decide to continue working under stressful conditions eventually burn out (Kilgallon et al., 2008), others disengage from their work (Brown & Roloff, 2011; Hastings & Bham, 2003; Pillay et al., 2005). This burnout is evidenced by absenteeism, increased healthcare costs, poor job performance and mental health claims (Acton & Glasgow, 2015; Naghieh et al., 2013; Ross et al., 2012; Vesely et al., 2014). Teacher attrition as a continued educational issue has reinforced the significance of teacher wellbeing in the last few years (Acton & Glasgow, 2015). Teacher stress, frustration, and burnout are very important areas of research for understanding how to ensure working and social conditions to reduce attrition and contribute to 3 teachers’ health, satisfaction, and engagement in their work. In addition, understanding wellbeing from a broader view to seek out stories and understandings of what contributes to a sense of enjoyment, purposefulness, and happiness can offer additional and important knowledge about teacher wellbeing (Cherkowski & Walker, 2018). This study aligns with other research that has taken an intentionally positive view of wellbeing to seek out stories of thriving at work (Cherkowski et al., 2020; Louis & Murphy, 2018; Ramdas & Patrick, 2018) and assumes that wellbeing extends beyond the ideas of reducing the negative effects and influences on wellbeing in our envirionments. Looking to a broader view of what wellbeing might mean for teachers, for the purposes of this study, wellbeing is understood as “an individual sense of personal professional fulfilment, satisfaction, purposefulness and happiness, constructed in a collaborative process with colleagues and students” (Acton & Glasgow, 2015, p. 102; Soini et al., 2010). Teacher wellbeing is influenced by those with whom they work, and importantly by the administrators who lead and manage the school (Cherkowski & Walker, 2018). This is likely the case in Pakistan, although there seems to be no research on the ways that leadership influences teacher wellbeing at work, and so an additional objective of this study is to contribute findings to this area of research. Research and practice has shown that leadership is a key role in ensuring the success of organisations, such as schools, given the many decisions and processes for which leaders are responsible as they manage the structures and buildings within which teachers and staff carry out their work. School administrators can play a critical role in creating school environments where teachers not only fulfil their work demands, but can also feel more fully invested and motivated to enhance their practices to ultimately enhance student learning. For example, Louis and Murphy (2018) examined and highlighted the relationship between leadership and teachers’ 4 sense of wellbeing, indicating the important role leaders play in creating a school environment that promotes teacher wellbeing. Research has shown that teachers feel a sense of wellbeing when they feel that they are supported by leaders and when leaders create positive and supportive school cultures and environment (Acton & Glasgow, 2015; Cherkowski & Walker, 2018; Louis & Murphy, 2018; Louis & Murphy, 2017). My study aims to contribute understandings about teachers experiences of wellbeing in Pakistan, and uses a more positive perspective, paying attention to how teachers experience a sense of personal and professional satisfaction, engagement, enjoyment, motivation, and happiness, among others. Additionally, given the lack of research on the ways leadership influences teacher wellbeing at work in Pakistan, as a particular context, this study is designed to gain insights about the perceived impact of leadership on teacher wellbeing. In response to these noted gaps in the research, this study is intended to explore teacher wellbeing in Pakistan with an additional perspective on the role of leadership in this sense of wellbeing. 1.1 Research Context Understanding teacher wellbeing has become an international issue, however there has been little research carried out on wellbeing for teachers in countries like Pakistan (Malik & Noreen, 2015). Much of the research on teacher wellbeing continues to focus on the contributors to stress, anxiety, frustration, and burnout (Greenberg et al., 2016), and this includes the research in countries that might be considered outside of the Global North, such as Pakistan (i.e. Malik & Noreen, 2015). In Pakistan, a developing country with limited resources and a lack of research-informed school improvement routines and structures, the discussions and focus on teacher wellbeing has not been a priority across the levels of schools and structures that make up the school system. 5 There are three parallel systems of education in Pakistan: the public sector Urdu-medium schools which are state owned and are almost free; the private sector English-medium schools which are owned by private organisations and businessmen and are expensive, mostly out of the reach of middle and low income people; and the religious schools or Madrassahs which are owned by the religious organisations or scholars and cater to the needs of people with religious orientation (Coleman, 2010; Rahman, 2004). Due to excessive workload and strong systems of accountability in private schools (mostly expensive schools catering to the elite class or upper class), private school teachers are considered to have high levels of occupational stress as compared to the teachers in the public schools which may have a more balanced workload and lack proper systems of accountability. For this study, I focused on private school teachers to explore their understanding and experiences of wellbeing and leadership. A recent study conducted by Greenberg et al. on teacher wellbeing in the United States (2016) highlighted four reasons of stress in teachers that effect their wellbeing: a) the school’s environment (e.g., administration, climate, culture); b) overwhelming job demands; c) autonomy in decision-making; and d) teachers’ personal resources and social-emotional competency for managing stress (p. 2). Recent research comparing the levels of psychological wellbeing among teachers from the USA, Turkey and Pakistan, reported similar findings in terms of the four reasons for stress among teachers and that higher levels of job stress and lower levels of wellbeing were experiences by teachers in Pakistan compared to the participating teachers in other countries (Özü et al., 2017). Similary, findings from a study by Hussain et al. (2019) in Pakistan indicated that varying levels of stress were present in 97.9% of 297 surveyed teachers. High turn over rates for teachers were attributed to the difficulties faced by them from an authoritative style of leadership and work environment of the organization (Hussain et al, 2019). 6 Additional research indicated that public school leaders in Pakistan tend to be more authoritative than the school leaders of private schools (Niqab et al., 2014). More research on leadership and teacher wellbeing in both public and private schools in Pakistan would be beneficial, however, my study is limited in scope to teachers in private schools. The purpose of my research is to gain a better understanding of how teachers experience wellbeing from a more qualitative perspective, and to explore their understandings of the impact of leadership on the wellbeing of teachers in private schools in Pakistan. This purpose is aligned with growing research on the importance of wellbeing for leading a healthy and productive life, and research on how teachers’ wellbeing plays a key role in enhancing their practices to ultimately enhance the school environment for student learning and wellbeing. Pakistan has a long history of lacking curricular uniformity (Rehmat, 2020). Recently, the Single National Curriculum (SNC) was introduced in both public as well as private schools in Pakistan which focuses equally on English and Urdu (the National language). Previously, the public schools in Pakistan followed the national curriculum which was outdated and taught only in Urdu. In private schools in Pakistan, curriculum tends to be from internationally known schools, such as curriculum borrowed from universities such as Oxford or Cambridge, and taught in English (Amin, 2019). The outdated curriculum taught in public schools was a source of social discrimination as it did not encourage contemporary and student-centered approaches to pedagogical activities, critical thinking and understanding. The new government in Pakistan understood and realized the need to revise the national curriculum and very recently, with the beginning of the new academic year in August 2021, they have now implemented a revised national curriculum not only in public schools but also in private schools. The change to a national curriculum of education in Pakistan is hoped to meet contemporary needs and demands, 7 beyond focusing mostly on having students memorize certain facts and figures and taking into consideration the reality that education should be the holistic development of an individual (Ahmad, 2014). The introduction of the Single National Curriculum which will be followed by both public as well as private schools has increased the pressure on school leaders to effectively manage this change process and provide professional development to teachers so that they effectively teach and deliver the new curriculum. It has also challenged teachers to reflect on their current practices and modify them to address the needs of students in their classroom. 1.1.1 Personal Rationale for Study As a graduate student researcher carrying out my study on teacher wellbeing in my home country, it is important to establish my own positioning within the context of this study. I grew up as a student in the private school system in Pakistan and became an elementary school teacher. Similar to the story of many teachers in Pakistan, I never planned on being a teacher, since this is not a career that is held in high esteem or that offers a high salary or career options. However, after I graduated from my undergraduate degree (Bachelor of Life Sciences) I began looking into teaching since no specific qualification or professional development is needed in private schools in Pakistan for teaching. It was relatively easy for me to find a job in a private school. I worked in private schools in Pakistan for almost a decade as a teacher, with part of this experience as a vice principal in a private school for two years, giving me first-hand experience in leadership which enabled me to work closely with teacher colleagues. From these experiences, I have seen and experienced the challenges and frustrations of teachers from both the teaching and leadership side of the work in school and realised the difficulties and miseries teachers go through. I have seen and experienced leadership that values and works for teachers to help them improve in their work, and I have seen 8 and experienced leadership that is not considerate of uses of power and authority that can lead to a sense of defeat in teachers. My experiences of working under the direct supervision of various Heads of Schools, and then working collaboratively with other Heads in my role as vice-principal, has given me opportunities to see the impact that leaders have on teachers in terms of their contribution to a sense of teachers’ wellbeing in school. With this research, I wanted to contribute to both the knowledge of teachers and of leaders for ways to pay attention to increasing wellbeing for teachers in private schools in Pakistan. It is evident from the existing research that student achievement and wellbeing is associated with teacher wellbeing and that “the wellbeing of students can only be accomplished if adults also experience wellbeing” (Louis & Murphy, 2018, p. 167). Teacher wellbeing is enhanced through their positive relationships with students, colleagues and leaders. When teachers themselves feel well, happy and invested to teach, they create such environments in the classrooms which help students to feel well, happy and invested to learn. So, if we want our students to do well and flourish then we need to create such school cultures and environments which will enable teachers to do well and flourish. Creating school cultures and environments where students, teachers, and staff can do well and feel well is influenced by school leaders and their leadership practices. Although recent research has indicated several factors that impact teacher wellbeing in Pakistan gained from quantitative survey studies (Hussain et al., 2019; Özü et al. 2017; Sahito, & Vaisanen, 2017), little is known about how teachers describe and understand their own experiences of wellbeing at work, nor how teachers make sense of the impacts of leadership on their own sense of wellbeing. My study of teacher wellbeing in private schools is timely given the introduction of the new Single National Curriculum that requires much change and new work demands. Current issues 9 and wellbeing concerns associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, along with national and international calls for ways to address the growing issue of teacher wellbeing contribute additional reasons for the importance and timely nature of my study. With attention to teacher wellbeing, and to the ways leadership may impact or influence this wellbeing, this study offers new knowledge that may potentially lead to new practices for supporting wellbeing among teachers in Pakistan. 1.2 Overview of the Literature Framing this Study This research study is an effort to contribute knowledge about teachers’ understanding and experiences of wellbeing in private schools in Pakistan, and their understanding about the role and contribution of leaders in relation to their sense of wellbeing. The research and writing that influenced this study comes from the fields of teacher wellbeing and leadership. Given the predominance of research conducted in the developed countries of the world, with a recognized lack of perspective from developing countries, I provided an overview of the research from both the international and Pakistani perspective. Both the existing North American and international research tended to look at teacher wellbeing using the stress and burnout lens (Greenberg et al., 2016; Hussain et al., 2019; Malik & Noreen, 2015; Özü et al., 2017). As mentioned, in my study I used a broader understanding of teacher wellbeing to include a sense of personal and professional satisfaction, engagement, and happiness (Acton & Glasgow, 2015; Cherkowski & Walker, 2018). As teachers’ experiences at schools impact their wellbeing (Collie et al., 2015), schools can be improved through nurturing teacher wellbeing (Cherkowski & Walker, 2018). Focusing on wellbeing can improve teachers’ performance and satisfaction which may eventually improve the performance of the school (Greenberg et al., 2016). The existing research on teacher wellbeing in Pakistan has been carried 10 out using what is known as a model of job demand and control (Karasek, 1979). The findings from these studies indicate that the majority of teachers in Pakistan are experiencing high levels of job stress due to the lack of rewards, lack of control and lack of supportive psychological, social and physical conditions. These findings provided a useful starting point for my exploration of teacher wellbeing in private schools in Pakistan (Hussain et al., 2019; Özü et al. 2017). With the predominant focus of wellbeing research on a stress-reducing approach, I chose to also focus on what it means for teachers to experience a sense of wellbeing at work from a more positive perspective. I attempted to look at the full spectrum of wellbeing beyond stress and burnout as it is highlighted to be an important piece of research in the western countries (Cherkowski et al., 2018; Louis & Murphy, 2018) whereas, there is limited to no research measuring wellbeing beyond stress and burnout in Pakistan. As such, the leadership approaches or theories that I used to inform this study are those that could be considered to be intentionally and explicitly positively oriented, such as the work of flourishing leadership, positive leadership, and relational leadership. The findings of a number of existing international and North American studies highlighted the influence of positive and relational leadership approaches on the wellbeing of teachers (Acton & Glasgow, 2015; Cherkowski et al., 2020; Cherkowski et al., 2018; Louis & Murphy, 2018; Louis & Murphy, 2017; Uhl-Bien & Maslyn, 2003). The findings from these studies indicated the importance of positive practices of leadership that create environments of trust, care, and support to help teachers enhance their experiences of wellbeing at work. 1.3 Research Questions Framing the Study This study aimed to provide insights and understanding about how teachers in schools in Pakistan perceive and experience wellbeing at their workplace, and how they think leadership 11 influences their sense of wellbeing. It is designed as a case study using qualitative research methods. The overarching research question for this study was, “In what ways do teachers experience wellbeing in schools in Pakistan, and what are their understandings about the influences of leadership on their sense of wellbeing?” Also, three sub questions emerged from the literature that was reviewed for the study and provided an opportunity to further explore teacher wellbeing as well as the influence of leadership: a) How do teachers in Pakistan describe their wellbeing at work?; b) In what ways do their experiences of leadership influence their sense of wellbeing?; and c) What recommendations could be made to develop and promote leadership for positive teacher wellbeing in Pakistan? 1.4 Methods and Analysis Since this research study aimed to gain a better understanding of how teachers perceive and experience wellbeing and to explore their understandings of the impact of leadership on teacher wellbeing in schools in Pakistan, I used qualitative case study methodology. The recruitment of teachers took place on social media, where I posted an invitation to participate on three sites that are popular with private school teachers in Pakistan. Twenty teachers contacted me to participate in this research. All participants were elementary school teachers currently working in different private schools in Lahore, Pakistan. The questionnaire and interview questions were adapted from the recently conducted quantitative studies in Pakistan measuring psychological wellbeing and job stressors for teachers (Hussain et al., 2019; Özü et al., 2017). There were seven questions related to wellbeing and one question related to leadership to allow me to understand teachers’ perceptions and experiences of wellbeing and their understanding of the impacts of leadership behaviour on teacher wellbeing in schools in Pakistan. The teacher participants submitted their reflections on wellbeing and leadership in an 12 online open-ended questionnaire as part of the data collection process. Three teachers from this sample agreed to carry out an interview with me to provide further insights and expanded understandings about the responses from the questionnaire. The data collected through the interviews were transcribed and analyzed along with the data collected through the questionnaire. All the collected data were coded and thematically analyzed (Saldaña, 2015). 1.5 Overview of the Findings The thematic analysis of the data gathered for this research highlighted four major findings about these teachers’ descriptions of their sense of wellbeing at work: appreciation, positive relationships, professional development and work environment. The teachers’ descriptions of the influences of leadership on their sense of wellbeing were found to be an integral part of all of these themes and so they are presented within and across the four themes. 1.6 Limitations of the Research As with most qualitative research, one of the limitations of this study is my own personal engagement as a researcher who comes to this research as a teacher and leader within the same system as the participants. Although I did not know the participants, there may have been a sense of familiarity that contributed to being able to build a relationship with them to gather stories and descriptions from them. However, this familiarity also lends itself to the potential for my biases to influence the design of the study, to how I carried out the study, and to how I analysed and then reported the data. A second limitation is the small, rather homogenious sample size of the sample that may have limited the breadth and richness of stories that I may have gathered from a larger and more diverse group of participants. Finally, the findings are limited by the scope of 13 this research that focused only on private school teachers in Lahore, Pakistan. 1.7 Overview of the Thesis Due to the increasing concerns related to the wellbeing of teachers in Pakistan, it is important to pay attention to and to address this issue. In this study, I aimed to explore teachers’ understanding and experiences of wellbeing and how they think their sense of wellbeing is influenced by the practices of leadership in schools in Pakistan. In the next chapter I provide an overview of the literature on teacher wellbeing and leadership in Pakistan and the Global west as the conceptual foundation for my study. In chapter three, I expand on the methods used to conduct this study. In chapter four, I provide an overview of the findings of the study. Finally, in chapter five, I present a reflection on the findings of the study in relation to the findings of the existing research and provide recommendations for future research. 14 Chapter 2 Literature Review The role of teachers is critical as they are not only one of the most important stakeholders in the process of education, but also are in direct contact with the students and are responsible for the social, emotional and psychological growth and learning of the students. In this regard, teacher wellbeing is an important issue that needs serious attention and substantial measures so that the wellbeing of teachers can be enhanced to ultimately enhance the wellbeing of the students. Teachers in Pakistan, in both public as well as private schools, need to have a bachelor’s degree in any field as the minimum level of education. In public schools, the criteria for the post of teacher is at minimum a B.Ed. degree, or in some cases a M.Ed. along with a bachelor’s degree in any field. But, in private schools, anyone with a bachelor’s degree can be a teacher with no specific education and professional development for being a teacher. From my experiences as a teacher and administrator in the private school system in Pakistan, the basic criteria can often be waived in both public as well as private schools if a person has a strong reference, meaning that they will be appointed as a teacher no matter if they have the basic undergraduate degree and/or professional professional development or not. According to my general observations of the system, in most of the private schools, teachers have little skills and professional development to teach, with the exception of a very few top-notch private schools which focus on the professional development of the staff through professional development workshops and/or professional development programs. Often, teachers get promoted to the positions of vice principals and principals either depending upon their years of experience (the number of years are not specified/standardized, could vary from person to person), job performance or relationships/references. For these reasons 15 most of the leaders tend to be less educated and knowledgeable about teaching and learning than their assisting team members and they also lack communication and leadership skills (Niqab et al., 2014). These leaders with no formal education, professional development and experience often practice power and authority over the subordinates in their school (Laleka, 2019). Within this educational context, it is not surprising that teachers in Pakistan are suffering from some of the lowest levels of wellbeing compared to the teachers of other countries (Özü et al., 2017). High levels of occupational stress and burnout tend to be the reasons of their low levels of wellbeing. There are a number of factors that cause stress and burnout such as the extended working hours, workload, lack of professional development and professional development, lack of support and cooperation from people at work, authoritative leadership, low salary, lack of resources, lack of autonomy and control, lack of involvement and non-supportive work environment (Hussain et al., 2019). Although it would seem evident that stress associated with this profession affects teacher wellbeing, this issue has not been greatly highlighted in research and practice in education in Pakistan. Therefore, the purpose of my research was to study teacher wellbeing in private schools in Pakistan as an opportunity to learn more about what it means to teachers to experience wellbeing at work, with an additional focus on the roles and influences of leadership in regards to teachers’ experiences of wellbeing. As I will document in the literature review that follows, the role of leadership in schools is an important influence on teacher wellbeing, and so paying attention to leadership in terms of wellbeing was a secondary objective of this study. In this literature review, I present a detailed review of literature that framed this study on how teachers in private schools in Pakistan experience wellbeing and how their sense of wellbeing at work is impacted by their experiences of leadership. I begin with a review of 16 literature on teacher wellbeing in Pakistan, then teacher wellbeing from a Western perspective, given that much of the current research on teacher wellbeing has been carried out in North America and Europe. I then provide a review of research on educational leadership in Pakistan and educational leadership from a Western perspective, including a review of positive leadership as an emerging theory connected to teacher wellbeing. 2.1 Research Influences for Studying Teacher Wellbeing in Pakistan One of the prevailing theories that influences research on teacher wellbeing in Pakistan is Karasek’s (1979) concept of job demand as the control or support model. This model is also known as the job strain model (JSM) and highlights the relationship between the various features of job and employee psychological wellbeing. This model shows the importance of two significant factors of work environment—job demands and job control (Karasek, 1979). Job demands represent workload, time pressure and physical and emotional demands, whereas, job control represents employees’ chances to utilize certain work skills while working (skill discretion) and the level to which an employee has the autonomy to take decisions (decision authority) (Hausser et al., 2010). This job strain model asserts that high levels of job demand and low levels of job control and social support results in worsening levels of psychological wellbeing in employees. Findings from research using a job strain model also claim that increasing the levels of job control and job social support will result in increased levels of employees’ psychological wellbeing without having any consequences on the levels of job demand (Van Der Doef & Maes, 1999). The job strain model has been used in research on teacher wellbeing in Pakistan to inform about the level of demands that teachers deal with at work, the level of control or autonomy that teachers exercise at work and the level of social support that they get at work (Hussain et al., 17 2019). All these factors ultimately provide information about the psychological wellbeing of teachers. The lower the level of job demands, the higher the level of psychological wellbeing of teachers will be. Similarly, teachers who receive high social support and have the autonomy to make decision at work are most likely to have increased levels of psychological wellbeing. 2.2 Continued Focus on Stress in Research on Teacher Wellbeing in Pakistan The importance of increasing teachers’ wellbeing has garnered global attention in recent years; however, minimal focus has been paid to teacher wellbeing in Pakistan. Since teachers play a critical role in nurturing young minds, which leads to economic prosperity of a nation, it is vital to ensure the teachers wellbeing is improved (Sahito & Vaisanen, 2017). Wellbeing of teachers is influenced by a number of internal and external factors. Among these, work related stress is a well-noted issue that negatively impacts teachers’ wellbeing (Kidger et al., 2016). Empirical studies performed in Pakistan provide evidence on the contribution of workplace stress on teachers’ wellbeing. Factors most frequently reported are a non-supportive work environment, limited resources, work overload, inadequate pay, insufficient appreciation and lack of control (Hussain et al., 2019; Malik & Noreen, 2015). Malik and Noreen (2015) indicated that a possible solution to reduce this work stress would be increased support from the organization. The increased support from leadership can act as a moderator and help teachers develop confidence in their abilities and encourage them to provide high quality teaching (Malik & Noreen, 2015). Their findings are in line with the work of Arogundade et al. (2015) on enhanced performance and productivity of employees. Additional factors for improved wellbeing were a work environment that is supportive, collaborative, cooperative and encourages meaningful social interactions. Özü et al. (2017) performed a comparative study on the psychological wellbeing of 18 teachers in the United States of America (USA), Turkey and Pakistan through a survey study with large sample sizes. The results showed that among these three countries, teachers’ wellbeing was lowest among teachers in Pakistan. Both, the USA and Turkey, were seen to spend more time and attention on teachers’ wellbeing and take actions that contribute to lifelong learning for teachers, an important factor in teacher wellbeing. Related to this finding was the indication that a sense of autonomy and support from the organization contributed to wellbeing and were seen to be present among the teachers from the two countries more than those teachers in Pakistan. The above-mentioned studies employed quantitative methods that utilized large sample sizes that enhance the generalizability of the studies’ results. However, there is lack of qualitative research that provides insights and descriptions of what it means for teachers to experience wellbeing at work. What has been found from these studies is evidence that teachers in Pakistan, in general, have low levels of wellbeing. The next section will briefly discuss teacher wellbeing from a more Western perspective. 2.3 Teacher Wellbeing from a Western World Perspective The significant role that teachers play in shaping our next generations is immense, and research is beginning to show the importance of teacher wellbeing in carrying out this important role. However, over the last few decades, teaching has been highlighted as one of the most stressful professions with high levels of job dissatisfaction, poor performance, lack of engagement, burnout and increased rates of turnover (Greenberg et al., 2016). Struggling to cope with the stress, many teachers decide to give up and end up leaving the teaching profession (Kilgallon et al., 2008; Le Cornu, 2013; Pillay et al., 2005). A recent report on workplace stress and health of teachers highlighted the importance of the school’s environment for wellbeing, 19 notably that work pressures, teachers’ autonomy, and their ability to manage social and emotional pressures are some of the pressing reasons for teacher stress (Greenberg et al., 2016). Looking beyond the stressors of work that decrease wellbeing, research from a more positive perspective shows the importance of creating conditions for teachers to experience wellbeing within their work through professional connection and engagement and strong social relationships in schools (Cherkowski & Walker, 2018). These researchers indicated the importance of administrators and teacher colleagues working together to build positive working environments. In their study, participants highlighted positive relationships, shared purpose, and a sense of caring among colleagues and with their administrators as connected with their sense of wellbeing. Similarly, Acton and Glasgow (2015) indicated the importance of emotions at work, in addition to workplace relationships being important to nourishing professional sustainability through teacher wellbeing. They suggested that to support professional flourishing it is important to recognize and successfully manage the emotional work of teaching that requires sufficient time to manage workload as well as time to work with others and on their teaching to build a sense of autonomy and agency (Acton & Glasgow, 2015, p. 107). The findings indicated that neoliberal practices and structures that promote accountability, managerialism and a sense of teaching as a technical trade are deeply connected to teachers’lack of wellbeing (p. 110). The view that teacher wellbeing is connected to their abilities to engage in their work from a professional perspective is also supported by Collie et al. (2015) who indicated three components of teachers’ workplace wellbeing: workload wellbeing (issues associated with workload and pressure); organizational wellbeing (teachers’ perceptions of the organization including school leadership and culture towards teachers and teaching); and student interaction wellbeing 20 (perceptions of student behaviour, motivation, etc.). Collie et al. (2015) conducted a study in four different school districts in British Columbia, Canada using a Teacher Well Being Scale to measure wellbeing. Their findings bring further attention to the importance of teachers’ experiences in their workplace as professionals and the connection to their wellbeing. Teacher wellbeing has been studied using mindfulness training (MT) that helps teachers develop an attitude of kindness and compassion towards themselves, especially in the times of difficulty which may help them to reduce their stress and improve their health and wellbeing. Roeser et al. (2013) proposed that MT is practical and effective for use with teachers, and through mindfulness skills and self-compassion teachers can manage occupational stress and burnout and improve their health and wellbeing. Similarly, Schussler et al. (2018) examined the growth of resilience in teachers after receiving a mindfulness-based intervention, Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE). This pre- and post-program study indicated that CARE may nurture resilience in teachers through enhancing their emotional regulation, collegiality and awareness which protect teachers from burnout and improve their wellbeing. This section has provided a brief review of literature on teacher wellbeing from the Western world, highlighting the factors that contribute to teacher wellbeing, as well as, the importance of creating cultures and conditions that promote wellbeing in general. The next section will briefly discuss the importance of leadership in education. 2.4 Educational Leadership Leadership is an important aspect of creating school climates where teachers feel a sense of engagement, efficacy, and motivation to continuously improve their practice to improve students’ learning experiences. Welcoming and motivating people to investigate, explore and initiate arguments that guides to standards, actions and relations which are distinctive to the 21 school, are the unique characteristics of the school environment nurtured by effective school leaders (Oakes et al., 1993). Recent research in Canada has shown the importance of leadership for teachers’ sense of wellbeing as an important element in how teachers flourish at work (Cherkowski et al., 2020). Using positive psychology and an strength-based approach, Louis and Murphy (2018) investigated the potential of positive leadership for school improvement for improving wellbeing. Their review of the literature aimed to know the positive conduct of leaders and its impact on wellbeing (individual, team and the school at large), highlighting the significance of generating school cultures/environments where everyone can flourish. They found four qualities that people seek out in a leader who contributes to their wellbeing. First, positive leaders have a positive orientation that focuses on strengths and assets which contributes to improving both people and work settings. Second is a moral orientation that focuses on values and doing the right things. A third quality of positive leadership in schools is an orientation toward relationships, where leaders focus on growth through demonstrating care and support. Finally, positive leaders in schools tend to demonstrate a stewardship orientation where they focus on balance through fostering both the individual, group and organizational stakeholder good (p. 170). The study concluded that student wellbeing is directly related to teacher wellbeing and teacher wellbeing enhances through their positive relationships with students, colleagues and leaders. Also, it is significant for leaders to possess the above-mentioned qualities and to build the foundation to influence the learning of students, as well as the positive growth of school. School leaders or principals play a significant role in schools and are mainly responsible for managing schools as well as dealing with all the matters related to schools (Hussain et al., 2017). Most school leaders in Pakistan tend to follow the authoritative practices of leadership, 22 believing in the autonomy and authority of leaders and practicing power over the subordinates to be the only ways to get the tasks done and to run their schools (Rizwan, 2011). This mindset of leaders and their authoritative practices might result in teachers having low sense of wellbeing. Therefore, in my study, I aimed to understand how teachers experience wellbeing at work and to explore their perceptions of leadership in relation to this sense of wellbeing. In the following section, I present an overview of role that leaders play in educational organizations in Pakistan to provide a brief background of the landscape of educational leadership and management in Pakistan. 2.5 Educational Leadership in Pakistan Even after 73 years of independence and decolonization, Pakistan is grappling to ameliorate the system of education (Laleka, 2019). Laleka (2019) argued that the weak system of state education has given rise to so many issues like segregation of curriculum, professional development and professional development of teachers, medium and mode of instruction, segregation of public and private schools, and compromised intellectual development of people. She explains: No particular professional development or certification is required to be a teacher and anyone, even if illiterate, can open a private school business and become a self-proclaimed leader without professional legitimacy, and offer varying instructional quality to students. Learning is most often a vague term defined more in terms of marks obtained by students rather than achieving authentic learning targets. Higher order thinking to develop inquiring, analytical and creative minds is limited to some private elite schools not within the loop of the national examination system (Laleka, 2019, p. 228). Just like teaching, no professional development, qualification and experience is required to be an educational leader in Pakistan (Niqab et al., 2014). They also claimed that the only criteria which is assumed to be more than sufficient to be an educational leader is having taught for a few years. In the same vein, Warwick and Reimers (1995) observed, “with no clear 23 definition of who they are and what they are supposed to do, school Heads are drift in the educational system […] they were not trained to be leaders, did not see themselves as leaders, and did not act like leaders” (p. 101). Research on educational leadership in Pakistan has found that professional development program for management and leadership is necessary for improving schools (Khan, 2013). In a recent research on the concepts of leadership and management, Bush (2008) suggested that it can often be something of a gamble to hire leaders with no sufficient coaching and “… it is inappropriate to gamble when the losers would be children or students” (p. 33). The critical and diverse issues of standards of leadership and management in Pakistan are highlighted by Salma Laleka (2019) in her recent study. The initial stage of the study, which was the examination of the internal and external environment of the schools, highlighted the authoritative practices of leadership and the concentration of the authority of making decisions on the leaders with no consideration to reform due to the existing mind set of leaders as well as lack of learning networks and professional development activities. The second stage included the making and introduction of an easy model, providing guidance about the professional and leadership reform programs to enhance the standards of leadership and education. The study compared the current practices of school leaders in Pakistan with the current practices of school leaders in developed countries, stating that workplace social interactions and shared practices are rarely observed. School leaders/principals have the authority to make decisions whereas, teachers are expected only to follow the directions of leaders. The conclusion of the study highlighted “culture factors” to be the reason for “people’s limited thoughts and actions/mental models” (p. 235) and the significance of rectifying and improving these mental models and focusing on developing multi-level school leadership, “learning-centered leadership” and “systems learning” 24 (p. 235) to improve the standards of leadership and education in Pakistan. Their findings are aligned with the findings of Rizwan (2011) whose research on the Head teachers of urban primary state schools in Pakistan and the UK compared the Head teachers’ understanding of leadership in a developing and a developed country which showed that the Head teachers in schools in Lahore believed in authority rather than collaboration. The assumptions about the work of leadership were also found to be different in both the countries with regards to conduct and actions. For example, dealing with problems was considered to be the duty of Head teachers in Lahore, whereas in Coventry, it was considered to be a collaborative task of Head teachers with the rest of the staff members. In Lahore, Head teachers were responsible for implementing plans, whereas in Coventry Head teachers and teachers both were equally responsible. In Lahore, the Head teachers had the authority to make decisions and to give commands about teaching and learning and the teachers were bound to follow, while in Coventry, just like Head teachers, teachers also had enough authority within their roles to make decisions about teaching and learning within their classrooms. Spotlighting the significant part of a school leader in the success of a school and student attainment, Niqab et al. (2014) stressed the style of leadership utilized by the school leader and the school environment favourable for pedagogical activities. The basic purpose of conducting the research was to highlight the root causes of poor conditions of education in Pakistan. The five basic problems highlighted by the research were: bureaucratic influence, the socio-economic status of parents, the relationships between teachers and principals, personal traits of teachers and principals and lack of in-service professional development of Heads/Principals (p. 78). After critically analysing the previous research and data related to the topic of inquiry, the researchers concluded that school leaders personal traits such as relationships with teachers/staff 25 (appreciation and collaboration), professional development (skills and knowledge) and leadership attitude and mentorship (p. 80), are essential to deal with the current issues of education in Pakistan and to plan for the uncertain times to come. It also highlighted that the school leaders of public schools are comparatively more commanding than the school leaders of private schools. It is the duty of the school leaders to work closely with all the stake holders such as policy makers, administrators, teachers, parents, students, vendors, janitorial and other support staff (Niqab et al., 2014). In this regard, the role of school leaders is significant and demands them to be a people person who is able to communicate and build relationships with others in the school. The relationship between school leaders and teachers is also extremely important with regards to ensuring teachers are placed in proper teaching and leadership positions, their participation and collaboration for problem solving and appreciation and acknowledgement of their accomplishments (Nawab, 2011). But, most often the environment of the school does not favour accomplishments due to the inappropriate conduct of the school leaders (Niqab et al., 2014). When the behaviour of the school leaders is “democratic” rather than authoritative, only then teachers can demonstrate strong performance (Khan et al., 2009). From the literature reviewed, there is a need to move beyond authoritative practices typically used by educational leaders in schools in Pakistan to improve teacher wellbeing. The following section provides a review of literature of research from a more Western perspective. With a recognition of cultural differences that will influence the development or use of conceptual models and practices, the research offers a perspective on potential benefits of more collaborative, positive, and relational models of leadership for growing teacher wellbeing. 26 2.6 Educational Leadership from a Western World Perspective Education is considered to be critical for the success and survival of people and nations, and education remains at the “center of political platforms” (Leithwood & Seashore-Louis, 2011, p. 1). Education not only helps people and nations in their economic growth and stability, but it also helps people in their personal and social growth, developing them into intellectual human beings and responsible global citizens. The pressure on schools is constantly increasing, with the increase in the need to have responsible, knowledgeable and skilled citizens at work as well as in the society (Waters & Cameron, 2008). Schools/educational organizations tend to be led by Principals or Heads of school and the recent emphasis on the need to have good and improved educational system and educational organizations has given rise to the need of having good leaders in the educational organizations/schools. In reshaping educational outcomes, school leaders act as an influential force (Davis et al., 2011) due to the position and authority they possess, and, the accomplishment of students in school can be significantly impacted by them (Waters et al., 2005). Their ability and power to take important decisions, makes them stand out and highlights them as important figures in schools, “school leadership [the principal] sits in the first position. Leaders possess the authority to decide what suits the best and what improvements can be made in order to meet the needs of the time and achieve academic success. It acts as the driver for improvement of school as a whole” (Bryk et al., 2010, p. 197). Improving student and school success is greatly influenced by the leadership style of school leaders (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2000a). A strong evidence for the indispensable part of leaders in schools is provided by the study conducted by Leithwood et al. (2006) who determined that the path of student accomplishment requires a good leader who can demonstrate useful 27 managerial and leadership competencies that help them to deal with the challenges of the changing educational landscape (Ferrari, 2018). Identifying the practices, characteristics and behaviours of successful school leaders, Ferrari (2018) highlighted the establishment of a purposeful community: communication (involving teachers in the decision-making process); shared ideas and beliefs; situational awareness; positive, collaborative, cooperative and respectful cultures; developing a sense of community; visibility and relationships, as the most significant factor to these effective leaders. She asserted that objectives of a school can only be achieved when school leaders create intentional communities that work together on a common vision and share the work, and that creating such purposeful communities is critical as people and organizational culture eventually “make a difference in schools” (p. 189). These successful leaders also emphasized the “power of the team, the collective whole, and the importance of sharing leadership with others” (p. 196). Leithwood et al., (2008) provided an extensive review of previous literature on successful school leadership. The study highlighted seven strong claims about effective school leadership highlighting that leaders influence student learning through the way they practice leadership. They enhance teaching and learning through improving work conditions, commitment and motivation, and can be more effective through distributing leadership and exhibiting charismatic personal characteristics. Since this review was based on the key findings of a pool of empirical research consisting both large and small scale mixed-methods empirical studies, these seven strong claims can be considered as significant outcomes of previous research on educational leadership and hence, are useful in setting the stage for this research. Similarly, highlighting the important role of educational leaders in school reforms and improvement, Fullan (1998) highlighted four guidelines for educational leaders to help them to be successful and make a 28 difference in their field. These guidelines included: respecting those who resist the change process; taking the risk and forming new alliances; emotional as well as rational management through re-culturing and not only restructuring; and stay hopeful and keep fighting for the purpose. Emotionally intelligent leaders create school cultures and environments that are supportive and helps teachers, students, parents, and others. In such an environment people see problems as matters to be resolved and not as weaknesses. Demonstrating support and hope decreases stress, motivate teachers and show new directions in difficult time. Recent research in the scholarship of education has started to highlight the important connections between leadership in schools and teacher wellbeing as will be demonstrated by the review of the literature in the next section. 2.6.1 Positive Leadership Theory Positive leadership is a relatively new theory of leadership that focuses on current principles and ideas from the areas of positive psychology, positive change literature and positive organizational scholarship to focus positive performance, strengths, optimistic and supportive communication, virtuousness and goodness (Cameron, 2012). People as well as organizations perform beyond expectations when working under leaders who practice positive leadership (Cameron, 2013). He also asserted that positive leadership enhances functions of brain, learning, interpersonal relationships and peoples’ physiological as well as emotional wellbeing apart from helping organizations to enhance their quality, production, creativity, profits and customer-ship. In schools, positive leadership focuses on personal traits, values and character of school leaders (Murphy & Louis, 2018). These researchers highlighted four dimensions of Positive School Leadership such as positive orientation, moral orientation, relational orientation, and spiritual stewardship orientation (p.18). They describe how human beings have a natural 29 tendency to incline towards positive and positive school leadership has an indirect impact on the school community through creating cultures of positivity and productivity within their schools (Murphy & Louis, 2018). Positive school leaders provoke positivity and help others to explore their capabilities through employing positive practices. In the same vein, investigating positive leadership as an asset-focused approach and its influence on individuals, groups and the school as a whole, Louis and Murphy (2018), reviewed organizational research (theoretical, observational and empirical) from positive psychology to present a framework for positive school leadership. They also highlighted the fundamental principles of positive school leadership which are: positive orientation, moral orientation, relationship orientation and stewardship orientation. They also asserted that a variety of other leadership models such as transformational leadership, authentic leadership, servant leadership, democratic leadership, participative leadership, distributed leadership, appreciative leadership, ethical leadership, team leadership and virtuous leadership, also share some features of positive psychology and positive organizational framework. Their study insisted that for positive school environments, relationships such as leader-member are significant, and leaders should be selected based on their demonstrated ability to develop relationships and building productive teams. They insisted that positive leadership behaviours positively influence people and the organizational culture and climate. The work of Louis and Murphy (2018) on positive school leadership is complemented by the study of Cherkowski et al. (2020). They studied K-12 school leaders to explore their role in promoting flourishing in schools for themselves and for others. The findings of the study indicated that leaders can stimulate and promote workplace wellbeing through value/asset-based, positive perspective to school leadership. They highlighted four values: purpose (experiencing 30 meaningfulness in work), passion (promoting culture of care and attending to goodness in others), play (having fun and moments of laughter and joy at work), and presence (being easily accessible and available at work), that help administrators to create conditions to foster workplace flourishing. They asserted that positive school leadership (focusing on positive human capacities, virtuousness and things that are working well) not only help schools to flourish but it is also beneficial for school leaders and enhances their wellbeing. Positive school leadership encourages leaders to focus more on positive practices rather than negative practices and help individuals and organizations to flourish and give their best. Positive School Leaders are keenly interested in elevating and empowering others in order to create individual and group growth (Murphy & Louis, 2018; p.27). Positive leadership pays attention to what works well with people and organizations. It focuses on positive attributes rather than negative attributes of people and organizations and create such culture and conditions which helps in boosting positive energies, positive social interactions, positive social relationships, positive communication, positive networks and positive emotions. 2.6.2 Relational Leadership Theory Relational Leadership Theory (RLT) is described as ways of influencing people socially which helps in the production and construction of change (e.g., advanced ideologies, behaviours, approaches, attitudes and values) and developing interrelations (i.e., growing social order) (Uhl-Bien, 2006). This approach does not see leadership to be confined to people in hierarchy only (Uhl-Bien, 2006). The traditional discourse on Relational Leadership views it as an entity-based approach (focuses on individuals and their relationships) whereas the currently emerging discourse on Relational Leadership views it as relational approach (multiple realities/focuses on processes 31 through which individuals, leadership and other relational realties are made). Within this theory, “entity perspectives (e.g., relationship-based leadership) emphasize the importance of interpersonal relationships, while relational perspectives (e.g., relational constructionism) emphasize the importance of “relating” and relatedness (i.e., the processes and condition of being in relation to others and the larger social system in constructing the meaning and reality of leadership)” (Uhl-Bien, 2006; p. 664). Both of these approaches together contribute to and strengthen Relational Leadership Theory as incorporating both relationships as well as relational dynamics (Uhl-Bien, 2006). People (individuals, leaders, subordinates, peers, colleagues etc.), and their process of working together, interacting socially, supporting each other and developing trust and relationships to achieve common goals is the focus of Relational Leadership Theory. Relational theory values relationships and empowerment through inclusion and is helpful for understanding teacher wellbeing as it informs researchers about the kind of social interactions that take place in schools, the level of social support that is offered in schools and the kinds of relationships that teachers have with one another and with the people in hierarchy (Uhl-Bien, 2006). All these factors contribute to the psychological wellbeing of teachers. Exploring positive school leadership and the way it might work in an organization which is likely to continue focusing on accountability, Louis and Murphy (2016) examined principals and their impact on organizational learning. Since it is assumed that principals can only be impactful if they nurture positive relationships in schools, that is why their examination focused on a number of indicators of positive relationships and positive leadership such as; “principals’ trust in the professional competence of teachers; teachers’ perception of principal caring for their professional situation and work; and teachers’ perception that the school is supportive of student 32 success, particularly for less-advantaged or struggling students” (p.104). The findings of the study highlighted the significance of school’s climate and culture and adult relationships i.e., principal-teacher for school improvement. When teachers feel that they are supported and cared for by the principal, they perform better at work and in return express their support and caring while dealing with students “where people feel cared for, they are more likely to trust the carer” (p.107). Furthermore, the findings of Ramdas and Patrick (2018) are also aligned with recent findings on positive leadership. Ramdas and Patrick (2018) indicated that positive leadership influence organizations through improving trust, satisfaction, engagement, performance, empowerment, wellbeing and all other significant behaviours of employees that enhance organization’s effectiveness. They highlighted relationships between different leadership styles (such as authentic leadership, transformational leadership, charismatic leadership, empowering leadership, servant leadership, participative leadership, ethical leadership and spiritual leadership) and positive leadership, asserting that these are all part of positive leadership. The authors highlighted positive leadership as a way to see things through a lens of positivity and have a positive perspective towards challenges to tackle the situations through continuously stimulating, appreciating, encouraging, motivating and complimenting people to keep engaged and producing better outcomes. It is about how leaders treat and value employees at workplace and their positive perspective and energies which ultimately impacts the whole organization. It is evident from the above-mentioned literature that positive perspective, positive leadership and relational leadership is increasingly becoming recognized as important phenomena of study in research on organizations, more generally, and schools in particular. Using the positive and relational lens for practicing leadership and creating environments of care, 33 trust and support can be very effective in enhancing teacher wellbeing and organizational improvement. This chapter has provided a brief review of literature on teacher wellbeing in Pakistan, teacher wellbeing in the West, educational leadership in Pakistan, educational leadership in the West and positive and relational school leadership as an emerging phenomena of leadership in the western world. The next chapter will discuss the methodology I used for conducting this research in Pakistan. 34 Chapter 3 Research Methodology In this chapter, I detail the methods of research that I used to carry out this qualitative case study. I will outline my qualitative research approach and provide descriptions of participant recruitment, data collection tools, methods of analysis and ethical considerations. I will also highlight the reasons for choosing these methods and why this was the most suitable research design in order to fulfil the purpose of this study. 3.1 Qualitative Research The research approach that I used for this study was qualitative methods of research to answer the questions that are guided by the interest of understanding and enhancing one’s practice (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). In defining qualitative research, Lichtman (2013) highlighted “the systematic investigation of social phenomena and human behaviour and interaction — it relies on verbal and visual communication and examines humans in their natural settings” (p.4). While explaining qualitative research, Merriam and Tisdell (2015) identified four characteristics of qualitative research: “the focus is on process, understanding, and meaning; the researcher is the primary instrument of data collection and analysis; the process is inductive; and the product is richly descriptive” (p. 15). I chose to employ qualitative research methods for this study to focus on understanding and meaning as I aimed to develop an understanding about school teachers’ perceptions and experiences of wellbeing in Pakistan, with the additional objective of learning more about the influence of leadership practices on these teachers’ sense of wellbeing. Research activities like interviews and analysis are crucial to qualitative research, and humans are the data collection instruments for qualitative research as it focuses on understanding meaning while collecting, analyzing and interpreting data (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Given the 35 emphasis on meaning making and understanding, I employed qualitative methods such as open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to gather rich and descriptive stories/data. The semi-structured inerviews were video recorded through Zoom and transcribed. The transcriptions were then sent to the participants for review to ensure trustworthiness. I used approaches for collecting, analyzing and interpreting data through narrative methods that offered insights into, and descriptions of, my research questions (Mills & Gay, 2016). This qualitative process entailed gathering stories over periods of time, digging in deeply to participants’ professional lives and experiences to explore the phenomena being studied, and then developing insights about their situations through spending time with their stories through my analysis and interpretations. This qualitative research provided me with the opportunity to connect with participants to learn about their understandings and then to offer insights from these stories for the ongoing learning of teachers and leaders who may read this work (Lichtman, 2013). Generally, qualitative researchers do not believe that there is a single or uniform way of understanding or making sense of the world. Instead, they often believe that there are different meanings of the world depending upon the different approaches or circumstances of people and none of them is more authentic than the other (Mills & Gay, 2016). Through this research I sought out multiple views and understandings from the participants about what it meant to them to experience wellbeing in their work and to learn from them the role of school leaders in this sense of wellbeing. As a qualitative researcher, I aimed to be flexible in my approach and continually refined my ideas as needed throughout this study. For example, processes, such as participant recruitment that were initially planned did not work out as intended, resulting in me changing my plan as needed. As another example, due to Covid requirements I was not able to meet participants in person, and so had to carry out the interviews online. This flexibility is a 36 distinctive feature of qualitative research that provided me with a lot of room to alter my plans depending upon the demands of the situation. Merriam and Tisdell (2015) also highlighted this distinguishing characteristic of qualitative research stating that qualitative research is usually flexibly and emergently designed so that it can acknowledge the changing conditions of the study. Defining qualitative research, Bogdan and Biklen (2007) highlighted actual settings, descriptive data, concern for process and meaning and inductive analysis of data to be the five characteristics of qualitative research. They also asserted that all qualitative studies may not display all the above-mentioned attributes to the same level and may lack one or the other. Generalization isn’t typically the goal of qualitative work. Rather, there is potential for qualitative research to resonate with people in other contexts and they may see “some applicability or transferability to a similar setting” (Mills & Gay, 2016, p. 559). Since my research did not aim for generalizability, but instead the aim was to seek out, reveal and explain teachers’ narrative about their perceptions and experiences of wellbeing and its relationship to leadership practices (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015), the qualitative methods of research were considered to be best suited for this study in order to: develop a deeper understanding about the topic; interpret teachers’ notions and meanings of wellbeing and how it is impacted by the practices of leaders; provide the practitioners with an insight of how to improve their leadership practices to further improve the wellbeing of teachers. 3.2 Research Questions and Design This research was an attempt to understand teachers’ understanding and experiences of wellbeing in Pakistan, and the ways they think leadership practices influence their wellbeing. Keeping the focus of the research study in mind, the overarching research question and sub questions for this study were: 37 In what ways do teachers’ experience wellbeing in schools in Pakistan, and what are their understandings about the influences of leadership on this sense of wellbeing? • How do teachers in Pakistan describe their wellbeing at work? • In what ways do their experiences of leadership influence their sense of wellbeing? • What recommendations could be made to develop and promote leadership for teacher wellbeing in Pakistan? For this qualitative study, I employed case study research design. Case study research design is one of the most common approaches to qualitative research (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). The particular and in-depth examination of one case or multiple cases which can be limited to a trait, behaviour or characteristic is known as the case study approach (Lichtman, 2013). Merriam and Tisdell (2015) stated that “a case study is an in-depth description and analysis of a bounded system” (p.37). The purpose of this study was to explore and understand teacher wellbeing within a bounded system—a small group of private school teachers in Pakistan—and so a qualitative case study provided a good design for answering the research questions guiding this study. As Merriam and Tisdell (2015) asserted “qualitative case studies share with other forms of qualitative research the search for meaning and understanding, the researcher as the primary instrument of data collection and analysis, an inductive investigative strategy, and the end product being richly descriptive” (p. 37). Just like other types of qualitative research such as phenomenology, ethnography, grounded theory and narrative inquiry, case study also possesses a unique set of characteristics (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015; Stake, 1995). The major reason to use case study as the research design was the characteristic of delimitation of the unit of study, allowing the researcher to “fence in” what to study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015; p. 38). Case study research gave me the 38 flexibility as a researcher to fence in this study around a small number of participants, a group of teachers from private schools in Lahore, Pakistan. This small group offered me a bounded unit of study within which to explore the research questions through gathering rich and descriptive data. 3.3 Participants The participants for this study were school teachers currently teaching in private schools in Lahore, Pakistan. To reach out to a variety of private school teachers, I decided to recruit online through different social media platforms where I posted my recruitment advertisement. The advertisements were posted on three online groups: one dedicated to a teacher learning association group (https://web.facebook.com/Teachers-Learning-Association-101399577926211), one dedicated to an education hiring/job advertisement/career group (https://web.facebook.com/groups/235874500177647/about), and one that was a general education page for private school teachers and principals in Lahore (https://www.facebook.com/groups/824588370938518/). The prospective participants were instructed to send a direct message to the researcher and share their personal email addresses if they were interested in participating. This was done to ensure confidentiality and so prospective participants would not have to comment on the post in a public way to be able to join the study or ask questions about it. In all, twenty participants who understood and spoke English were recruited for the online questionnaire. From these twenty participants, only thirteen participants completed the online questionnaire to its entirety. The demographics of those thirteen participants are given in Table 3.1 with each participant designated as a Questionnaire Participant (QP) followed by a number. 39 Table 3.1 Demographics of the Participants Questionnaire Participant (QP) Gender Years of Experience Levels Taught QP 1 Male 15 years Early Years (Pre-Nursery, Nursery, Kindergarten) and Lower Primary (I & II) QP 2 Female 20 + years Grade 3-5 QP 3 Female 12 years Primary QP 4 Female 6 years Garde 3 QP 5 Female 15 years Primary and Middle QP 6 Female 10 + years Primary and Middle QP 7 Female 14 years Play group – Grade 8 QP 8 Male 8 years Early Years - Grade 2 and College. QP 9 Female 5 years Primary QP 10 Female 13 years Grade 9 - 11 QP 11 Female 20 years Early Years, Primary and Middle School QP 12 Female 5 years Grade 3, 4 and 5, College and University. QP 13 Female 3.5 years Grade 1 and 2 From those thirteen participants who completed the online questionnaire, I invited six participants (who gave their consent at the end of the open-ended questionnaire to participate in the semi-structured interview) to engage with me in semi-structured interviews that were carried out online using UBC-licensed Zoom. I determined that six would be a reasonable number of interview participants if all agreed to participate. Of the six participants who were sent invitations to take part in the semi-structured interviews, only three participants agreed to take part in a semi-structured interview designed to explore in more detail participants’ experiences of wellbeing and their understandings about the influences of leadership in how they experience wellbeing. The three interview participants were female and their demographic information can be found in the questionnaire participant table (3.1) for participants: QP5, QP4 and QP12. I 40 decided to give each of these three participants a pseudonym for their interview data for the ease of comparing between the two data sets and for the purposes of writing the report, where the names provide a feeling of knowing these three participants a little more closely, as happened through our time together in the interview conversations. Over the course of the study, the participants spent about 105 minutes in research activities: 20 minutes providing answers to the questionnaire and 45-55 minutes for an interview for those three participants who engaged with me in interviews. Interview participants reviewed their transcripts and provided me with the release form to use their narratives as data for my study. The study provided an opportunity for participants to reflect on their work experiences, share those experiences with researchers in the field of education for the advancement of knowledge, and help future educational students, leaders and teachers to benefit from the study findings. 3.4 Data Collection and Analysis In order to have a greater depth of understanding into participants’ lived experiences and perceptions of wellbeing at work in schools, I used an online open-ended qualitative questionnaire and semi-structured interviews as the primary tools for the collection of rich and descriptive data for this research. 3.4.1 Data Collection: Interviews and Questionnaires The online open-ended questionnaires were conducted using UBC Qualtrics (servers were in Canada) which took no more than 20 minutes. The questions for the questionnaire were developed based on findings from a recent quantitative research measuring psychological wellbeing and job stressors for teachers in Pakistan (Hussain et al., 2019; Özü et al., 2017) which highlighted several factors that tend to contribute to how people feel wellbeing and satisfaction in their work: a sense of autonomy at work and control over their environment; positive 41 relationships; a feeling of being appreciated; personal growth; purposefulness and self-acceptance. I aimed to develop a useful tool that would provide me with detailed responses, and so using the findings from the existing studies on teacher wellbeing was a good starting place. Given that the constructs used in the questionnaire already exist in the research I aimed to extend these findings by adding questions about wellbeing and leadership. I followed other recommendations for developing functional qualitiatve research tools (Mills & Gay, 2016) such as ensuring respondents of their confidentiality so that genuine and valuable data could be gathered; keeping the tool short and simple and relevant to the purpose of study by focusing only on significant information; keeping it understandable and well-structured so that the respondents could comprehend what was being asked; paying careful attention to the design and presentation of the questionnaire; and making it error free through proofreading. Through initial reading and analysis of the answers to the responses in the questionnaires, I was able to see emerging patterns and initial themes (key words were highlighted to form categories, multiple categories were then combined to develop themes) and to also note where I wanted to delve deeper with a smaller group of participants in individual interviews. Individual interviews with a small group of participants from those who completed the questionnaire provided an opportunity for me to engage in conversation with several participants to seek additional insights on some of the themes from the questionnaire findings and to delve deeper into understanding their experiences through prompting for further details and specifications (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). These semi-structured interviews were conducted through UBC licensed Zoom (servers are in Canada). Zoom sessions were recorded with the consent of the participants so that they could be transcribed later on. Additionally, interviews were also audio recorded as a back up. Each interview was about 45-55 minutes long. The 42 questions guiding the semi-structured interview were based on the findings from the online questionnaire in order to delve deeper into participants' experiences and gain a richer understanding of their experiences of wellbeing and to gain a deeper sense of how leadership practices influences their sense of wellbeing at work. These interviews offered a diversity of perspectives, where every participant possessed a distinctive experience and unique narratives to share (Stake, 1995). The interviews were transcribed and participants had the opportunity to review their transcripts to check for accuracy. The transcribed data collected through interviews and the data collected through open-ended questionnaires were coded and thematically analyzed (Saldana, 2015). These findings were compared and contrasted with existing findings in the research literature that framed this study. 3.4.2 Data Analysis Using the transcriptions of the recorded interviews allowed me to access the data in its original form during my analysis to ensure its authenticity (Mills & Gay, 2016). According to Stake (1995), qualitative data analysis is an ongoing process and there is no particular beginning of data analysis, rather, it starts with the very first interaction with the participants until the study ended which enabled me to ensure that I collected data that were important and relevant to the study and to see that the study was moving in the right direction (Mills & Gay, 2016). Analysis was not a linear process, but something that I engaged in from questionnaires and through the interviews and then back to the questionnaires to compare what I was understanding in the interviews with what I had found with the initial responses. Being able to read and re-read the transcriptions allowed me to get to the know the stories of each of the participants and how they were contributing to the whole of what I was seeking to understand (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). 43 While discussing the process of qualitative data analysis Bogdan and Biklen (2007) also highlighted the following steps to be a part of the qualitative data analysis: “working with data, organizing them, breaking them into manageable units, coding them, synthesizing them, and searching for patterns” (p. 159). According to Lichtman (2013) identifying and highlighting recurrent ideas/themes from mountains of text gathered is the aim of data analysis in qualitative research. She highlighted that data analysis in qualitative research is the process of organizing and coding the descriptive data which requires thorough reading and deep thinking about the textual material. It is very rare that perfect themes and categories appear after the first cycle of coding and usually it is achieved after multiple cycles of coding, as the more you read the more you try to make sense of the text and develop links (Saldaña, 2015). However, Saldaña (2015) argued that the terms code and categories cannot be used interchangeably explaining, “I advocate that qualitative codes are essence-capturing and essential elements of the research story that, when clustered together according to similarity and regularity (a pattern), they actively facilitate the development of categories and thus analysis of their connections” (p. 8). Coding refers to the systematic organization of data, whereas categorization refers to making it a part of a larger system which is done by putting the coded data into categories. Similar bits of coded data might fall into the same category because of the similarity in some of their features/characteristics (Saldaña, 2015). He further stated that “a theme is an outcome of coding, categorization, or analytic reflection, not something that is, in itself, coded” (p. 14). He also suggested to highlight significant quotes in the data which can be pulled out later on as evidence to support your assertions. The transcribed data collected through interviews and the data collected through open- 44 ended questionnaires were coded, categorized and thematically analyzed. Through initial reading of the data gathered from the questionnaires, I noticed some patterns emerging. As I continued to read through them, I was looking for patterns to dig deeper into the interviews. I noticed certain patterns that I started to determine as initial codes. I read through them again with these codes in mind and saw more categories emerging. In this way, I was engaged in what Saldaña (2015) explained as recoding and recategorization, a process of multiple cycles of analysis to gain more clarity and deeper understanding. The analysis of the questionnaire data highlighted eleven different categories: appreciation, professional development, feedback, support, positive relationships, work environment, autonomy and control, monetary benefits, self-efficacy and acceptance, teacher involvement and purpose and rewards. Leadership experiences were found to be an important aspect across each of these categories. The next step was to read through all the interview transcripts looking for general ideas to emerge, and also to note any recurrence of the categories that emerged from the questionnaires. Similar to the proess with the questionnaire data, I kept track of emerging patterns and designated these as initial codes. After multiple readings of the data with the initial codes in mind I began to notice a number of categories emerging. I highlighted different categories as well as quotes relevant to each category. The thematic analysis of the interview data also highlighted eleven different categories: appreciation, professional development, feedback, support, positive relationships, work environment, autonomy and control, job satisfaction, stress, protection and workload. Similar to the categories that emerged from the questionnaire data, the categories emerged from the analysis of interview data were also highly influenced by the experiences of leadership. Comparing the questionnaire data with the interview data, I found that seven of the 45 categories were common across both the questionnaire as well as the interview data: appreciation, professional development, feedback, support, positive relationships, work environment and autonomy and control. Leadership experiences tended to be described across and among all of the categories (Table 3.2). I also found that four categories were unique to the questionnaire data only: monetary benefits, self-efficacy and acceptance, teacher involvement and purpose and rewards. Similarly, there were four categories that were unique to the interview data only: job satisfaction, stress, protection and workload. Table 3.2 Categories Common Across Data Categories Common Across Questionnaire and Interviews Appreciation Professional Development Feedback Support Positive Relationships Work Environment Autonomy and Control Leadership Experiences The left side of the table below represents the four categories that are unique to the questionnaire data only whereas the right side of the table represents the four categories that are unique to the interview data only (Table 3.3). 46 Table 3.3 Categories Unique to Questionnaire and Interview Data Four Categories unique to Questionnaires Four Categories unique to Interviews Monetary Benefits Job satisfaction Self-efficacy and Acceptance Stress Teacher Involvement Protection Purpose and Rewards Workload Looking across those interview transcripts and the questionnaire as a whole set of data and through several rounds of coding and categorizing, I finally arranged all of these categories into four main themes that emerged as the findings of the study which were: appreciation, positive relationships, work environment and professional development. The participants descriptions of the ways leadership influenced their sense of wellbeing was found across and within all of these themes. The categories that supported or connected to a theme were grouped under one theme and became the sub-themes within each of the larger finding theme. For example, within the categories of feedback, purpose and rewards and monetary benefits I could see the bigger idea/theme of appreciation at work, and so I grouped all these three categories under the theme of appreciation and described the larger theme of appreciation through examples and ideas from the various sub-themes. Similarly, I noted that the categories of teacher involvement, workload and stress refered to the environment and culture of the schools, and so I grouped all these categories under the theme of work environment. In the end, the four major themes that emerged out of the analysis of the data showed interesting and important connections with teacher wellbeing and influences of leadership on this sense of wellbeing. These themes resonated with 47 the findings in the research literature that framed this study. I will provide a detailed presentation of the four main themes and the sub-themes in the next chapter. 3.5 Trustworthiness Trustworthiness and understanding of the study are usually used to describe the validity of the study in qualitative research (Mills & Gay, 2016). Considering the importance of establishing trustworthiness as a researcher, I tried try my best to conduct trustworthy research. Although, there is no hard and fast criteria and methods of establishing trustworthiness of a research study in qualitative research, following certain rules and guidelines helped me to establish and maintain the trustworthiness of my research. Tracy (2010) presented eight criteria for qualitative researchers to establish trustworthiness that I followed: “worthy topic; rich rigor; sincerity; credibility; resonance; significant contribution; ethics; and meaningful coherence” (p. 839). Worthy topic denotes having a relevant, timely, significant and interesting topic of research. The topic that I chose was relevant to my field, area of interest, previous work experience and qualifications. It was a timely study and was worthy of research as there was little existing literature found on this topic in the context of Pakistan. I aimed to fill this research gap through my study and to highlight the need to attend to this research problem. It is an interesting topic as it talks about teachers and wellbeing and how their workplace wellbeing is influenced by the experiences of leadership. It also has potential to contribute to future research as well as for teachers, leaders and policy makers. Rich rigor means that the study uses sufficient, abundant, appropriate and complex theoretical constructs, data and time in the field, sample, context, data collection and analysis processes. I used sufficient theoretical constructs in the study bringing together teacher wellbeing and leadership from both a Western and Pakistani perspective (Cherkowski et al., 2020; Hussain 48 et al., 2019; Laleka, 2019; Louis & Murphy, 2018; Cherkowski et al., 2018; Louis & Murphy, 2017; Özü et al., 2017; Louis & Murphy, 2016; Acton & Glasgow, 2015; Niqab et al., 2014; Cameron, 2012; Rizwan, 2011; Uhl-Bien, 2006). I spent time with participants and with the data. The sample was sufficient enough for this small-scale study as it was an exploratory analysis. It was carried out in an appropriate context with sufficiently complex data collection (questionnaire and interviews) and analysis processes given the goals of the study. There was enough existing literature to support the claims of the study. Adequate engagement in data collection was ensured through attempting to clearly understanding participants’ views on the phenomena and looking for variations in the responses to the point where I felt that responses were being repeated and no new information was surfacing. This aligned with Merriam and Tisdell’s (2015) suggestion that “the best rule of thumb is that the data and emerging findings must feel saturated; that is, you begin to see or hear the same things over and over again, and no new information surfaces as you collect more data” (pp. 246-248). I attended to the criteria of sincerity through self-reflexivity about my values, biases and inclinations and transparency about the methods and challenges. I have tried my best to sincerely conduct the study keeping my biases aside however, I am aware of the fact that there might be some limitations associated with the study due to researcher bias that may be unavoidable in any qualitative research (Gay & Mills, 2016). I aimed to provide a transparent account of the methods that I followed and have shared about my background and involvement with this research topic. Credibility for this research was ensured through the in-depth and concrete details about the context (providing the readers with the knowledge and information about the context of Pakistan), triangulation (providing two sources of data collection, theoretical framework, collected two types of data—written and verbal—and linked the conclusion with the 49 existing literature and my personal experience), multivocality (providing direct quotes/examples from almost all the participants of the research), and member checking (providing reflections of different participants by sending the transcribed data back to the participants through email so that they could review the transcript of their interview to ensure it was accurate and there is no misinterpretation of their perceptions and experiences. All the interview participants checked their transcripts for accuracy and submitted a transcript review form). Resonance happens through the reader engaging with the written document. Through multiple reviews and revisions of my writing I aimed to present the study in a clear, comprehensible way that would describe my study and findings and also create a narrative of interest that will be valuable and transferable for readers even if their context is different and their own situation and experiences may be different. Significant contribution refers to conceptual, practical, moral, methodological contributions that may be made from the study. The topic and findings from my research may contribute to further research and be beneficial not only for future researchers/scholars but also for leaders and policy makers. In carrying out my study I paid attention to the ethical considerations at all stages of the research process (i.e. BREB approval and teacher’s consent). Throughout the course of this study, I followed all the UBC ethics protocols in place to ensure the health and safety of teacher participants. Finally, meaningful coherence denotes that the study achieves what it is supposed to be about, uses methods and procedures that fit its stated goals, meaningfully interconnects literature, research questions/foci, findings and interpretations with each other. I aimed to conduct a meaningfully coherent study exploring and understanding teachers’ perceptions and experiences of wellbeing and leadership in Pakistan. I employed methods and procedures that accomplished the purpose of the study and paid attention to connecting the reviewed literature with the issue, 50 methods and findings of the research. In this chapter, I have discussed the research design of this study including the research approach, methods of research, participants and their recruitment, data collection and analysis. In the next chapter, I will present, interpret and discuss the findings of this research study in detail. 51 Chapter 4 Findings Teacher wellbeing has been an important area of study with the increasing recognition of exhaustion, burnout, and other indicators of a lack of wellbeing. Previous research has investigated teacher stress and burnout in Pakistan (Hussain et al., 2019; Özü et al., 2017), but there is limited research investigating teacher wellbeing in Pakistan, and little research found on the influence of leadership on teacher wellbeing in Pakistan. This study is significant in contributing to the knowledge about teacher wellbeing and the ways that leadership practices and behaviours influence the wellbeing of the teachers in this study. The following table (4.1) presents the four major themes that emerged from the analysis of the data gathered for this research. Table 4.1 Four Major Themes Encompassing Sub-Themes Themes Appreciation Positive Relationships Professional Development Work Environment Sub-Themes Feedback Purpose and Reward/Monetary Benefits Positive relationships and support from leaders Positive relationships and support from colleagues Autonomy and Control Confidence and Motivation Teacher Involvement Workload Stress Protection/job security Leadership Experiences 52 In the following section I provide detailed description of each of these themes and sub-themes with examples from the data to support and highlight how the teachers in this study experienced wellbeing in their work and the ways they shared about the influences of leadership on this sense of wellbeing. I offer examples from the answers and narratives shared by participants in the online questionnaire using the number assigned to them (QP#) and excerpts from the transcribed interviews using the pseudonyms for those participants. 4.1 Appreciation The first major theme that emerged from my analysis of the data was that these teachers recognized the importance of experiencing appreciation at work for their sense of wellbeing. Eleven out of thirteen questionnaire respondents and the three interview participants highlighted appreciation as one of the most important elements that help teachers experience wellbeing at work. Participants expressed that appreciation for their efforts at work is one of the most important factors that not only boost performance but also enhance teachers’ sense of wellbeing at work. When teachers feel appreciation, they feel happy and well at work, but when they do not receive appreciation for the efforts they make, it impacts their wellbeing negatively. Research carried out in Pakistan on teacher wellbeing has found that employees strive for high performance and achievement when they get appreciation and rewards for their efforts (Hussain et al., 2019). Research conducted by Cherkowski et al. (2020) highlighted that teachers flourish and feel well when they feel appreciation. For the teachers in this study, it seemed that feedback, purpose and rewards as well as monetary benefits were important ways that these participants experienced appreciation. For these participants, appreciation comes in different forms. When they receive positive feedback from the Head or coordinator after any informed observation, un-informed observation or walk 53 through observation they feel appreciated. When their Head or coordinator acknowledges them for their efforts either in public or in private, they feel appreciated. When their ideas are acknowledged and implemented, they feel appreciated. When they are given a pat on the back, they feel appreciated. When they are given a bonus or a day off, they feel appreciated. When they are given good grades and good annual increments, they feel appreciated. When they are given certificates, letters, titles or rewards, they feel appreciated. When they are given the opportunity to share their work with other and mentor others, they feel appreciated. Lack of appreciation was described by the participants in this study as a demotivating factor which makes teachers feel unhappy and unwell. Through the questionnaire answers and the conversations with the interview participants it was evident that appreciation is an important piece in how teachers experience wellbeing at work. For example, in response to the question how would you describe wellbeing, a couple of the participants responded in the questionnaire, “for me wellbeing includes acknowledgment of my work” (QP6). “When teachers get appreciated for their work, they feel well and happy at work” (QP1). Participant QP2 highlighted the importance of in-person appreciation stating that: There is a lack of extrinsic motivation on admin's part. Once in a while we do get certificates of appreciation, but it just looks like a piece of paper. I think if not in a month then at least in a term, the Head of the school can spare few moments to talk to the teachers and appreciate in person. In another response, one of the participants highlighted the importance of appreciation through linking it with teachers’ motivation to work hard sharing, “I work much better if I am appreciated for my work, it motivates me to do better” (QP5), and participant QP10 connected appreciation with the feeling of fulfilment and positivity: 54 We teachers are appreciated from time to time, mostly at the end of every terms. That one appreciating note/certificate has always worked wonders in my case. As it gave me a sense of pride and personal fulfilment. When I followed up in the interviews with the idea of appreciation being important, one of the participants noted the importance of appreciation given in front of the colleagues. For example, QP5 said: Appreciation is always good. It just gives you a high and you feel really happy about it. When your Head just says, “wow”, or asks you to share what you have done in your class in a meeting or something. I guess this is something which creates motivation in a teacher. I feel that it improves a teacher’s performance. This small group of teachers offered their stories of wellbeing that seemed to indicate the importance of appreciation for teachers. For this group, when teachers are appreciated for their work, they feel positive sense of wellbeing but when they are not appreciated for their work, they feel a negative sense of wellbeing at work. Connected to their sense of appreciation was the importance of feedback in their work. 4.1.1 Feedback Feedback appeared to be an important category under the theme of appreciation. The analysis of the data also highlighted that feedback was an integral part of how these teachers experience appreciation at work. As private school teachers in Pakistan, these participants have come to expect that their Head will observe them teaching in their classrooms. They will often have an observation that is set up ahead of time to observe the whole lesson, what is known as an informed observation. They might also have an observation of the whole lesson that is random and that comes unexpectedly, this is considered an uninformed observation. Apart from that, the Head might also randomly walk into the classroom to observe just a part of the lesson, known among teachers as walk in observations. 55 According to the participants of this study, they usually receive feedback after informed, uninformed and walk-in observations and also sometimes after parent teacher meetings. They said that this feedback helps them to reflect on their practices and work for improvement. Though most of the times the feedback they receive is positive and develops a sense of achievement in them, sometimes the feedback is negative and they often take this negative feedback as an opportunity for improvement. However, the participants shared that the way feedback is given, and the tone of that feedback, really matters a lot to them. If the tone of the negative feedback from the Head is offered in a way that seems to dismiss their ideas or is somewhat passively given in a way that does not assume they can improve, then these teachers shared that negative feedback can be offensive to them. For example, QP5 said: I think the language of the feedback is really important. The way you are putting it to the teacher is very important on how the teacher should improve herself. If there is a lot of nit picking, I guess, I become a bit defensive about it. But if it’s suggestive instead of forcing you to accept something then it becomes more easier, then I generally move on. In response to the question about support to grow in their work through ongoing improvement, participant QP9 linked ongoing improvement with feedback and highlighted the significance of taking negative feedback as an opportunity for improvement. She said: The most important thing is that we should not fear criticism. If you've been given some feedback that you deem to be negative, then use it as a tool to change. By acting on criticism instead of wallowing in it, we can turn a negative into a positive, helping us to not only build confidence but also really improve our practice. It is evident from these responses of these participants that feedback plays an important part and is a way that teachers feel appreciated at work. Appreciation coming in the form of feedback help teachers develop a sense of wellbeing at work. The following section indicates purpose and reward as another way that teachers feel appreciation at work. 56 4.1.2 Purpose and Reward and Monetary Benefits Another category that emerged after the initial analysis of questionnaire data was purpose and reward that comes under the theme of appreciation. The analysis of the data showed that purpose and reward is also an important way that these teachers experience appreciation at work. In Pakistan, purpose is not something that teachers often talked about in their work context. However, for these teachers it appeared to be an important factor that feeds into the teachers’ feeling of appreciation at work. And these rewards could be in the form of monetary benefits too such as: receiving bonus term wise or annually, receiving a good raise in salary in the form of annual increments or receiving a handsome salary package, sufficient enough to fulfil the basic needs of teachers. When teachers are appreciated, rewarded, and given the opportunities to grow professionally, they feel a sense of purposefulness at work and develop a sense of satisfaction that they are rewarded for their efforts. Whereas, the lack appreciation, purposefulness, rewards, and professional growth opportunities results in them feeling demotivated, unsatisfied and stressed. A recent research in Pakistan conducted by Hussain et al. (2019) also highlighted that teachers in Pakistan feel that their efforts are not properly rewarded which is a cause of stress for them. In response to the question about feeling a sense of purpose and how they feel appreciated and rewarded at work, participant QP8 found direct connection of purpose and rewards with teachers’ sense of wellbeing, purposefulness and motivation: Awards and rewards are very important in wellbeing of any profession. When someone receives rewards for his/ her hard work, that thing boosts his/her working level and give him/her a sense of happiness, purposefulness and motivation. We are awarded with some certificates, recognitions with other fringe benefits as well. 57 In her interview, QP12 linked purposefulness with student involvement and achievement sharing, “I feel purposefulness when some of my students come to me for asking something new or they do some efforts on their own.” While responding about purpose and rewards, participant QP1 found lack of rewards to be a cause of stress for teachers in Pakistan: I am not happy with the lack of appreciation and rewards as they are not according to the efforts we make. When leaders reward properly, it influences the wellbeing of teachers positively. Teachers rewards according to their efforts is any ways stressful issue. Teachers receiving a good salary package, yearly bonuses or good annual increments, feel rewarded, appreciated and satisfied at work. Participant QP1 and QP3 directly linked wellbeing to monetary benefits "when teachers get paid properly, they feel well and happy at work” (QP1), participant QP3 stated that “a teacher is happy if he or she is mentally satisfied and basic needs are fulfiled in monetary terms.” However, the responses of these participants as well as previous research conducted in Pakistan has shown that teaching is an underpaid profession which is a cause of dissatisfaction, stress and low levels of wellbeing for teachers. A research study conducted by Malik and Noreen (2015) also explained the state of teachers in Pakistan saying that the profession of teaching is not socially recognized, and salaries of teachers are not sufficient which is a cause of job stress for them. Participant QP6 found that receiving monetary benefits often depends upon teachers’ relationships with the administration: Teaching isn't a well-paid profession. Working in different systems I have experienced that your terms with your immediate boss can take you up and down anytime. The appraisals we get yearly are not performance based. And often they are quite disappointing and discouraging (QP6). Another participant QP7 expressed that the efforts of teachers are not properly appreciated when converted into monetary benefits: 58 It is a practice at our workplace of distributing letters of appreciation at the end of each year. This makes us realize that our efforts are being registered, but if you translate that into pay scale it does not add up (QP7). These responses of the participants in this section, showed the importance of purpose and rewards including monetary benefits, in their teaching. They asserted that it not only helps them to feel appreciated and valued but it also enhances their sense of wellbeing at work. The next section highlights the second main theme, positive relationships, as another way these teachers experience wellbeing at work. 4.2 Positive Relationships The second theme that emerged out of the data was positive relationships. Analysis of the data gathered through questionnaires as well as interviews showed that having positive relationships at work with colleagues as well as administration is a way that help participants experience wellbeing at work. Twelve out of thirteen questionnaire participants and two out of the three interview participants pointed out positive relationships as one of the significant factors that support teachers’ experiences of wellbeing at work. When teachers share positive relationships with other teachers, coordinators and Heads, they develop a sense of belonging, inclusion and support which helps them to cooperate, collaborate and work as a team to achieve organizational goals. The lack of positive relationships at work results in professional jealousies and demotivation to work. Previous literature on wellbeing emphasizes developing positive relationships at work. Relationships which are kind, caring, compassionate and supportive are considered to be beneficial not only for performance and organizational achievement but also for wellbeing. Employees having high quality work relationships perceive their organizations to be supportive and focus on altruism and mutual interests (Uhl-Bien & Maslyn, 2003). Research conducted by 59 Cherkowski et al. (2018) linked wellbeing with positive work relationships, care, participation, collegiality and shared purpose. Data suggested that workplace support is also an important way teachers experience positive relationships at work. For the participants of this research the idea of support means having the confidence that they won’t be punished for their mistakes, receiving solutions for the problems, collaboration and cooperation with peers and administration to achieve organizational goals, having empathetic colleagues and administration. Positive relationships at work and support go hand in hand, therefore, support is linked with positive relationships as a sub-theme/category that comes under the theme of positive relationships. Positive relationships and support at work can be further divided in to two sub-divisions such as; positive relationships and support from leaders and positive relationships and support from colleagues. When asked about how they feel supported at work, a number of participants indicated that support at work is important not only for their performance but also for their wellbeing: Yes, I have positive relationship with teachers, staff and administrators. They support to my ideas and opinions related to my job. For teacher wellbeing, support in his/her field is very important. (QP8). QP4 reported the experience of lack of support at work in her interview stating that: Being a subject planner, I have prepared and supported my students mostly by myself. Things needed in daily practices were generally initiated by me. The participants in this study highlighted the importance of support and positive relationships at work and how it influences their sense of wellbeing. The following sections offers examples of how these teachers described the importance of positive relationships and support from leaders in how they experience positive relationships at work. 60 4.2.1 Positive Relationships and Support from Leaders Experiencing positive relationships with leaders and receiving support from them was one of the important ways these teachers experience wellbeing at work. For these teachers, these positive relationships with leaders could provide support from them in different forms such as material support, physical support, social support and emotional support. When teachers have positive relationship with leaders and feel supported by them at work, they are motivated and perform better focusing on achieving organizational goals and feel themselves to be obliged to do well in response. Whereas, when teachers do not have positive relationships with leaders and do not experience support from them at work, they feel stressed, demotivated to work and hence take their work as a burden. They focus on personal achievements and benefits rather than working for organizational achievements. A recent research conducted in Pakistan also highlighted that this lack of support at work is a factor that contributes to teachers’ occupational stress and decreased sense of wellbeing at work hence impacting their performance negatively (Malik & Noreen, 2015). In her interview QP12 talked about positive relationships at work and how they are connected with wellbeing, trust and support in schools: The relationship between me and my leadership is a very positive. These relationships have a very positive impact on my wellbeing because if there is a blunder done by me, I can discuss it without any fear of being called by higher authorities. And together we take out it's solution and this is the best part. When asked about positive relationships at work, participant QP10 asserted that positive relationships at work enhance wellbeing and motivation to work whereas absence of positive relationships result in teacher turnover: Without positive relationships, I cannot imagine working anywhere. I had to quit my job two years back just because of negativity from other teachers particularly the 61 administrators. But currently I feel so much myself at my workplace and the credit goes to the people that I work with. These positive relationships not only improved my wellbeing rather became motivational factor for me. Supporting the same point about positive relationships, participant QP1 talked about nepotism, he said: I have good relations with half of the admiration (people in administration who are kind and flexible) while I have weak relationship with rest of the administration (people who are unkind and inconsiderate). Getting social or emotional support usually depends upon the kind of relationships that you have with administrations. If you are in their good books you will get whatever you need otherwise you are on your own. When leaders provide social and emotional support, it influences the motivation and wellbeing of teachers positively. While responding about support at work, a few participants stated that there is a lack of support at work. Participant QP6 said “unfortunately, some school Heads treat some of their employees (teachers) the way they shouldn't be.” “Administrators such as Principals, Heads or SMs are not very friendly. They keep their distance” (QP2). It is evident from the above-mentioned responses of the participants that having positive relationships with leaders and receiving support (material, physical, social or emotional) from them at work is a way that help teachers experience positive relationships at work. The following section will highlight positive relationships and support from colleagues as another important category under the theme of positive relationships and an important way teachers experience wellbeing at work 4.2.2 Positive Relationships and Support from Colleagues Having positive relationships with colleagues and receiving support from them was another important way these teachers experience wellbeing at work. For this reason, the category of positive relationships and support from colleagues is grouped under the theme of positive relationships. For these teachers these positive relationships with colleagues could also provide 62 support from them in different forms such as material support, physical support, social support and emotional support. When teachers share positive relationships with colleagues and feel supported by them, they cooperate, collaborate and work for mutual interests and feel themselves to be part of a dedicated team. Whereas, when teachers do not share positive relationships with colleagues and do not experience support from them, they focus on personal achievements and benefits rather than collaborating and working as a team. Research conducted by Louis and Murphy (2016) also highlighted support to be an important factor for effective teacher performance. Several participants shared how they feel having positive relationships at work influences their wellbeing. For example, participant QP8 said “positive relationship at workplace is very important for wellbeing. Yes, I have positive relationship with teachers, staff and administrators. We work as team to achieve our goals. It is just like a fuel which keeps you motivated, energetic and lively.” Another respondent said, “Positivity helps you to be receptive and innovative, so I can’t thank Almighty enough for providing me with positive, helpful and cooperative friends, colleagues and Heads who always understood me, listened to my ideas and as critical friends helped me in growing” (QP11). QP5, in her interview, shared “friendships at work help you a great deal”. Answering the same question about positive relationships, QP4 shared in her interview that she found that lack of positive relationships at work often results in professional jealousies and non-supportive work environment: I have always tried my level best to keep a positive relationship with my peers. But professional jealousy is always there. Once I remember, a schedule was shared where our Head had to observe us while teaching in a classroom. I was a beginner, didn’t know what to prepare. For more clarity, I decided to talk to a senior teacher about the matter. To my surprise, she paid no attention to my query and I had to work on my own. Luckily, 63 got through it and learnt that people are not ready to help you. Ever since I have always tried to work independently, I guide others because I went through that feeling once. The stories shared from participants in the questionnaire and then from those in the interviews highlighted that positive relationships with colleagues and with the leadership was important for them in how they described wellbeing at work. In the following section I provide an overview of the final main theme, professional development, and how this theme emerged as a way that the participants experience wellbeing at work. 4.3 Professional Development The data gathered through the answers to the questionnaires as well as through the interviews highlighted professional development as an important factor that help teachers experience wellbeing at work. Nine out of thirteen questionnaire respondents and all three interview participants highlighted professional development as one of the most important elements that helps teachers experience wellbeing at work. For these teachers, professional development means receiving thorough pre-service professional development, detailed guidance and explanation from the administration about the policies and documents to be followed and about the do’s and don’ts for teachers, opportunities and professional development to advance the existing knowledge and skills, ongoing in-service professional development as per the needs of teachers to stay up to date, opportunities to be promoted to higher designations, and opportunities to be mentored and to mentor others. The analysis of the data as well as previous research highlights that when teachers receive professional development opportunities, they feel confidence, satisfaction, appreciation and purposefulness at work which ultimately enhances their sense of wellbeing at work. Whereas, absence or lack of professional development opportunities results in teachers feeling lack of confidence, satisfaction and purposefulness hence effecting their sense wellbeing negatively. A 64 recent study conducted in Pakistan highlighted that the majority of teachers in Pakistan are untrained which is resulting in low levels of teachers’ psychological wellbeing and high teacher turnover ratio, hence, serious measures needs to be taken by the government to invest in the continued professional development of teachers (Özü et al., 2017). When asked about how they feel supported to grow and develop in their ongoing improvement in their work as a teacher the participants in the questionnaire highlighted the importance of professional development which was further explored in interviews and I noted that this theme seemed to resonate strongly among the responses from all participants. While responding about the support to grow, some of the participants agreed that they receive professional development opportunities to improve and to keep themselves up to date. Participant QP1 said, “the system provides us support to improve through organized workshops and professional development sessions.” Participant QP2 stated, “I do get ample moral support to grow and develop too, like I am always encouraged to reroll in various free teaching courses to enhance my skills.” In response to the question about support to grow, some of the participants connected the idea of support to grow or professional development with wellbeing at work: I think teacher wellbeing means good professional learning and achievement of long-term goals. These leaders, I think who are paid more, need to take accountability for the learning of all students as well as the professional development of the teachers to work more efficiently (QP8). Another participants shared, “My sense of wellbeing is related to growth. If I am professionally and academically promoted, then I am satisfied as a teacher” (QP3). When I asked QP5, about her feelings about what it means to receive support to grow in her work, she linked teachers’ professional development with their motivation saying that: 65 I feel that chances must be given for professional development as it keeps the person motivated and in touch with the profession and if it is supported by the school, it makes the teacher more committed towards the profession and they feel as if they are part of the system. Similarly, participants noted that the lack of professional development opportunities and shared their personal efforts to develop professionally. QP4 said: At the beginning of my career, things were just taking place as a routine. But later I realized that this profession needs more input from my side. For that purpose, I enrolled myself in a course. This professional development was not advised by our administration. I took this initiative to improve myself. Hence, I think the administration should be involved in professional development programs. This section highlighted professional development as an important way these teachers experience wellbeing at work. The next section will now present autonomy and control as one of the two categories that comes under the theme of professional development. 4.3.1 Autonomy and Control It was evident from the analysis of questionnaire as well as interview data that autonomy and control is an important factor that influences these teachers’ experiences of positive work environment. For the teachers who participated in this study, autonomy and control means teachers having authority to practice teaching the way they want, planning and conducting lessons as per the needs of their students, and sharing their opinion and ideas with colleagues and their Heads. Teachers who experience autonomy and control at work tend to perform better, are more satisfied with their work and enjoy wellbeing. Lack of autonomy and control at work could be a cause of stress, unsatisfaction and poor performance which results in low wellbeing of teachers. Existing research reported lack of autonomy and control at work to be one of the major reasons 66 of job stress for teachers in Pakistan (Hussain et al., 2019). Acton and Glasgow (2015) asserted that practicing autonomy and control influences teacher wellbeing. When asked about their sense of autonomy and control at work, participants acknowledged that they do enjoy autonomy and control in their teaching. Participant QP2 shared, “in my workplace, I have most of the autonomy over the work I do. I can plan lessons according to what I feel is best for my students. I am able to use different apps and software to teach my students. I can share my opinion as many times as I can. I feel encouraged when my idea is appreciated and accept and later implemented.” When prompted about autonomy and control, participants connected autonomy and control with wellbeing and satisfaction at work. For example, QP8 stated: Autonomy and control are very important in work for better wellbeing. Most of the time we can share our ideas and we can give our opinions related to our teaching. Most of the time they listen to our points and suggestion and they apply where there is the possibility of application. It influences mostly in a positive way related to our job description. Similarly, participant QP10 shared: “for me teacher autonomy is an important influence for job satisfaction. I have been fortunate enough in this regard, as the organization and people I work with, always promote teacher autonomy. This sense of autonomy and control is directly connected to my wellbeing at my workplace.” Interestingly, participant QP13 said that although she feels autonomous which adds to her wellbeing, she also feels overworked and less appreciated: Well, in my school, ideas are shared and discussed across the school, and opinions are also taken regarding every matter. But sometimes its implementation is done in a different way..... I feel I am an important part of the school because my opinions are taken and considered as far as teaching is concerned. It gives me a sense of wellbeing, but I feel overworked as less appreciated. 67 Similarly, participant QP1 stated that he lacks autonomy and control at work and just follows the administration: We work according to a designed curriculum, curriculum is good, but if we want to suggest something for kids’ betterment, we are not allowed to give our opinion. Teachers are not encouraged to share their opinions and ideas about teaching, and we have nothing to do with matters related to leadership. We are teachers but we can't give our suggestions. we just go to work and follow whatever they administration tells us to do. It doesn't feel good. Sharing their experiences about autonomy and control at work, a couple of participants said that they do feel they have autonomy and control, but there are limitations to that. For example, participant QP6 stated: Well, being a part of a renowned system, we are always given the opportunity to be vocal. Our opinion related to our curriculum and lesson planning is always considered. But off-course there are some issues like management, dealing with parents and some other things, which are only decided by the management. Whenever teachers are heard, they feel valued and heard and of course that make us more enthusiastic and we feel more empowered. From the analysis of the responses of these participants I identified the importance of autonomy and control for teachers in Pakistan which adds to their experiences of professional development that is connected to their sense of wellbeing. In the next section, I present confidence and motivation as another way these teachers experience professional development at work. 4.3.2 Confidence and Motivation The research data highlighted confidence/self-efficacy and motivation/acceptance as a category that comes under the theme of professional development and as a way teachers experience professional development at work. I use the terms confidence and self-efficacy and motivation and acceptance throughout this section. For these participants, confidence and 68 motivation means: their confidence about their practices as a teacher, their satisfaction with their work and the opportunities that they are receiving to improve, their productiveness, and their sense of purposefulness at work. When teachers develop confidence and acceptance at work, it motivates them to perform well and this contributes to their sense of wellbeing. However, when teachers lack this sense of self-efficacy and acceptance at work, they describe that they do not perform as well due to lack of satisfaction and motivation and that this contributes to their feeling low levels of wellbeing. Previous research highlighted that developing suitable conditions and supporting strategies for teachers that fulfil personal as well as professional needs of teachers is important for improving teachers’ self-efficacy (Özü et al., 2017). The research also indicated that teachers in Pakistan suffer low levels of wellbeing due to lack of self-efficacy and acceptance whereas teachers in the U.S. enjoy high levels of wellbeing due to increased self-efficacy and acceptance. When I asked the participants about their feeling of confidence to carry out their work and how they feel supported to grow, some of the participants said that they feel confident about their work part of which is because they have learned over the time and with experience. Participants QP1 said, “yes, I feel confident to carry out my teaching work, as I have learned a lot over the years and the system provides us support to improve through organized workshops and professional development sessions.” Whereas, some participants responded to this question by saying that their personal efforts and the urge for constant growth helped them to develop this sense of self-efficacy and acceptance. Participant QP7 presented it like this, saying“as it’s been a long time since I have been in this professional field, all the tips and tricks are now on my fingertips but it has been a long journey and I would say my confidence comes from the constant room I had for growth in 69 this field.” Participant QP10 described this sense of confidence and motivation as: For me self-efficacy is an important element rather a strong element in the teaching and learning environment. I have always believed in learning and unlearning at the same time. My strong sense of acceptance and self-efficacy helped me here to fight and accept all the challenges with grace, as for me efficacious teachers are more satisfied at their workplace than those who are not confident of their own strengths. I take pride in stating that today I am more confident to deal with technology and online teaching and learning than I was at the start of this pandemic. QP5 linked self-efficacy and acceptance at work with a teacher’s personal willingness to learn and when the Head carries out their work as an academic facilitator: Self-efficacy and acceptance depends on the level of professionalism with which I approach my work. Therefore, I believe for my personal growth, I need to accept comments given during classroom observations by the Head or even by a critical friend. I need to be ready to change and improve myself as a teacher. Therefore, I think that most of my growth has been dependent on two factors my own willingness to learn and the presence of Academic facilitators who have encouraged my growth through their consistent support. Answering the question about self-efficacy and acceptance, QP12 linked it with motivation at work saying, “I think that this is very important aspect how much satisfied are you with yourself because once you realize your worth you will be successful. Self-efficacy plays a big and very important role in developing motivation in any individual.” It seemed evident from the participants responses that confidence and motivation feeds into teachers’ experiences of professional development and that this contributes to their feelings of wellbeing at work. The next section will highlight work environment as another important theme about how teachers experience wellbeing at work. 4.4 Work Environment Responses from the questionnaires as well as interviews highlighted that work environment adds to teachers’ experiences of wellbeing at work. Ten out of thirteen teachers 70 who completed the questionnaire and two out of the three interviewees shared that work environment was an important element in how they feel workplace wellbeing. There are four different categories that come under the theme of work environment such as teacher involvement, workload, stress and protection. According to the participants of this study, having a positive environment at work benefits their performance and wellbeing. For these teachers having a positive work environment means teachers enjoying autonomy and control at work, they are involved in the matters related to the school, they enjoy a balanced workload, their work and workplace is free of stress for them and they develop sense of protection at work. When teachers feel that they have the autonomy to plan and conduct their teaching the way they think is more beneficial for the success of their students, have control over their environment and pedagogical activities, are asked for their opinions and ideas related to the matters of school, are involved in the decision-making process, have a shared purpose, have a balanced workload, are not delegated the responsibilities of the administration, have enough time for their teaching and planning, have time for their personal and social life, are not stressed in terms of workplace relationships, leadership, parental pressure, unrealistic deadlines, student performance, lack of collaboration and lack of support and guidance, feel protected at work, and have job security, they develop a sense of having a positive work environment that enhances their sense of wellbeing at work. Lack of a positive and supportive work environment could be a cause of stress that impacts teachers’ performance and wellbeing. Existing literature also indicates work environment as a factor that enhances employee wellbeing, in order to combat the general issues of education in Pakistan, attention must be paid to improve the work environment for teachers in 71 schools (Özü et al., 2017). Cherkowski et al. (2020) highlighted positive, caring and happy work environment to be one of the factors that support teachers to flourish and feel well. Louis and Murphy (2017) also asserted that positive, supportive and caring work environment improves performance and wellbeing. When asked about their understanding of wellbeing, a number of participants connected wellbeing with a positive work environment. Participant QP13 said, “Teacher wellbeing is the more friendly workplace environment, and relaxed working hours.” Participant QP3 stated “the wellbeing of a teacher is concerned with good work environment.” While participant QP1 shared: When teachers are given positive and supportive environment they feel well and happy at work. When leaders create a positive and supportive environment in school and ask teachers for their opinion on matters related to school, it influences the wellbeing of teachers positively. QP4 shared: “The wellbeing of a teacher means that she is protected, given ample opportunities to improve or flourish, well guided, and given a peaceful workplace.” Participant QP7 shared how her experience of positive work environment extends outside the school premises stating: “Teacher wellbeing includes friendly work environment and ample resources. We have a very friendly work environment which extends outside the school boundaries. This motivates me to actually go to work each day as there is no sense of restriction or stress.” Participant QP11 defined a positive work environment as “A place where you enjoy working and starting your day with a relaxed, peace of mind, where you are trusted and recognized, where you are guided and loved.” Some of the participants highlighted the importance of a positive work environment and shared their experience of how it feels to have a positive work environment. Participant QP9 72 said, “I am always blessed to have a cooperative staff around. They listen, support and guide me whenever I need them. With this positive and encouraging environment, I enjoy working, teaching to my students and learning innovative skills to perform better.” In this section, I talked about work environment as an important factor that help teachers experience wellbeing at work. In the next section, I describe teacher involvement as a category that comes under work environment and is an important way that these teachers experience positive work environment. 4.4.1 Teacher Involvement The analysis of the questionnaire data highlighted teacher involvement as a way teachers experience positive work environment. For these teachers, teacher involvement means asking teachers for their opinions related to the matters of school, taking teachers on board in the decision-making process and having shared purpose. When teachers are asked for their opinion and ideas on matters related to school, involved in the decision-making process and are taken onboard to work on shared purpose they develop a sense of belonging and feel valued which enhances their performance and wellbeing. Whereas, when teachers lack involvement in the matters of school, they lack the sense of belonging, work for individual interests and do not feel valued which impact their performance and wellbeing. Recent research reported that teachers in Pakistan feel that decisions are imposed on them, they lack involvement in the decision-making process (Hussain et al., 2019). Although there was no explicit question about teacher involvement in the questionnaire, while sharing descriptions of their leadership experiences revealed responses that highlighted teacher involvement to be an important practice that leaders should follow. Participant QP10 stated, “the teachers should always be part of the important decisions when it comes to school 73 improvement plans. Teacher must be conveyed with a clear set of expectations.” While participant QP13 linked it directly with wellbeing saying, “leadership influences teacher wellbeing by involving them in or taking their opinions in decision-making.” Participant QP11 shared how she feels confident and comfortable when involved in the matters regarding school, but this involvement is limited: Yes no doubt feeling of being listened and trusted gives you a confident and comfortable feeling and I am lucky that I always worked with the people whom were open to ideas and receptive for the initiatives, but of course we have got our own limitations and boundaries....sometimes by the system where we work and at times by the people around us. While talking about teacher involvement, QP5 said that teachers are not much involved especially when it comes to leadership: “commenting on leadership is not an acceptable trait in private schools and rarely welcomed with an open mind.” Similarly, participant QP1 found teacher involvement as a stressful issue for teachers in schools saying, “When leaders ask teachers for their opinion on matters related to school, it in fluences the wellbeing of teachers positively. Teachers involvement in the matters of school is any ways stressful issue.” In this section I provided evidence from the participants responses that teacher involvement is an important element that contributes to a positive work environment. In the next section, I will highlight workload as a way these teachers experience positive work environment at school. 4.4.2 Workload The analysis of interview data presented workload as a way teachers experience positive work environment. For these participating teachers, a balanced workload means teachers having enough time to focus on their teaching and planning, they can focus on making resources for effective teaching, they have enough time for their own personal and social life, they are not 74 involved in non-productive paper work/clerical work, and are not delegated the administrated tasks that the administration is supposed to do. According to these participants, teachers in schools in Pakistan are overworked. Their workload is a major cause of stress for them which keeps them occupied with other tasks and holds them back from focusing on their teaching which not only impacts the quality of their performance but also their wellbeing. This idea of teachers being overworked/overburdened in Pakistan, is also supported by research which asserts that teachers are physically as well as mentally exhausted due to their heavy workloads as they have to stay vigilant and alert all the time (Hussain et al., 2019). The responses from the participants in my study suggested that teachers with a balanced workload would be feel less stress and be able to focus on improving their teaching which would improve the learning of the students along with helping teachers to develop their sense of purposefulness and wellbeing. For example, when asked about the idea of having a balanced workload and its connection to wellbeing, QP4 said: Workload is directly related to your wellbeing. Balancing between workload and the other stuff, sometimes becomes really difficult. Your work environment should be balanced according to your workload so that we can handle the student issues on time. Yes, sometimes people are overwhelmed and they are stressed out and which disturbs their mental health and sometimes they even start talking about the administration and things like that which is being noted by the office, not good for their job description. Explaining the idea of a balanced workload, QP5 said that having a balanced workload would help teachers to focus more on their teaching and planning: I should have the work which is the work of a teacher. I would focus more on my lesson planning, on planning resources which were required on integrating different things into the lesson instead of spending time on things which are not actually part of my job. If the teacher is being burdened, that creates an imbalance. 75 Answering the same question about workload, QP12 shared her satisfaction with her workload, but she also pointed out that other teachers do complain about it: For me the basic understanding of a balanced workload is that you get time for copy checking, you get time for yourself, you get time for your family, you are not every time on work, your management is satisfied with your work hours so that counts everything. My workload is balanced. So, it’s maintaining my wellbeing in a positive way. These participants highlighted the importance of having a balanced workload in this section. The next section will highlight stress as a category that comes under the theme of work environment and as a factor influencing teachers’ experience of work environment. 4.4.3 Stress A theme that emerged from the interviews that was also linked to questionnaire responses that the importance of stress that detracts from teachers’ experiences of positive work environment. For these interview participants, there were different causes of stress at work which includes but are not limited to workload, workplace relationships, leadership, parental pressure, student performance and achievement, unrealistic deadlines, lack of collaborative, cooperative and supportive work environment and lack of guidance. Stress is evident in most research on teacher wellbeing, highlighting that teachers across the world are facing high levels of stress due to various factors such as long working hours, lack of facilities, low salary, lack of appreciation and lack of supportive work environment (Malik & Noreen, 2015). When asked about teacher stress and its causes, QP5 identified a number of causes of teachers’ stress at work and how a vent out session could be helpful: Causes of stress can be work related if you are over-burdened with lots of work, it can be due to colleagues, it can be due to your Head. Pressure from the parents also. One of the Heads I knew, she allowed teachers to have a vent out session after the parent teacher meeting. I liked that as it was a great relief, you just vent it out and then you knew there was not going to be any fall back to it. After we had done the vent out session then there was another session after a week or so in which we talked about the issues and then what things are needed to be addressed. 76 QP12 shared her experience of having sleepless nights due to her job stress while responding about stress and its causes, stating that: Teachers have contracted between stress and their profession. I do had sleepless nights as well when I was so stressed about the students those passing exam, those being interviewed by some other institutes or something. Whereas, Sam Khan, while answering the same question highlights non-cooperative colleagues, lack of guidance from the administration and unrealistic deadline from the Head to be some of the major causes of stress for teachers: When I was promoted from being an English coordinator to the level coordinator, I was thinking about the teachers there. They gave me tough time. My Head wanted a learning story from our section, me and my counterpart. The learning story takes a week, but we were told to do it in three days. Just because my Head wanted it to be done in three days. It was very stressful. Also, the administration needs to guide the teachers I think this is the main reason for teachers to be stressed out and burnt out. These responses from the conversations highlight teacher stress as a factor that feeds into teachers’ experiences of work environment. The next section will focus on job protection/security as a category that comes under the theme of work environment and is another influence in how teachers’ experience their work environment. 4.4.4 Protection/ Job Security It appeared from the analysis of the questionnaire as well as interview data that a sense of protection or job security contributes to how these teachers experience a positive work environment. For these participants a sense of protection feels like a sense of job security that comes from their hard work to satisfy students and parents who then provide positive feedback about them to the administration, or from having a positive relationship with the administration who will then support them through thick and thin that gives them a sense of protection or 77 security in their job. This sense of protection at work helps these teacher to work without having the stress that they will be accountable for every single action. They feel they can work freely to create the best teaching and learning experiences and work to benefit the organization and this means they feel their work environment is more positive. Whereas, lack of sense of protection at work results in teachers feeling stressed as they consider themselves to be accountable for every action and they fear that they can lose their job anytime which makes them feel that their work environment is not positive or supportive. When asked about their ideas and understanding of what it means to feel protected at work, QP5 talked about school policies which are more inclined to benefit customers such as students and parents and teachers are crucified without listening to them. She said: Protection depends upon school’s policy towards the teachers. Most of the schools are quite protective to the teacher as long as it does not violate the child protection policy. And if there is a violation of that then the school lifts its protection. I do feel that protection for the teacher is a bit imbalanced and is tilted towards parent’s side generally. QP4 linked her feeling of protection with her sense of wellbeing at work but also asserted that only favorite people are being protected at work. She stated: The wellbeing of a teacher means that she is protected. So, yes being protected at work is very important. But favoritism is also part of it. If you are being favorite of your Head or your administration, you are being protected. This protection means that they know you are not doing your job honestly, but you are being protected. So, there is favoritism. If you know, if you are favored from the boss you are being protected at the job. Whereas, QP12 answered the same question by linking her sense of protection with her hard work. She said: What makes me feel protected is my job and how I work. Because I know I am a hard worker, so, it is something that is for me my protection. I know that my employer wants me to work, my employer wants me to be very creative with my students or whatever because they are like their stakeholders, so, if I am not creative with them so it is not protected. 78 These responses highlighted that when teachers feel protected at work, they develop the sense of having a positive work environment which feeds into their experience of wellbeing at work. Leadership experiences came across all of the themes and were reflected in the reponses of the participants throughout all of the previous sections. I highlight in the next section how leadership influenced how these teachers experience a sense of wellbeing at work. 4.5 Leadership Experiences Understanding the ways leadership influences how teachers experience wellbeing at work was one of the questions that guided this study. I found that examples and stories of leadership emerged in many, if not most, of the responses from participants and seemed to cut across and within all of the themes. Twelve out of thirteen interview respondents and all the three interview participants shared experiences of how leadership was an important factor that influenced their sense of wellbeing at work. For the participants in this study, leadership practices that feed into their experiences of wellbeing are: appreciate and reward teachers, provide material, physical, social and emotional support, create a positive, supportive and happy work environment, collaborate and cooperate, involve teachers in the matters related to school, have shared purpose, give autonomy and control, be an empathetic listener, provide open and comfortable communication, supply enough professional development opportunities, treat them with equality and justice, avoid nepotism, be a role model and develop positive relationships. These findings reflect the importance of the leader in creating conditions that motivate and increase the staff as an indirect but powerful way for school leaders to enhance teaching and learning (Leithwood et al., 2008). School improvement can be influenced by leaders when they focus on nurturing 79 positive relationships and a caring and supporting work environment based on trust (Louis & Murphy, 2017). When asked about their understandings and experiences of leadership and how it influences their wellbeing, some of the participants linked leadership practices with teacher wellbeing. For example, participant QP6 said, “when leaders ensure that their teachers are flourishing, their wellbeing is high. I feel school leadership behaviours have great influence on school morale, culture and teachers’ wellbeing. The leadership must take steps to make sure that their staff remains motivated and be given the freedom to deliver their best.” Participant QP7 highlighted that, “good leadership plays a very important role in teacher wellbeing as if your superior knows how to be authoritative while staying in the bounds of respect it can make the team work effectively with a greater productive output.” Similarly, participant QP8 explained, “I think leadership play a vital role to promote teachers’ wellbeing by increasing job satisfaction and reducing teachers’ overtiredness and job insecurity, especially in a pandemic situation. I think when leadership try to dominate or to become authoritarian, then it may affect the sense of wellbeing.” When prompted to reflect on leadership experiences participant QP2 said that leaders should develop a friendly and comfortable environment so that teachers can easily share their issues: As I said earlier the leadership in school should make an effort to know teachers' problem personally. If the Heads are at a distance, then nobody will feel comfortable in sharing their problems. You have to have a friendly environment to have happy teachers. For example, if I have a personal problem at home and I'm not comfortable in sharing it with my Head then I consider that an unfriendly environment because there is a hierarchy barrier in between. 80 While responding to the questions about leadership, a couple of participants talked about importance of leaders being a role model. Participant QP11 put it this way; Leadership is always about preaching through actions. It’s my strong belief. It’s about polishing strengths of the people around you. It’s about acknowledging the efforts of surrounding people. It’s about helping others to come up to the standards. It’s about guiding others to rectify their mistakes without making them embarrassed. Whereas, participant QP3 talked about providing professional growth opportunities as an important aspect of leadership saying, “Leadership is the key factor for success. If teachers are not encouraged for up grooming than their interest would be less in their teaching job. If management give them certain position it will increase their level.” From the responses of the participants in this study, I found that leadership experiences were influential across all the themes and practices, behaviours and attitudes of leaders contributed to how these teachers experience wellbeing. In the next chapter, I provide an overview of the study and conclude with recommendations and suggestions for further research. 81 Chapter 5 Conclusion Recognizing the importance of teacher wellbeing, I conducted this research to explore the perceptions and experiences of wellbeing of teachers and the impacts of leadership on teacher wellbeing in schools in Pakistan. In this chapter, I provide an overview of the research, highlight the significance of this research, discuss the questions that framed this research, describe the way it was carried out, discuss the finding that emerged out of this exploration and compare those findings with the findings of existing research. Finally, I will provide recommendations stemming from these findings and discuss the limitations of this research. 5.1 Overview of the Study In this study I explored teachers’ experiences of wellbeing in private schools in Pakistan with the secondary focus of understanding the role of leadership in how these teachers experience wellbeing at work. The interest in this topic connected to my professional expereinces as a School Coordinator/Section Head/Vice Principal/Leader in Pakistan, and my academic interest as a researcher. A detailed review of the literature in chapter two highlighted that teachers around the world are suffering high levels of job stress and burnout which is not only impacting their performance but is also impacting their wellbeing, resulting in high ratios of teacher turnover. Recent research conducted in Pakistan also highlighted high levels of job stress in teachers in Pakistan and also compared the wellbeing of teachers in schools in Pakistan with the wellbeing of teachers in schools in Turkey and the USA. This comparison of wellbeing showed that teachers around the world are stressed, teachers in Pakistan have the highest levels of stress and lowest levels of wellbeing (Özü et al., 2017). Missing from the research on teacher wellbeing in Pakistan is an examination of teachers’ own ideas and experiences of wellbeing as well as the connection between leadership and 82 wellbeing in schools. Therefore, this study was designed to contribute to this lack of research. The overarching research question framing and guiding this case study was: “In what ways do teachers experience wellbeing in schools in Pakistan, and what are their understandings about the influences of leadership on their sense of wellbeing?” Three sub-questions provided a structure for me to more deeply explore the participants’ understandings and experiences of wellbeing: • How do teachers in Pakistan describe their wellbeing at work? • In what ways do their experiences of leadership influence their sense of wellbeing? • What recommendations could be made to develop and promote leadership for positive teacher wellbeing in Pakistan? To answer these questions within the case study I carried out an open-ended online questionnaire, followed by online interviews to explore in more detail teachers’ own stories about what wellbeing meant to them in their work. I recruited twenty school teachers currently working in different private schools in Lahore through different social media platforms that are popular among teachers and are commonly used by them for networking and socializing. I sent an invitation email to all the recruited participants with a consent form attached to it. All of them responded to the invitation email, however, only thirteen participants completely answered the online open-ended questionnaire. I followed up with six participants from the questionnaires who gave their consent to participate in an online follow-up interview. Three out of the six invited participants agreed to the interviews and shared their insights and experiences in detail in online conversations carried out on Zoom. The questionnaires were developed using findings from the existing studies measuring teacher stress (Hussain et al., 2019) and teacher wellbeing (Özü et al., 2017) in Pakistan. From 83 the initial analysis of the questionnaire responses, I determined additional themes for the interview conversations that provided opportunities for gathering more details and stories to build out the experiences of wellbeing offered by the participants in this study. From analysis of all the data for this study, four main findings emerged: appreciation, positive relationships, professional development and work environment. Additionally, leadership experiences were found across all of these findings as an integral part of all of them (Figure 5.1). The findings presented in chapter four guided the recommendations and considerations for future research. I present an overview of the findings in this next section 84 Figure 5.1 Teacher Wellbeing Diagram 5.2 Findings From the detailed analysis of the data I highlighted a number of categories that I then grouped into four different themes. The four major themes that emerged as the findings of this research are: appreciation, positive relationships, professional development and work environment. These four themes emerged as important factors for teacher wellbeing in this study. As described in chapter four, leadership experiences are a theme that resonated within and across all of the other themes in the study. The first main finding that emerged from this study was the importance of appreciation on how these teachers experienced wellbeing in their work. For these participants, appreciation 85 comes in different forms. These participants asserted that when they are appreciated for their efforts by others specially by the Head or coordinator, they feel happy, satisfied and purposefulness which decreases their work stress and increases their sense of wellbeing at work. However, when they are not appreciated at work for their efforts specially by the Head or coordinator, they feel that they are unable to achieve the purpose of their teaching which makes them unhappy and dissatisfied hence increasing their stress and decreasing their feeling of being well at work. The second finding that grew out of this study is positive relationships. Sharing positive relationships at work with colleagues as well as with the administration i.e., Head and coordinator, helps create a sense of community, belongingness and inclusion. When people share positive relationships at work that are trustworthy, caring and comforting, they tend to work for mutual interests rather than focusing on individual benefits. They feel supported and collaborate and cooperate with each other for the achievement of organizational goals. This sense of support either material, physical or emotional, enhances their performance and gives teachers the confidence that they can navigate their pedagogical activities the way they think is most beneficial for students’ achievement. This finding aligns with Louis and Murphy’s (2016) research on positive leadership where they also highlighted positive relationships to be a significant factor for enhanced performance of teachers. The support, collaboration and comfort is appreciated when it comes from the administration. When teachers feel that they are empathetically listened to, trusted and taken care of, it not only enhances their motivation to work but also enhances their sense of wellbeing at work. Lack of this sense of community, support, belongingness, and inclusion at work develops 86 negativity in teachers. They do not feel motivated to work and just work for their individual benefits rather than working for the greater good. The third finding is the importance of opportunities for professional development throughout their career as connected to these teachers’ sense of wellbeing. Receiving enough of these professional development opportunities helped these teachers to develop a sense of self-efficacy. They feel productive and confident about their teaching. Their work satisfies them and gives them a sense of purposefulness. On the other hand, lack of enough professional development opportunities becomes a source of stress for them as they do not feel confident about their teaching and this impacts there sense of satisfaction and self-efficacy at work. When they feel that the administration is giving them enough professional development opportunities and they are supported to grow professionally to move on to higher designations, it enhances their wellbeing at work but when there is a lack of these professional development opportunities and support from the administration to be promoted, it reduces their sense of wellbeing at work. The fourth finding that this research highlighted is work environment. For the teachers who participated in this research, having a positive work environment means teachers enjoying autonomy and control at work, getting involved in the matters related to the school, having a balanced workload, having stress free work and workplace environments, and developing a sense of protection at work. Lack of autonomy and control at work, lack of involvement in the decision-making process, lack of a balanced workload, workplace stress, and lack of sense of protection at work develop their understanding of not having a positive work environment which negatively impacts their sense of wellbeing at work. Experiences of leadership were found across all of the stories and descriptions of wellbeing, reflecting an overall influence of leadership on teacher wellbeing. When the teachers 87 in this study felt that their leaders attended to those factors contributing to a positive work environment that supported teacher wellbeing, they developed a positive sense about the impact of leadership behaviour that contributed to them feeling happy and well in their work. Whereas, when teachers felt that their leaders did not exhibit these traits and that their experiences of leadership were not positive and pleasant, they felt demotivated, and their sense of wellbeing at work decreased. In the following section, I describe these findings in relation to the existing research through a reflection on the research questions that framed this study. 5.3 Reflecting on the Research Questions The findings that emerged after the analysis of the research data helped to answer the overarching research question as well as the sub-questions. The overarching research question that guided this study was “In what ways do teachers experience wellbeing in schools in Pakistan, and what are their understandings about the influences of leadership on their sense of wellbeing?” I divided this primary research question into three sub-questions that helped me to inquire each of the components separately and in greater detail. The three sub-questions I used for the study were: “How do teachers in Pakistan describe their wellbeing at work?”, “In what ways do their experiences of leadership influence their sense of wellbeing?”, “What recommendations could be made to develop and promote leadership for teacher wellbeing in Pakistan?” All of these three sub questions are answered throughout the next section with examples from both the existing research and the data gathered for this research. The finding of this study indicated that there are several ways through which teachers in Pakistan describe and experience wellbeing. Central to these findings is that leaders have a signifncant role in setting the conditions for a positive work environment and supporting teachers in their wellbeing. The key factors that affect teachers’ experiences of wellbeing include 88 appreciation, positive relationships, professional development and work environment. The findings of this study support and are aligned with the findings of a number of studies conducted in educational scholarship, mostly in the Western world, but there are a few in Pakistan too. Some of the studies are highlighted below to support the findings of my study. The teachers in this study indicated they develop a positive sense of wellbeing when they receive appreciation at work. Although it was important to receive appreciation from students, parents and their colleagues, these participants shared the importance of receiving appreciation from leaders or administrators. When leaders acknowledge and recognize the efforts of teachers and appreciate them through words, letters, certificates, titles, incentives, increments, grading or bonus, it really boosts teachers’ sense of satisfaction with their job and their motivation to improve which ultimately enhances their sense of wellbeing. Participants in this research felt wellbeing when their Heads appreciated them and gave them good feedback in front of others, such as when QP5 was asked in a meeting to share how she conducted the lesson. This finding is similar to the work of Cherkowski et al. (2020) who studied positive leadership. They highlighted that attending to goodness and animating purpose (focusing on important matters) and passion (appreciating strengths and talents and helping people to reach their potential) help teachers to flourish and develop a positive sense of wellbeing. Similarly, Özü et al. (2017) also indicated that teachers develop a positive sense of wellbeing when they feel efficacy (being appreciated and being successful professionally). Furthermore, these teachers also felt wellbeing when they were encouraged to share their ideas and then those ideas were implemented such as when participant QP2 was encouraged to share her idea which was later accepted and implemented. Wellbeing was also felt by these participants when they received good grades for annual increments such as when participant 89 QP10 shared that extrinsic rewards are important because they include tangible monetary bonus. This finding is consistent with that of Ramdas and Patrick (2018) stating that leaders appreciating teachers increases their productivity and wellbeing. These results also reflect those of Niqab et al. (2014) who highlighted teacher appreciation to be critical to deal with the issues of education in Pakistan. Additionally, the finding of the importance of appreciation at work was demonstrated in Hussain et al.’s (2019) findings where they asserted that teachers endure stress when their efforts are greater than their rewards. The findings of my study supported and extended their findings, and added positive relationships and professional development as important aspects that contribute to how people feel wellbeing and satisfaction in their work. The teachers in my study indicated that they develop positive experiences of wellbeing when they feel that they share positive relationships at work. As with appreciation, although positive relationships with colleagues and staff are critical it seemed important for these participants to have positive relationships with leaders or administration. When teachers feel a positive relationship with leaders, they feel valued, they feel supported, they feel cared for, they develop a sense of community, and they work for mutual interests which eventually enhances their sense of wellbeing at work (Cherkowski et al., 2020). Participants in this research felt wellbeing when they developed the confidence that their work place relationships were positive and supportive, and they would not be punished for their mistakes. For example when QP12 shared that being a newcomer, she made a lot of mistakes but her administration and colleagues were positive and supportive and she was never punished which maintained her wellbeing, while participant QP11 said that it is about guiding others to rectify their mistakes without making them embarrassed. These findings of my research are aligned with the findings of Acton and Glasgow (2015) who studied the impact of professional relationships on teacher wellbeing. They 90 found establishing collegial, collaborative and supportive workplace relationships improve wellbeing. The participants in my study also felt wellbeing when they were positively supported in challenging times such as when participant QP10 asserted that they were faced with new challenges in the time of pandemic. She said that the shift to the digital world of teaching was stressful but they were provided with ample opportunities to develop skills and deal with digital challenges. Wellbeing was also felt when the participants were confident that they had open communication with the Heads and staff and they were supported emotionally and empathetically, and provided with a solution such as when participant QP10 stated that her line manager is always eager to listen to her and her colleagues are always there to lend a hand. Also, QP5 said that her emotional support comes from the fact that she can openly share her problems with the Head and from her confidence that her Head will provide her with a solution to the problem. These findings of my research are aligned with and support the findings of a number of scholars, such as Cherkowski et al. (2018) who asserted that principals play a significant role in developing conditions and building positive relationships for teachers to feel well and flourish. From the findings of my study and those from previous research (Acton & Glasgow, Louis & Murphy, 2018; Ramdas & Patrick, 2018) it seems evident that leaders have an influence in how teachers experience positive relationships and feel supported and that these enhance their sense of wellbeing and contributes to an improvement in their work as their confidence and motivation increase. This finding reflects that of Malik and Noreen (2015) highlighting that when organizations provide support to the teachers, it decreases their stress and increases wellbeing; further, it also shows similarity with Niqab et al. (2014) claiming that positive relationships at work are critical for the issues of education in Pakistan. 91 One of the ways leaders were influential in how teachers feel wellbeing was through opportunities to learn and grow from mistakes and through professional development. These participants felt wellbeing when they were given proper pre-service and in-service professional development and guidance about the policies, procedures and conducts of the school such as when participant QP13 shared that her management works for the professional development of teachers by providing pre-service and in-service professional development/courses/workshops. The participants also felt wellbeing when they practiced autonomy and control in planning and conducting their lessons, such as when participant QP2 shared that she is autonomous over her work and can plan and conduct lessons the way she thinks is most suitable for student learning. Wellbeing was also felt when they mentored others and were promoted, such as when participant QP3 said that her wellbeing is related to her growth. It satisfied her when she was professionally and academically promoted. Whereas, QP5 indicated that mentoring helped her to see the other side of the picture too. This finding of my research is similar to the findings of Acton and Glasgow (2015) stating that practicing autonomy and control influences teacher wellbeing. However, in my study, autonomy and control is a part of professional development, whereas according to their study, autonomy and control is a part of work climate. My findings here are also aligned with the findings of Özü et al. (2017) showing that when teachers are autonomous at work, practice control, and receive ample professional development opportunities, they feel well; correspondingly, it also supports Hussain et al. (2019) asserting that teachers endure stress when they do not have enough control over the job, which results in low wellbeing. The findings of my study supported and extended their findings by adding professional development to the list of factors that tend to contribute to the feelings of wellbeing. 92 Finally, these teachers described a sense of wellbeing when they feel that their work environment is positive and supportive. Though their colleagues and staff play a big part in the development of a positive and supportive work environment, the responses seemed to suggest that the leader had a critical role to play in how these participants experienced wellbeing in relation to the work environment. They suggested that leaders need to ensure that he/she creates a positive and supportive workplace by involving teachers in matters related to school; balancing their workload; decreasing stress, and increasing protection, but he/she also has to encourage others to do the same. Participants in this research felt wellbeing when they were involved in the matters related to school, and encouraged to share their opinions and ideas not only about teaching but also on the matters related to school and had shared purposes, such as when participant QP13 shared that she feels that she is an important part of the school because her opinions are taken and considered. This finding broadly supports the work of other studies such as Cherkowski et al. (2018) who stated that principals play an important role in creating work enviornments that are supportive, collegial, caring and engaging, and Niqab et al. (2014), indicating that shared purpose and sense of collegiality and care enhances wellbeing. These results reflect those of Cherkowski et al. (2020) and Louis and Murphy (2017) asserting that positive, supportive, caring and happy work environments improves teachers’ performance and help them flourish. My results support their findings that the environment of school (climate and culture) and positive relationships (emotional dynamics) are critical to school improvement and wellbeing, but goes beyond to suggest that appreciation and professional development may have been underestimated in existing studies of wellbeing. Wellbeing was also felt when they were given a balanced workload, such as when QP12 said that her workload is balanced and, as a result, she can easily manage her personal as well as 93 professional life. They also felt wellbeing when they were protected and helped to manage stress, such as when QP5 shared that one of her previous Heads used to arrange a vent out session for teachers to help them reduce stress and feel relaxed. However, sharing her opinion about protection, she said that protection comes from the school’s policy towards teachers which in private schools can be imbalanced and favor parents. This finding of my research was also reported by Acton and Glasgow (2015) stating that teacher wellbeing is influenced by the work environment, contexts supportive of teachers’ wellbeing to manage workloads and positive and supportive work environment. The findings of my study also extended their findings by highlighting that professional development also enhances wellbeing, in addition to emotional work, professional relationships and workplace climate. In accordance with the present results, previous studies by Greenberg et al. (2016) and Özü et al. (2017) have demonstrated that the environment of the school; work pressure, autonomy and the ability to manage social and emotional pressure are the reasons of teacher stress and impact the wellbeing of teachers. Finally, this finding is consistent with that of Hussain et al. (2019) claiming that teachers endure stress when their workplace does not offer supportive physical, social and psychological settings and this increased level of stress impacts their wellbeing negatively. Through the stories and descriptions of participants in this study I was able to provide insights that answered the questions about how teachers in Pakistan experience wellbeing and the ways that leadership behaviour influences this sense of wellbeing at work. They described the importance of feeling appreciation and experiencing positive relationships, as well as having opportunities for professional development and feeling like they were working in a positive, supportive and caring work environment. For these teachers, their Heads and coordinators—their leaders—were influential in how they experienced each and all of these themes, leading to my 94 suggestion that leadership is a central influence in teacher wellbeing. In the next section, I present some recommendations derived from the findings of this study. 5.4 Recommendations In this section I present several recommendations for future research as well as several practices that may inform how leaders engage in their work with teachers. 5.4.1 Recommendations for Future Research The primary purpose of this study was to develop an understanding about teachers’ experiences of wellbeing and to learn more about how leadership behaviours influence their wellbeing at work. Given the small sample size of this study, further research could be conducted in Pakistan examining larger samples of teachers’ own experiences of wellbeing and leadership in private and public schools. Additionally, the findings of my study reflected some of the findings from previous research on teacher wellbeing in Pakistan (Hussain et al., 2019; Özü et al., 2017) that emphasised the stressors on teacher wellbeing, however there is more to learn about what promotes a sense of wellbeing among teachers and the ways leaders influence and impact this wellbeing. From the previous findings of Hussain et al (2019) and Ozu et al (2017), I included questions in my study about job satisfaction in terms of monetary benefits. While some of the participants mentioned the importance of feeling that they are paid well for their work and that it would be nice to make more money, this was not a discussion that seemed to be of strong importance to these teachers in terms of their sense of wellbeing. Although it was important, it did not seemed to be raised as a main or strong theme in relation to wellbeing. Similarly, several questionnaire responses indicated the importance of job protection in their sense of wellbeing at work. However, when I followed up with the interview participants to get a better sense of this 95 issue, it did not strike them as overly important. Given the small sample size of participants in this study, I recommend further research on the important influences on teacher wellbeing in Pakistan. Teachers in this study highlighted experiences of leadership to be an integral part of all of their experiences of wellbeing. Given the lack of research on leadership and teacher wellbeing in the context of Pakistan, this is another area for recommended research. Additionally, it was interesting to hear the stories of wellbeing from these teachers who may not have had the same opportunities as I have had through my graduate program to read research and learn about theories of education, teaching, and leadership. Further research to understand teachers’ conceptions of their work in relation to what they experience as wellbeing would provide opportunities for thinking about culturally responsive approaches to teacher wellbeing. Beyond recommendations for further research, the findings from this study provide a way forward for leadership development in Pakistan. In the next section, I provide several recommendations for practice and policy in relation to the work of leaders with a focus on teacher wellbeing. 5.4.2 Recommendations for Leadership Although the findings of this study might not be generalizable due to the small scale of the study, this qualitative analysis provides insights about the professional experiences of teachers and the factors that enhance their wellbeing at work. The findings of this study provide a way forward to school leaders who want to improve their professional practices and the overall environment of their workplace. Research comparing school leaders of public schools as well as private schools in Pakistan indicated that school leaders of public schools tend to be more authoritative than the 96 school leaders of private schools (Niqab et al., 2014). This finding insisted the need for further research in both public and private schools in Pakistan. The findings from my study provide additional insights on the ways leaders influence the work of teaching in private schools in Pakistan. In Pakistan, more attention to the role of school leaders (Nawab, 2011) and school culture (Niqab et al., 2014), where teachers feel a sense of wellbeing, is needed to create school environments that nurture and support teachers to do well and feel well in their work. There may be an opportunity for school leaders in Pakistan to learn about the role of leadership for wellbeing, with a focus on positive and relational leadership approaches, and how the findings from research in other countries may be usefully adapted in Pakistani schools. The findings from my study provide a framework through which school leaders and policy makers can better understand the experiences of wellbeing and leadership among teachers. Consequently, it has the potential to help guide efforts to improve positive work experiences of teachers in Pakistan. In the light of the findings of this study, leaders working in the field of education are encouraged to reflect on their practices in relation to current research to see what is working well and impacting teachers positively and what is not. This reflection on their current practices and evidence from the literature will help them to notice workplace conditions that might encourage compassion, care, support, positivity, collaboration and mutual interests which will eventually enhance wellbeing not only of themselves and the people working under them but also of the system as a whole (Acton & Glasgow, 2015; Cameron, 2012; Cherkowski et al., 2020; Cherkowski et al., 2018; Louis & Murphy, 2018; Louis & Murphy, 2017). As a way to move toward improving wellbeing among teachers in Pakistan, leaders could show appreciation to their teachers for their efforts. They could focus on developing positive and 97 supportive relationships at work and also encourage the staff to do the same. They could try to provide as many opportunities as they can to their staff for their personal as well as professional development and growth. Finally, they could work towards creating positive and supportive work environments so that teachers feel they are a valuable part of the organization all working toward mutual benefits. 5.5 Limitations As I reflect on the findings and recommendations I offer here the recognition of the limitations of these within the scope of this study. The first limitation refers to my role as a researcher who also has significant experience and history as a teacher and administrator within the private school system in Pakistan. As such, I acknowledge the potential limiations brought on by the potential biases that may be present from the design of the study through to analysis and interpretation of the findings. Secondly, the findings of this study are limited to the focus of this study which was an exploration of a small group of teachers and their understandings of wellbeing at work. Additionally, the small sample size is a limitation. Finally, the participants for this study were made aware of this opportunity and recruited through the social media platforms that I used. Different methods of recruitment might have given me the opportunity to reach out to a more diverse and larger body of participants having different and interesting stories and experiences to share. . 5.6 Conclusion Although the issue of teacher wellbeing prevails throughout the world, the situation is even more critical in Pakistan where there is less formal preparation of teachers, and fewer structures to ensure professional development, and where recently, a large change in the educational landscape in Pakistan (the introduction of Single National Curriculum) has put pressures on 98 teachers and leaders to provide education in different ways than has always been done. Recent research shows that teachers in Pakistan have lower levels of wellbeing than teachers in other parts of the world (Özü et al., 2017) and more research is needed to inform how teachers, school leaders and policy makers can improve work environments to encourage teacher wellbeing. As research has indicated, kind, compassionate, caring, supportive, relational and positive traits of leaders can help create school environments where teachers can effectively work with high levels of motivation and wellbeing and low levels of job stress. Leaders need to be a role model for the people working and studying under them so that compassion, care, support and positivity can be inculcated within the systems for collective wellbeing. Appreciating teachers for their efforts, developing and encouraging positive relationships at work, providing teachers with ample opportunities to grow personally as well as professionally and creating supportive, collaborative and positive work environments where teachers develop a sense of community, belonging, satisfaction, purposefulness and caring will help leaders to build school environments that promote teacher wellbeing. Positive experiences of leadership have positive impacts on the wellbeing of teachers. 99 References Acton, R., & Glasgow, P. (2015). Teacher wellbeing in neoliberal contexts: A review of the literature, Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(8), 99-114. http://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2015v40n8.6 Ahmad, I. (2014). Critical Analysis of the Problems of Education in Pakistan: Possible Solutions. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE), 3(2), 79-84. ISSN: 2252-8822. Available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1091681.pdf Amin, T. (2019). Budget 2019-20: allocation for education, services reduced by 20.5 percent – Business Recorder. Fp.brecorder.com. Available at: https://fp.brecorder.com/2019/06/20190612485340/ Arogundade, T.O., Arogundade, B. A., & Adebajo, O. (2015). The influence of perceived organizational support on job stress among selected public and private sector employees in Lagos state, Nigeria. Advances in Research, 3(6), 541-547. http://doi.org/10.9734/AIR/2015/14048 Bermejo-Toro, L. Prieto-Ursúa, M. & Hernández, V. (2016) Towards a model of teacher well- being: Personal and job resources involved in teacher burnout and engagement. Educational Psychology, 36(3), p. 481-501. http://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2015.1005006 Bogdan, R., & Biklen, S. K. (2007). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theory and methods (5th ed.). Mass: Pearson Allyn and Bacon. Brown, L. & Roloff, M. (2011). Extra-role time, burnout, and commitment: The power of promises kept. Business Communication Quarterly, 74(4), 450-474. http://doi.org/10.1177/1080569911424202 100 Bryk, A., Bender-Sebring, P., Allensworth, E., Luppescu, S., & Easton, J. Q. (2010). Organizing schools for improvement: Lessons from Chicago. University of Chicago Press. Bush, T. (2008). From Management to Leadership Semantic or Meaningful Change? Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 36(2), 271-288. http://doi.org/10.1177/1741143207087777 Cameron, K. (2012). Positive leadership: Strategies for extraordinary performance. Berrett- Koehler Publishers. Cameron, K. (2013). Practicing positive leadership: Tools and techniques that create extraordinary results. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Chaudhry, A. Q., Hassan, S. M., Farman, N., & Fouzeen, R. (2014). How Pakistani teachers manage their stress; a case of university teachers of Pakistan. Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan (JRSP), 51(2). http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/history/PDF-FILES/4-%20Abdul%20Qayyum%20Ch_v51_2.pdf Cherkowski, S. (2018). Positive Teacher Leadership: Building Mindsets and Capacities to Grow Wellbeing. International Journal of Teacher Leadership, 9(1), 63-78. Cherkowski, S. and Walker, K. (2016), “Flourishing leadership: engaging purpose, passion, and play in the work of leading schools”, Journal of Educational Administration, 54(4), 378-392. Cherkowski, S., Hanson, K., & Walker, K. (2018). Flourishing in adaptive community: balancing structures and flexibilities. Journal of Professional Capital and Community, 3(2), 123-136.http://doi.org/10.1108/JPCC-09-2017-0021 Cherkowski, S., Kutsyuruba, B., & Walker, K. (2020). Positive leadership: Animating purpose, presence, passion and play for flourishing in schools. Journal of Educational 101 Administration, 58(4), 401-415. http://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-04-2019-0076 Coleman, H. (2010). Teaching and learning in Pakistan: The role of language in education. Islamabad: The British Council, 1-56. Collie, R. J., Shapka, J. D., Perry, N. E., & Martin, A. J. (2015). Teacher wellbeing: Exploring its components and a practice-oriented scale. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 33(8), 744-756. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282915587990 Davis, S., Kearney, K., Sanders, N., Thomas, C., & Leon, R. (2011). The policies and practices of principal evaluation: A review of the literature. San Francisco, CA: WestEd. Fernet, C., Guay, F., Senecal, C., & Austin, S. (2012). Predicting intra-individual changes in teacher burnout: The role of perceived school environment and motivational factors. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28, 514-525. Ferrari, J. (2018). Leading effective change in schools of the 21st century: The attributes, behaviours, and practices of effective school principals (Order No. 10785820). Available at: https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/leading-effective-change-schools-21st-century/docview/2068624149/se-2?accountid=14656 Fullan, M. (1998). Breaking the bonds of dependency. (educational leadership). Educational Leadership, 55(7), 6. Greenberg, M. T., Brown, J. L., & Abenavoli, R. M. (2016). Teacher stress and health. Social and Emocional Learning. An RWJF Collection, 9(1), 1-12. Available at: http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/issue_briefs/2016/rwjf430428 Hastings, R. & Bham, M. (2003). The relationship between student behaviour patterns and teacher burnout. School Psychology International, 24(1), 115-127. 102 http://doi.org/10.1177/0143034303024001905 Häusser, J. A., Mojzisch, A., Niesel, M., & Schulz-Hardt, S. (2010). Ten years on: A review of recent research on the job demand-control (-support) model and psychological wellbeing. Work and Stress, 24(1), 1–35. http://doi.org/10.1080/02678371003683747 Hussain, A, Ch., Ahmad, S., Malik, M., & Batool, A. (2017). Principals' Leadership Styles and Teachers' Job Satisfaction: A Correlation Study at Secondary Level. Bulletin of Education and Research, 39(3), 45-56. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1210232.pdf Hussain, S. N., Zulfqar, A., & Shahzadi, U. (2019). Three-dimensional Determinants of Job Stress among Pakistani School Teachers. sjesr, 144-160. Karasek Jr, R. A. (1979). Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: Implications for job redesign. Administrative science quarterly, 285-308. http://doi.org/10.2307/2392498 Khan, A. (2013). A qualitative study of foreign funded capacity development program of head teachers-Lessons from Pakistan. European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 1(12), 107-123. Khan, S. H., Saeed, M., & Fatima, K. (2009). Assessing the performance of secondary school headteachers: A survey study based on teachers’ views in Punjab. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 37(6), 766-783. http://doi.org/10.1177/1741143209345572 Kidger, J., Brockman, R., Tilling, K., Campbell, R., Ford, T., Araya, R., ... & Gunnell, D. (2016). Teachers' wellbeing and depressive symptoms, and associated risk factors: A large cross sectional study in English secondary schools. Journal of affective disorders, 192, 76-82. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.11.054 Kilgallon, P., Maloney, C., & Lock, G. (2008). Early childhood teachers' sustainment in the 103 classroom. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 33(2), 41-54. http://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2008v33n2.3 Kutsyuruba, B., & Tregunna, L. (2014). Curbing early-career teacher attrition: A pan-Canadian document analysis of teacher induction and mentorship programs. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, (161), 1. https://educ.queensu.ca/sites/webpublish.queensu.ca.educwww/files/files/People/Faculty/Kutsyuruba%20-%20Pan-Canadian%20Document%20Analysis.pdf Laleka, S. (2019). Developing multilevel school leadership for instructional improvement in elementary schools of post-colonial Pakistan. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 22(2), 222-236. http://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2018.1543563 Le Cornu, R. (2013). Building Early Career Teacher Resilience: The Role of Relationships. The Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 38(4), 1-16. http://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2013v38n4.4 Leithwood, K., & Jantzi, D. (2000a). Principal and teacher leadership effect: A replication. School Leadership and Management, 20(4), 415-434. http://doi.org/10.1080/713696963 Leithwood, K., & Seashore-Louis, K. (2011). Linking leadership to student learning. John Wiley & Sons. Leithwood, K., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D. (2008). Seven strong claims about successful school leadership. School leadership and management, 28(1), 27-42. Lichtman, M. (2013). Qualitative research for the social sciences. SAGE publications. Louis, K. S., Murphy, J., & Smylie, M. (2016). Caring leadership in schools: Findings from exploratory analyses. Educational administration quarterly, 52(2), 310-348. Louis, K. S., & Murphy, J. (2017). Trust, caring and organizational learning: The leader’s role. 104 Journal of Educational Administration, 55(1), 103-126. http://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-07 2016-0077 Louis, K. S., & Murphy, J. F. (2018). The potential of positive leadership for school improvement. Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE), 2(2-3), 165-180. http://doi.org/10.7577/njcie.2790 Malik, S., & Noreen, S. (2015). Perceived organizational support as a moderator of affective well-being and occupational stress. Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences (PJCSS), 9(3), 865-874. https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/188227 Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2015). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. John Wiley & Sons. Mills, G. E., & Gay, L. R. (2016). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and applications (Eleventh, Global ed.). Pearson. Naghieh, A., Montgomery, P., Bonell, C., Thompson, M., & Aber, J. (2013). Organizational interventions for improving wellbeing and reducing work-related stress in teachers. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. http://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD010306. Nawab, A. (2011). Exploring leadership practices in rural context of a developing country. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 1(3), 181. http://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss.v1i2.31 Niqab, M., Sharma, S., Wei, L. M., & Maulod, S. B. A. (2014). Instructional Leadership Potential among School Principals in Pakistan. International Education Studies, 7(6), 74–85. ISSN: ISSN-1913-9020 Oakes, J., Quartz, K. H., Gong, J., Guiton, G., & Lipton, M. (1993). Creating middle schools: Technical, normative, and political considerations. The Elementary School Journal, 105 93(5), 461-480. http://doi.org/10.1086/461735 Özü, Ö., Zepeda, S., Ilgan, A., Jimenez, A. M., Ata, A., & Akram, M. (2017). Teachers’ psychological wellbeing: a comparison among teachers in USA, Turkey and Pakistan. International journal of mental health promotion, 19(3), 144-158. Pillay, H., Goddard, R., & Wilss, L. (2005). Wellbeing, burnout and competence: Implications for teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 30(2), 21-31. http://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2005v30n2.3 Rahman, T. (2004). Denizens of alien worlds: A study of education, inequality and polarization. Ramdas, S. K., & Patrick, H. A. (2018). Driving performance through positive leadership. Journal of Positive Management, 9(3), 17-33. https://doi.org/10.12775/JPM.2018.146 Rehmat, U. (2020). Education System in Pakistan. Available at: https://rehmatblogger.com/education-system-pakistan/ Rizwan, R. (2011). Role of Leadership at the Head teachers’ Level at Urban Primary Government Schools in Developed and Developing Countries: A Case of Schools in Coventry vs. Lahore. Available at: http://ipedr.com/vol37/002-ICMEI2012-E00005.pdf Roeser, R. W., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Jha, A., Cullen, M., Wallace, L., Wilensky, R., Oberle, E., Thomson, K., Taylor, C., & Harrison, J. (2013). Mindfulness professional development and reductions in teacher stress and burnout: Results from two randomized, waitlist-control field trials. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(3), 787-804. http://doi.org/10.1037/a0032093 Ross, S., Romer, N. & Horner, R. (2012). Teacher wellbeing and the implementation of school- wide positive behaviour interventions and supports. Journal of Positive Behaviour Interventions, 14(2), 118-128. http://doi.org/10.1177/1098300711413820 106 Sahito, Z., & Vaisanen, P. (2017). Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction of Teacher Educators: Empirical Evidence from the Universities of Sindh Province of Pakistan. Journal of Teacher Education and Educators, 6(1), 5-30. Salami, S. O. (2010). Occupational stress and wellbeing: emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, coping, negative affectivity and social support as moderators. Journal of International Social Research, 3(12). Saldana, J. (2015). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Sage. Schussler, D. L., Greenberg, M., DeWeese, A., Rasheed, D., DeMauro, A., Jennings, P. A., & Brown, J. (2018). Stress and release: Case studies of teacher resilience following a mindfulness-based intervention. American Journal of Education, 125(1), 1-28. http://doi.org/10.1086/699808 Seashore, K., Leithwood, K., Wahlstrom, K., & Anderson, S. (2010). Investigating the links to improved student learning. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement. Soini, T., Pyhältö, K., & Pietarinen, J. (2010). Pedagogical wellbeing: Reflecting learning and wellbeing in teachers' work. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 16(6), 735- 751. http://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2010.517690 Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Sage Publications. Tracy, S. J. (2010). Qualitative quality: Eight “big-tent” criteria for excellent qualitative research. Qualitative inquiry, 16(10), 837-851. Uhl-Bien, M. (2006). Relational leadership theory: Exploring the social processes of leadership and organizing. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(6), 65476. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.10.007 107 Uhl-Bien, M., & Maslyn, J. M. (2003). Reciprocity in manager-subordinate relationships: Components, configurations, and outcomes. Journal of Management, 29(4), 511-532. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0149-2063_03_00023-0 Van Der Doef, M., & Maes, S. (1999). The job demand-control(-support) model and psychological wellbeing: A review of 20 years of empirical research. Work and Stress, 13(2), 87–114. http://doi.org/10.1080/026783799296084 Vesely, A., Saklofske, D. & Nordstokke, D. (2014). EI professional development and pre-service teacher wellbeing. Personality and Individual Differences, 65, 81-85. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.052 Warwick, D. P., & Reimers, F. M. (1995). Hope or despair? : Learning in Pakistan’s primary schools. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN: ISBN-0-275-95348-3 Waters, T., & Cameron, G. (2008). The balanced leadership framework: Connecting vision with action. Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL). Waters, T., Marzano, R. J, & McNulty, B. (2005). School leadership that works: From research to results. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 108 Appendices Appendix A: Teacher Consent Letter Teachers’ Perceptions and Experiences of Wellbeing and Leadership in Pakistan: An exploratory study Teacher Consent Letter Principal Investigator: Co-Investigator: Dr. Sabre Cherkowski Zainab Tariq Faculty of Education Faculty of Education UBC Okanagan UBC Okanagan +1(250) 807-9306 +1(778) 392-8019 Dear ___________, I would like to invite you to take part in my Master of Arts research study exploring teacher perceptions and experiences of wellbeing and how leadership may influence their wellbeing at work. The details of the study are provided below. 1. INTRODUCTION I am studying wellbeing in education and in this particular study I hope to answer the question: In what ways do teachers’ experience wellbeing in schools in Pakistan, and what are their understandings about the influences of leadership on this sense of wellbeing? The purpose of my research is to gain a better understanding of how teachers experience wellbeing from a more qualitative perspective, and to explore their understandings of the role of leadership for teacher wellbeing in schools in Pakistan. This is aligned with growing research on the importance of wellbeing for leading a healthy and productive life, and research on how teachers’ wellbeing plays a key role in enhancing their practices to ultimately enhance the school environment and how it directly impacts student learning and wellbeing. This study is significant and timely, given the current issues and wellbeing concerns associated with the Covid-19 pandemic along with national and international calls for ways to address the growing problem with teacher wellbeing. Highlighting the current paucity of research connecting teacher wellbeing and leadership, this research will offer new knowledge for leadership policies and practices toward growing and improving teachers’ psychological wellbeing. 109 As a current teacher in a private school in Lahore, you are invited to take part in this study. I will be using the data from this research for my Master of Arts thesis and for any research articles, reports and/or books that may emerge from this thesis. 2. YOUR PARTICIPATION IS VOLUNTARY Your participation is entirely voluntary. If you choose not to participate, there will be no consequences to you. Before you decide, it is important for you to understand what the research involves. You will be asked to sign the consent at the bottom of this form and commit to taking part in the study and sharing your experiences with myself. 3. WHO IS CONDUCTING THE STUDY? This research project is being conducted by me, guided and overseen by my supervisor, Dr. Sabre Cherkowski. Dr. Cherkowski is an associate professor at UBCO in the Okanagan School of Education. She researches flourishing in schools with a focus on wellbeing for teachers and administrators. I will be carrying out the data collection and analyzing the data with the support and guidance of Dr. Cherkowski. There is no financial compensation from any funding agency for any part of this study. 4. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY? The purpose of this research is to explore teachers’ perceptions and experiences of wellbeing and to understand their ideas about the role of leadership for wellbeing in schools in Pakistan. Experiences in this study will be analysed to present the findings of the study. This research is part of my Master of Arts program and findings will contribute to furthering knowledge and practices for teacher wellbeing and leadership in the context of educational settings. The data will be used for my Master of Arts thesis and additional articles, presentations, chapters, and books that may emerge from the study findings. This study will add to the knowledge about how we can promote teacher wellbeing in our educational institutions in Pakistan. 5. WHO CAN PARTICIPATE IN THE STUDY? Participants for this study will be private school teachers from Lahore who are currently working, who understand and speak English, and are willing to volunteer for the study. 6. WHAT DOES THE STUDY INVOLVE? This study involves sharing your experiences of wellbeing and your understandings about how leadership may influence your wellbeing at work. You will be invited to participate in an online open-ended questionnaire on UBC Qualtrics (their server is in Canada). The 110 online questionnaire should take no more than 20 minutes for you to complete. There will be seven questions related to wellbeing and one question related to leadership. These questions were developed based on recent quantitative research measuring Psychological Wellbeing and Job Stressors for teachers in similar contexts as yours (Hussain, Zulfqar & Shahzadi, 2019; Özü, Zepeda, Ilgan, Jimenez, Ata & Akram, 2017). I may also invite you to take part in an optional online interview. The interview should take no more than 30-45 minutes of your time. The interview will expand on the questions in the online questionnaire. Interviews will take place through a UBC licensed Zoom (their server is in Canada). Interviews will be recorded using the record function in Zoom. Before you can participate you will need to email me a signed copy of the consent form at the bottom of this letter. The Zoom conversations will be recorded and transcribed by Zainab. You will be invited to read a transcript of your interview to ensure accurate representation of your experiences. If you have any questions you about this study and the consent process you may contact me either by e-mail or by phone and you may contact my supervisor, Dr. Cherkowski at your convenience by e-mail or phone. If you are interested in participating, please sign the letter of consent at the bottom of this document and attach it to your reply to this email indicating your interest in participating. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS AND RISKS OF PARTICIPATING IN THIS STUDY? Key benefits of participating include: • Opportunities to reflect on your work experiences. • Opportunities to share those experiences with researchers in the field of education for the advancement of knowledge. • Opportunities to help future educational students, leaders and teachers to benefit from the study findings. Some of the questions I ask may seem sensitive or personal. You do not have to answer any question if you do not want to, including any questions that may pertain to your experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic. There are no known risks associated with participation in this study. 7. WHAT HAPPENS IF I DECIDE TO WITHDRAW MY CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE? Your participation in this study is entirely voluntary. You may withdraw from this study at any time without penalty. If you choose to enter the study and then decide to withdraw at a later time, all data collected during your enrolment in the study will be retained for analysis. Once the transcripts are verified, the recordings will be deleted. Also, after the data is downloaded from UBC Qualtrics we will delete the data from their server that is in Canada. All data will be kept in a protected environment in the principal researcher’s 111 locked office at UBC Okanagan and in a password protected folder on their work computer. Data will used for the purposes of developing a Master of Arts dissertation as well as additional articles, chapters, books, and conference presentations that may be developed from the dissertation. 9. AFTER THE STUDY IS FINISHED Zainab will share with the participants a general summary of the findings after the study is finished. All data will be kept in a protected environment in the researcher’s locked office and in a password protected folder on their work computer for a minimum of five (5) years after publication at which time all data will be erased and destroyed. 10. WHAT WILL THE STUDY COST ME? You will not be paid for participating in this study. There are no expenses to you for participating in this study. 11. WILL MY TAKING PART IN THIS STUDY BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL? If you choose to participate in this study Zainab will respect the need for confidentiality of all participants. The data will be used to develop Zainab’s Master of Arts thesis, which is considered a public document and will be available on the Internet via ciRcle (the University of British Columbia's digital repository for research and teaching materials). All data collected will be coded and pseudonyms will be used for all written descriptions and reporting of the data. In this way, your confidentiality will be protected in the written reports of this research through the use of a pseudonym. 12. WHO DO I CONTACT IF I HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE STUDY DURING MY PARTICIPATION? If you have any questions or desire further information about this study before or during participation, you can contact Zainab Tariq at +1(778) 392-8019 (cell) or via email: zainab87@mail.ubc.ca.You may contact her supervisor, Dr. Sabre Cherkowski at +1(250)-307-5668 or by email: sabre.cherkowski@ubc.ca. 13. WHO DO I CONTACT IF I HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT MY RIGHTS AS A SUBJECT DURING THE STUDY? If you have concerns about your rights as a research subject and/or your experiences while participating in this study, you may contact the Research Subject Information Line in the UBC Office of Research Services at 1-877-822-8598 or the UBC Okanagan Research Services Office at +1250-807-8832. It is also possible to contact the Research Subject Information Line by email (RSIL@ors.ubc.ca). Please reference the study number (H20-03524) when contacting the Complaint Line so the staff can better assist you. 112 Consent: In this section you are asked to sign indicating your consent to the research activities described in this form. Given the intention to record Zoom interviews, your consent below indicates that you also consent to the recording of these conversations. My signature below indicates my consent to participate in the research activities and to the recording of interviews. My signature also indicates that I have received a copy of this consent form for my own records. ________________ ___________ Participant signature Date ___________________________________ Printed name of the participant signing above 113 Appendix B: Online Questionnaire Questionnaire Preamble: In studying wellbeing I have learned that several factors tend to contribute to how people feel wellbeing and satisfaction in their work: a sense of autonomy at work and control over their environment; positive relationships; a feeling of being appreciated; personal growth; purposefulness and self-acceptance (Hussain, Zulfqar & Shahzadi, 2019; Özü, Zepeda, Ilgan, Jimenez, Ata and Akram, 2017). I designed the questions below to incorporate these factors and to encourage you to share in as much detail as you can about your experiences of wellbeing at work. • How long have you been teaching and in what grades? • How would you describe teacher wellbeing? Sections 1: Factors that influence wellbeing Autonomy and control: Autonomy and a sense of control at work is a factor in our feelings of wellbeing. Describe in as much detail as you can how you feel a sense of autonomy or control in your work at school. For example, how often can you share about your opinion on matters related to teaching and leadership? In what ways do you feel a sense of support and encouragement for sharing your opinions and ideas about teaching? How do all these experiences influence your sense of wellbeing at work? Describe in as much detail as you can about the ways that you are supported when it comes to carrying out the various aspects of your work (for example: material and physical resources, social or emotional supports). Self-efficacy and acceptance: Self-efficacy and acceptance are factors in our feelings of wellbeing. Describe in as much detail as you can about your feelings of confidence to carry out 114 your teaching work and how you are supported to grow and develop in your ongoing improvement in your work as a teacher. Describe in as much detail as you can about your feelings about being a teacher right now (i.e. why did you decide to become a teacher and how happy you are with that decision? What do you most love about teaching? etc.). Positive relationships: Positive relationships are another factor in our feelings of wellbeing at work. Describe in as much detail as you can about the kinds of relationships you have at your workplace and how these influence or play a role in how you experience wellbeing and a feeling of motivation at work. Purpose and rewards: Feeling a sense of purpose at work and that the efforts put into the work are balanced with the rewards that we get out of work are factors in our sense of wellbeing. Describe in as much detail as you can about your feelings of purposefulness and contentment as a teacher and how you feel appreciated and rewarded for the efforts you make in your work. Section 2: Leadership and wellbeing • Describe in as much detail as you can your understandings and experiences about the role of leadership in teacher wellbeing (for example, what conditions/leadership practices influence how teachers experience a sense of wellbeing)? Thank you for taking the time to participate in this study through answering the questionnaire. Please provide your name and e-mail address below if you would like to volunteer to participate further in the interview portion of the study. I may reach out to you for an interview. Name (optional): __________________________________________________ E-mail address (optional): ___________________________________________ 115 Appendix C: Semi-Structured Interview Questions [Go over informed consent with the participant and ask questions 1 and 2 before proceeding] Demographic information: • What name do you want us to use in this study? (provide a pseudonym) • How long have you been working as a teacher and what kinds/levels of school have you worked in? Preamble: As you noted in the questionnaire, there are several factors that tend to contribute to how people feel wellbeing and satisfaction in their work: a sense of autonomy at work and control over their environment; positive relationships; a feeling of being appreciated; personal growth; purposefulness and self-acceptance (Hussain, Zulfqar & Shahzadi, 2019; Özü, Zepeda, Ilgan, Jimenez, Ata & Akram, 2017). I designed the questions below to gain a richer sense of your understandings about these factors in relation to your perception of wellbeing at work. How would you describe teacher wellbeing? Factors that influence wellbeing: Autonomy and control: Interview prompts will be developed to build on and enrich understandings from the questionnaire. Participants will be asked to describe their understandings and experiences of wellbeing in relation to these areas. Self-efficacy and acceptance: Interview prompts will be developed to build on and enrich understandings from the questionnaire. Participants will be asked to describe their understandings and experiences of wellbeing in relation to these areas. Positive relationships: Interview prompts will be developed to build on and enrich understandings from the questionnaire. Participants will be asked to describe their understandings and experiences of wellbeing in relation to these areas. Purpose and rewards: Interview prompts will be developed to build on and enrich understandings from the questionnaire. Participants will be asked to describe their understandings and experiences of wellbeing in relation to these areas • What does it feel and look like to be appreciated? How does it improve your wellbeing? • What does protected means? How does it feel and look like to be protected? How does it improve your wellbeing? • What do you mean by balanced and reasonable workload? • How do you cope with stress? How are you supported to cope with stress? Is this important in wellbeing? 116 • How are you supported by your administration to take the professional development opportunities in a way that you do not feel overburdened or have unbalanced workload? • How do you get feedback on your teaching? How often do you get feedback? How do you take that feedback and how does it influence your wellbeing? • How does it look and feel like getting emotional support? Who do you want to get it from? What happens when you get it and what happens when you do not get it? • What does it look like to have job satisfaction? What are the indicators of job satisfaction and how does it influence your wellbeing? Section 2: Leadership and wellbeing 1. From your experiences, describe the various conditions/leadership practices that seem to impact teacher wellbeing positively? 2. In what ways have conditions/leadership practices helped you in improving your wellbeing? 3. What suggestions would you give to the school leaders to help them support teacher wellbeing? 4. Is there anything else you would like to share?
Thesis/Dissertation
eng
Educational Leadership and Policy
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Graduate
Cherkowski, Sabre, 1970-
Exploring teacher wellbeing and the influence of leadership : a case study of private school teachers in Pakistan
Text