The health and well-being of teachers in schools

It is well known that health linked to the wellbeing of teachers has always been a subject of much controversy. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1946, health is defined as: "The complete state of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease".

Assuming this definition makes us wonder if educators, teachers and professors in educational centers have been able to enjoy a balance in the three branches, physical, mental and social.

It is true that if we talk about occupational health we are referring to studies or actions aimed at understanding the importance of work in health disorders in a population, as well as the preventive measures that can be taken in the labor context (Menchero, 2009). It is also worth mentioning Law 31/1995, of November 8, 1995, on Occupational Risk Prevention (BOE No. 269, of November 10, 1995) in Spain, where the European regulations and directives concerning the application of measures to promote the improvement of the health and safety of workers, as well as the legal framework in which the community prevention policy is integrated, are stated. Specifically, Article 14 of this law sets out the rights of protection and safety for workers.

Although, unfortunately, the reality in educational centers is different, it is well known the disorders, psychological illnesses, stress, anxiety, which affect teachers in the educational field. This eventually leads to temporary sick leave for employees.

According to Hijano (2010), teachers are a very heterogeneous group. However, there are some notes common to the whole group, among which is the treatment with people. Although the relationship with students is one of the most potentially rewarding aspects, the fact is that in a significant number of cases, this communication is dominated by tension, either because of indiscipline on the part of the students or because the teacher lacks social skills (Martínez-Otero, 2003). This point is totally transcendental and in recent years has been gaining momentum among the teaching staff. Not only is the teacher expected to be an excellent connoisseur of the subject, but also to have the necessary social and communication skills to be able to transmit the content to his or her students. With the Bologna plan, more and more teachers have had to be trained in competencies and skills in order to be able to transfer them to the classroom.

It should also be noted that educational activity is saturated with responsibilities (Menchero, 2009). Teachers have become part administrative and on the other hand police agents, saturated with work and requirements of rules that take them away from that teacher whose main responsibility is to know how to transmit knowledge, values and attitudes to their students.

Currently the proposal has become even more complicated, the teachers were forced to move their classes to their homes and during the end of the academic year, they had to try to continue with their subjects encouraging their students so that they could put the focus of interest in the academic part trying to leave in the background the problems with COVID-19, such as the impact of physical isolation, the welfare of the student and his family after a loss, etc.

All of this has put a great strain on an already overburdened collective in terms of functions and responsibilities.

The importance of teachers' interpersonal relationships

In this section we will highlight the importance of teachers' well-being for effective communication in the classroom. Within the professional profile of the teacher, it should be noted that the perception, understanding and regulation of emotions is becoming increasingly important for this profession, not only those of the professional himself but also those that can be exercised on others, in this case, on his students. In the educational field, actions are being taken to raise emotional awareness, offering training courses or transmitting certain competencies and skills to students.

Recruitment and selection companies are increasingly aware of the need for professionals with social-emotional competencies. They are looking for people who have talent management tools in their curriculum. Returning to the educational field, before experiencing the collapse of having 100% of classes in virtual systems at home, teachers were characterized as a distressing and overwhelming profession because they are constantly interacting with many people trying to regulate their own emotions and those of others, now we can speak of a psychologically exhausted profession after finishing the term at home.

What becomes present, after living together with COVID-19 to finalize the course in the educational field, is that different professionals are required in teaching. Teachers in the next academic year will need emotional intelligence and great resilience and generosity to approach the academic year. The teacher has to be a facilitator, an efficient pedagogue, a mediator with his team, a teacher who will manage and design his own resources, will know how to handle technologies and will know how to use failures as a source of learning to develop greater autonomy in the student (Muñoz, 2003).

They should also have other types of competencies such as emotional intelligence, to be able to perceive, understand and regulate emotions, both their own and those of others (Mayer and Salovey, 1997, cited in Extremera, Fernández-Berrocal and Durán, 2003). This ability is what will allow teachers to understand the suspicion of emotions and their management in order to adequately influence the teaching-learning processes of their students.

There are several studies and research on the state of anxiety and stress suffered in educational environments. These studies show that teachers are more vulnerable than others to physical and mental illnesses (Extremera, Fernández-Berrocal and Durán, 2003).

For all these reasons, according to Abanades (2017) it should be possible to assess the situation of teachers so that they feel protected and in turn competent to develop their profession with successful results, controlling situations, optimally managing relationships within their organization with parents, colleagues and students and, finally, triumphantly guiding their students through a more practical and less theoretical development of activities.

In education, interpersonal relationships are also a basic component of the various competencies (Zabalza, 2003). The widespread idea that teaching is the transmission of knowledge is insufficient to reflect the richness and variety of the exchanges that take place in the teacher-student relationship. Teaching establishes exchange processes that go far beyond information.

Bradford comments that teaching is basically about the interpersonal relationship of the encounter:

The teaching-learning process is a human transaction that unites the teacher, the student and the group in a set of dynamic interactions that serve as a framework for learning understood as a change that is incorporated into the life project of each individual. The basic objective of education is the change and growth or maturation of the individual; that is, a deeper and more complex goal than mere intellectual growth. (Bradford, 1973, p. 21).

The interpersonal relationships that are maintained in teaching present a series of challenges on the part of the teacher, some of which are described below:

1. The higher the percentage of students in the classroom, the more complicated management will be for the teacher. According to Feldman in 1976, the importance of teaching quality lies in having the ability to know how to relate to students. Having satisfactory interpersonal relations will be an equanimous quality that students themselves will value in their teachers.

2. The teacher's own leadership style, some of the best known contributions are the research conducted by Lewin, Lippit and White, 1939, who described three different styles of instructional leadership:

a) The authoritarian or directive, where the teacher specifies the activities and how to carry them out, orders what must be done in each case to achieve the objectives and distributes the individual tasks.

b) A second style would be that of the democratic or participative leader, where students feel more involved in their learning and participate and collaborate in the projects and in the decision making of the activities. This leader also gets involved and, instead of making personal criticisms, recognizes the work done.

c) Finally, the laissez faire or passive leader is worth mentioning. In this case, the teacher has a passive style, only reacting when requested to do so by others.

Other research has determined the profile of dominant teachers. The actions of these professionals are based on controlling all activities always through orders and mandates, where threats and constant reproaches prevail without valuing the work or effort of the students (Anderson & Brewer, 1945).

Surely from all these classifications the teacher is identified with several actions and attitudes of various models. Ideally, there should be a balance between the teacher and the student.

As McDermott points out, there are successful and unsuccessful directive forms of classroom communication, just as there are successful and unsuccessful authoritarian forms:

No one teaching style is inherently better than another. If students and teachers can understand the style well enough to build their work plans and a trusting relationship, then the relationship will work. (McDermott, 1977, p. 101).

3. Finally, the last great challenge for teachers is the classroom climate. Researchers agree that a good classroom climate is fundamental for the development of the teaching-learning method in the students. Fox defines it as follows:

The climate of an educational institution results from the type of program, the processes used, the environmental conditions that characterize it as an institution and as a grouping of students, departments, individuals, and members of the management. Each institution has its own distinct climate. The climate determines the quality of life and the productivity of teachers and students. Climate is a critical factor for the health and effectiveness of a school. For human beings, climate can become a developmental factor. (Fox, 1980: p. 457).

In short, knowing how to relate to students, the leadership style we establish with them and the climate we generate in the classroom, whether in a classroom setting or through webinars, will be essential to have the ability to establish quality interpersonal relationships in the educational environment.

Being a good teacher in the face of new educational challenges

It is understandable that teachers need a good content curriculum, and above all, experiences that can endorse the work done so far. And, even so, all this alone will not make the difference between being a good teacher and not being a good teacher.

Within the educational field, being a good teacher is also a personal matter, since, being a vocational branch, the person prepares himself/herself throughout his/her life, in a constant and continuous way, and this is not an easy job. So far, we have taken into consideration the well-being and health of the teacher as well as the interpersonal interactions with the educational community (students, teachers, parents, heads and managers...) in order to develop a successful work.

The change from being a teacher to being a better teacher is also a matter of acting well, based on our experience. If being a teacher is not only a personal achievement, becoming a better teacher is a social and personal process (Knight, 2005). Therefore, in addition to interpersonal skills and competencies, we cannot ignore experience, that practical part of the teacher's work. The classroom should not focus on direct instruction. No one likes it and no one feels particularly motivated. Teachers don't like it either, they feel as if they are firing information into the void. Human beings should not be passive. When they come together, they should be interacting, problem solving, or working things out (Robinson, 2015).

Next, in order to address the issue of teacher experience, we will describe some of the advice byKnight (2005) on what teachers can do to facilitate on-the-job experience.

1. Trying to take the perspective that working long hours is merely a sign of incompetence rather than a sign of distinction. Although Campbell and Neill, in 1994, confirmed that the hours worked by British non-university teachers would be evidence of poor professional practice.

2. Teachers are required to work long hours and certainly the office work is less satisfying than when we are interacting in the classroom. Knowing how to allocate time is no easy task. Reading articles, attending to mail, evaluating, writing comments, preparing sessions and of course being able to reflect on everything is a complicated task, we will need to be efficient.

3. This author states the need to be able to reflect frequently. Being able to write becomes easier when we know what we want to say, so it is necessary to be able to reflect more often. According to the finding that successful new university professors are those who write something daily, one can write what one has reflected on while walking around the office (Boice, 1992).

4. Ask for feedback on early drafts of our teaching materials, rather than when the products are near completion.

5. Like many of the tasks in the educational field, we have the mania of collecting data (meetings, evaluations, etc.). Is it necessary to talk about it, let's think about whether it is necessary to keep it.

6. Let's try to learn immediate response techniques, i.e., to be able to quickly dispatch e-mails.

7. Let us be aware of how much time a meeting is worth devoting to it and abandon it when the deadline is reached.

Sample

The sample chosen was 115 students from different subjects and degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The link to the questionnaire was sent and 75 results were obtained. The degrees and subjects that make up this group are:

• Degree in Marketing: 1st course subject: Competences I Personal and professional effectiveness.

• Degree in Marketing: 2nd year subject: Oral and Written Communication Skills.

• Master's Degree in Marketing and Communication: Communication and Personal Branding Module.

• Master's Degree in Human Resources: Personal Interview Module.

The following graph shows the percentage of students who collaborated: undergraduate with 43 responses and graduate with 32 responses.

Source. Own elaboration.

We believe that by passing the questionnaire at the end of the semester, and with everything that happened in the last quarter after COVID-19, we have obtained a lower number of responses than we expected.