Engajamento no trabalho e sentido de vida entre professores: um estudo correlacional

Abstract

To analyze the levels of Work Engagement and Meaning in Life among teachers and to verify if these factors are related. Method: Thirty-three primary education teachers from schools in the city of São José do Rio Preto/SP were interviewed, and the schools were divided into three groups: public schools, private schools, and a philanthropic one, which has been working with Project Methodology. A cross-sectional, descriptive and correlational study was carried out on the level of engagement at work and meaning in life among teachers. For data collection, three instruments were used: a questionnaire of sociodemographic data, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) to verify the level of Engagement, and the Purpose in Life Test (PIL-Test-12) to observe the level of Meaning in Life, all carried out through an online form, sent via Google Forms. Results: In the analysis of engagement at work, no statistically significant differences were observed between the nature of the schools and the levels of dedication, absorption, vigor and general score. The teachers from the school that had been using Project Methodology showed a higher level of dedication, vigor and general score than the teachers from the other schools. Public school teachers showed lower levels of absorption and vigor than teachers from other schools. The analysis of teachers' personal perception of the Meaning in Life, according to the nature of the schools, pointed out a higher percentage of teachers with feelings of Existential Fulfillment and Existential Emptiness in private schools. No public school teacher showed feelings of Existential Fulfillment. Regarding the correlation analysis, the results showed a positive, strong and statistically significant correlation between the dimensions of Engagement at Work, and a weak and non-significant correlation between the dimensions of Work Engagement and Meaning in Life, showing that the increase in Engagement at Work levels has little effect on the level of Meaning in Life. Conclusion: This study has provided relevant data about Engagement at Work and Meaning in Life among primary educational teachers, making it possible to better understand the reality of these professionals, and allowing the construction of some hypotheses about their relationship with these two dimensions. Thus, our work contributes to discussions about the causes of the high level of teachers dissatisfied with their profession, showing that, in addition to the factors already mentioned in the literature, there are others to be considered, such as the level of Meaning in Life. Moreover, it points out to questions that can be investigated by further studies that can attempt to understand the relationship between the school and pedagogical settings as well as the teachers’ Work Engagement.