THE HAPINESS OF EDUCATION WORKERS IN PORTUGAL: STATE OF ART

Abstract

This work began with a literature review with a view to obtaining the "state of art" on happiness at work for education professionals, namely teachers, specialized technicians, technical and operational assistants, and the identification of predictive variables associated with happiness in the workplace. profession. In a second phase, in order to complement the information collected in the systematic literature review, and to answer the research question: “What are the determining factors for the happiness of Portuguese public education professionals?”, the role of these professionals was empirically contextualized in Portuguese public education, their work situation, determining the predictive variables that lead to happiness in these professions in Portugal, thus filling the scarce existing literature on the subject. This article proves to be a preparatory component for a later scientific production (PART II) that is based on the variables determined in this article and can make measurements through interviews with regional education directorates, city councils and schools grouping directorates, as well as questionnaires distributed equitably and randomly to these professionals from different levels of education and geographical areas in Portugal, in order to compare the results regarding the most relevant variables previously determined in this article. By determining these predictive variables, existing measurement instruments can be validated, and new instruments can be adapted or created to reflect the reality of teaching in Portugal. As future research, it will be intended, through this triangulation, to assess conclusions about the happiness of public education workers in Portugal and provide practical results for the elaboration of evidence-based policies and the improvement of the professional satisfaction of teachers, specialized technicians, technical assistants and operational.