Joyful teachers: How enjoyment and psychological empowerment foster teachers’ work engagement

Teachers’ work engagement is crucial to their well-being, work performance and retention in the teaching profession. Thus, it is important to identify factors that can enhance teachers’ work engagement. In this study, we examined the role of positive teacher emotions and psychological empowerment as viable pathways toward fostering teachers’ work engagement. Specifically, we focused on positive teacher emotions of enjoyment and pride, and meaning, competence, self-determination and impact dimensions of psychological empowerment. Based on the core tenets of the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, we proposed and tested four models wherein positive emotions predict work engagement through psychological empowerment: Enjoyment and pride predicting work engagement through meaning (Model 1), enjoyment and pride predicting work engagement through competence (Model 2), enjoyment and pride predicting work engagement through self-determination (Model 3) and enjoyment and pride predicting work engagement through impact (Model 4). A survey was conducted in a sample of 518 Filipino in-service teachers. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results showed that in all four models, enjoyment, but not pride, significantly predicted work engagement. Moreover, significant indirect effects between enjoyment and work engagement through meaning (Model 1) and competence (Model 2) were found. These findings provide support for the important roles played by positive emotions, specifically enjoyment, and psychological empowerment, particularly meaning and competence, in fostering teachers’ work engagement. Copyright © 2021 selection and editorial matter, Junjun Chen and Ronnel B. King; individual chapters, the contributors.