Author(s): Wan Kit Yee, Nor Mashitah Mohd Radzi, Pau Kee
The purpose of this study was to identify the level and the relationship between psychological well-being, job satisfaction and students-teacher relationships among preschool teachers. This quantitative survey involved 86 preschool teachers in Perak who were selected through random sampling technique. Correlation design was used in this study. The theories used in this study were Ryff's theory of psychological well-being, Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy and Ryan and Deci’s theory of self-determination. The instruments used were PERMA questionnaire, Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) questionnaire and Students-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) questionnaire. All three instruments have been verified by seven experts and the reliability value for PERMA was α=0.91, JSS was α=0.85 and STRS was α=0.73. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively and inference by using percentage, standard deviation and Pearson correlation. The findings showed the psychological well-being among preschool teachers was moderate (M=6.97, SP=0.99) in the scale of 0 to 10. The job satisfaction of preschool teachers was satisfactory (M=4.16, SP=0.48) in the scale of 1 to 6. The students-teacher relationship (M=3.07, SP=0.26) in the scale of 1 to 5 among preschool teachers was low. Findings also revealed a significant correlation between teacher’s psychological well-being and job satisfaction (r=0.39, p<0.01), teacher’s psychological well-being and students-teacher relationship (r=0.38, p<0.01) as well as job satisfaction and students-teacher relationship (r=0.37, p<0.01). In conclusion, the main finding showed that the psychological well-being of the respondents was moderate. In addition, the preschool teachers were satisfied with their work. However, the students-teacher relationship was low. The correlation between three variables were low. In implication, the preschool teachers need to improve their psychological well-being and their student-teacher relationship. Operating procedures in preschool also need to be focused as this is important in ensuring job satisfaction.