Population in Europe is getting older. The 2018 Ageing Report made by European Commission emphasizes that the total population of the EU is about to increase from 511 million in 2016 to 520 million in 2070. However, the working-age population (people aged between 15 and 64) will decrease significantly from 333 million in 2016 to 292 million in 2070 (European Commission, 2018). The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) showed that the average age of upper-secondary teachers was 44,6 years in 2013 (OECD, 2014). In the Czech Republic, the most upper-secondary school teachers are in the age range of 51-60 years (Zatloukal et. al., 2018). Vangelova, Dimitrova & Tzenova (2018) stated that aging is known as one of the key factor that influences work ability. Good (meaning quality) work ability is at the same time the basis for being able to stay employed also in older age (Abdel-Hamid & El-Bagoury, 2012; Ilmarinen, 2007). Teachers’ occupation is considered to face high risk of stress that very often leads to teachers´ burnout (Vangelova, Dimitrova & Tzenova (2018). That´s why we have started a project called: "Modification of the Finnish educational programme Towards Successful Seniority based on current needs of upper-secondary school teachers" that reacts on two crucial social problems described above: the aging of upper-secondary school teachers and the increasing incidence of burnout in the teaching profession (Seth, 2016). The aim of the poster is to present the first year of the project that is from the range of applied research and want to support the retention of the work ability of upper-secondary school teachers in the Czech Republic. This contribution will also present the ongoing results from the first phase of its research.

The main objective of the whole project is to modify and scientifically verify the efficiency of Finnish educational programme called Towards Successful Seniority. Partial objective of the project is to specify the current needs of upper-secondary school teachers in the field of work ability optimization and burnout prevention. Teachers' work ability is measured by the standardized Work Ability Index (WAI). The WAI includes 7 subjective estimations on work ability in the context of job requirements and psychophysical resources, and also includes information about illnesses and work absenteeism. Each of those self-estimations was determined according to different scales arranged in order of importance. The highest score was described to the most beneficial conditions Work Ability Index (WAI) is computed by summing up estimated points for each estimation. According to the classification for work ability assessment we can distinguish: poor WAI (sum of all items values up to 27 pts), average WAI (28–36 pts), good WAI (37–43 pts) and excellent WAI (44–49 pts) (Grabara, Nawrocka, Powerska-Didkovska, 2018). The rate of risk of burnout syndrome is measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey (MBI-ES). These instruments are complemented by items on job satisfaction and the respondents´ lifestyle. The estimated number of respondents for the questionnaire survey is 350 upper-secondary school teachers. On the basis of the results of the questionnaire survey, the Finnish educational programme Towards Successful Seniority will be modified taking into account the identified needs of the target group. The effectiveness of the innovated programme will be verified by an experiment (100 people) in relation to optimization of work ability and prevention of burnout syndrome of upper-secondary school teachers. Seven months after the end of the intervention, we plan to re-measure WAI and MBI-ES values for participants of the programme.

The poster will introduce the first results from the questionnaire survey among upper-secondary school teachers in the Czech republic. We identify the work ability index of upper-secondary school teachers and also we expect the findings about the risk of the burnout syndrome at this target group. We will also identify the level of job satisfaction and the teachers´ lifestyle. These findings will be presented with respect to maintaining the work ability of upper-secondary school teachers.

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