Teachers across Europe face a multitude of challenges associated with the characteristics of their profession, e.g., new skills requirements and rapid technological developments, and challenges associated with their teaching and classroom interactions, e.g., discipline and increasing social and cultural diversity.The challenges faced by teachers are adding to the frequency and intensity of their emotional problems and increased levels of stress that are potentially leading to burnout.

One mechanism for supporting teachers lies in promoting their social and emotional competencies as well as diversity awareness (SEDA). Possessing and developing teachers’ SEDA has proved to be important, both for the teachers themselves and for those with whom they are in close contact (e.g., students, colleagues, parents). The support for SEDA is especially important as SEDA competencies and teacher well-being have been recognised as a critical factor affecting teachers’ work motivation and the quality of their teaching (Odak et al., 2023), as well as a key element of the whole-school approach to the promotion of mental health (Cavioni et al., 2020). As shown in research (Roeser, 2016), emotional competencies lead to stress reduction via a) lowered stress reactivity by cultivating self-regulatory processes and coping mechanisms; and b) non-judgement and compassion in stressful situations. 

In recent years, several policy documents have been accepted on the EU level that focussed on teachers’ competencies and professional development. The Council Conclusions on European Teachers and Trainers for the Future (Council of the EU, 2020) stresses that the nature of teachers’ work may lead to physical and emotional exhaustion, stress and burnout, affecting their mental and physical health. On the highest political level, the Council Resolution on a Strategic Framework for European Cooperation in Education and Training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021–2030) (Council of the EU, 2021) establishes Enhancing competencies and motivation of the education profession as one of the five strategic goals. It exposes that attention needs to be paid to the well-being of teachers, trainers and educational staff more than ever. The Council of the EU (2021) locates teacher well-being as one of 12 priority areas in the field of teachers and trainers in the period 2021–2025, referring to the need for “developing measures and establishing mechanisms to improve working conditions and to address occupational stress, in order to foster the well-being of teachers, trainers and pedagogical and education staff”.The teachers’ perception of policy and social support has been recognised as an important factor of their well-being (e.g., Casely-Hayford et al., 2022). The contextual (policy and social) support for SEDA development is therefore the focus of our attention.

In the current study, we will, using structural equation modeling, analyse the path leading from contextual support (operationalised as perceived support for SEDA competencies from a) initial teacher education, b) continuous teacher training, c) school policies, and d) national policies) for the teachers’ emotional self-efficacy and their well-being (operationalised as burnout). The results of the study will be comprehensively contextualized with data on the Slovenian national policy, and cultural and educational context, considering different factors, that scientific discussions already identified as indicative of teacher support for emotional competencies.

Methods Participants The data from the Slovene sample of the “HAND IN HAND: Empowering teachers across Europe to deal with social, emotional and diversity-related career challenges (HAND:ET)” project (N = 264; 253 females; 207 teachers, 20 principals, 29 other school staff, 8 trainers) is used. On average, they were 41,98 years old (SD = 7,67) and had 15.27 years of experience teaching (SD = 8.91). Instruments The teachers involved in the project were provided with a battery of measurement tools focusing on their social, emotional and diversity awareness competencies. In this paper, we will use the data from: Emotional Self-Efficacy Scale (Muris, 2001) was used as a measure of self-management. The scale is a part of the self-efficacy questionnaire for children (SEQ-C) and consists of 8 items evaluating the ability to regulate unpleasant emotions. Participants answered how well they were coping with the given situations during the pandemic (1 = not at all to 5 = very well). The reliability and validity of the instrument have been well documented for children and adolescents (i.e., Tan & Chellappan, 2018), and it has been previously used with adults (Vieluf et al., 2020). Cronbach's α in our study was 0.90. Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ) (Melamed, et al., 1992) is composed of 14 items and measures three dimensions of burnout: physical fatigue, cognitive weariness, and emotional exhaustion on a scale from 1 = never or almost never to 7 always or almost always. Cronbach's α in our study was 0.93. Contextual SEDA Support (Štremfel, 2024). For the HAND:ET project 4 questions were developed asking teachers how much they agree with the statements that SEDA are important part of a) initial teacher education, b) continuous teacher training, c) school policies, and d) national policies (1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree). Cronbach's α in our study was 0.68. Procedure This study is a part of the “HAND IN HAND: Empowering teachers across Europe to deal with social, emotional and diversity-related career challenges (HAND:ET)” project which included field trials in five EU countries (Croatia, Slovenia, Portugal, Austria and Sweden). In September 2022, teachers completed a battery of questionnaires tapping into social, emotional, diversity awareness, and demographic information using online tools. Informed consents were gathered beforehand. For this study, we only present data from Slovenia for the selected measures. The original scales were translated into Slovenian using a committee approach.

The results show that 69% of teachers in Slovenia responded to the statement “The development of teachers’ SEDA competencies is an important part of education policies in my country” by strongly agreeing or agreeing. Most teachers in Slovenia, 80 %, also agree with the statement “The development of teachers’ SEDA competencies is an important part of the policy of my school”. In response to the statement, “I had an opportunity to develop SEDA competencies in my initial teacher education”, only 20% of teachers agree or strongly agree with the statement. As regards continuing professional development, 86% of teachers in Slovenia, agree or strongly agree with the statement “I have an opportunity to develop SEDA competencies in programmes of continuing professional development”. Further on we investigated the role perceived support play in emotional competencies and the level of teacher burnout. The final SEM model fit the data adequately: χ2(194) = 425.363, p < .001, CFI = .995, RMSEA = .043, 90% CI [.034, .052], SRMR = .040. The findings show a significant positive path leading from contextual support to emotional self-efficacy and a significant negative path leading from emotional self-efficacy to all three dimensions of burnout. The findings support the important role of contextual support for emotional competencies and the prevention of teachers' burnout. The increase in reported emotional difficulties reflected in increased levels of stress and burnout in teachers across Europe adds to the importance of co conceptual understanding of the underlying processes as well as support mechanisms for teachers’ well-being. And, as the results show the contextual support especially needed in Slovenia is support for SEDA competencies in teachers’ initial education.

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