Language Teaching Research Quarterly

Feeling successful and accomplished is an important aspect of well-being according to Seligman’s (2011) PERMA model, which seems to represent an interesting intersection of objective and subjective as well as individual and social factors that are all relevant to flourishing. This paper describes a pilot study aimed at developing an instrument for measuring both individual and social aspects of teacher well-being. In addition, we also investigate the ways the well-being scales used in the study influence the extent to which teachers feel successful in their work. A long-term aim of the study is the development of an application or website where teachers can get personalized information on various aspects of their well-being. As regards the findings of the current pilot study, it lent support to the reliability of the piloted scales and showed that teachers tend to experience positive emotions and accomplishment/success when working. It appears that teachers find meaning in their profession, are often engaged and perhaps experience flow in their work environment. They tend to have good relations with their colleagues while also experiencing a certain amount of stress as a result of various expectations regarding student achievement. At the same time, collegial leadership seems to be less characteristic of the principals of Hungarian schools, and teachers report lower levels of resilience and health. Various paths of achieving accomplishment/success have also been identified in our study.