Quality of working life of school teachers: measurement experience in the Vologda region

School teachers’ fulfilment in work and the effectiveness of the educational process depend on the qualitative characteristics of working life. The conditions and organization of work, wages, professional relationships and relations with students, system of motivation and development, social recognition in one way or another affect the professional activities of school teachers. The purpose of the study is to identify the features and patterns of the quality of the working life of school teachers, including depending on their socio-professional characteristics. The research is based on a survey of teachers of secondary schools in the Vologda Oblast, conducted by the Vologda Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences using the Google Forms platform in April-May 2020. The list of studied components of the quality of working life is formed taking into account the specifics of teaching work. The quality of working life was studied in terms of self-assessment in the context of teachers' satisfaction with its main components. The results demonstrate high satisfaction with the psychological climate, low satisfaction with wages and the social significance of the profession. It was defined that there were no differences in the assessments of satisfaction with the components of working life, depending on gender, presence of children and territorial affiliation of the school. The research revealed high commitment to the profession: only 30% of teachers are ready to leave the educational sphere if possible. The longer the employment period and the higher the professional category, the fewer teachers are ready to change jobs. At the same time, with an increase of the qualification level and teaching experience, there is a decrease in the level of satisfaction with most components of working life. In conclusion proposed some management areas that can help improve the quality of the working life of school teachers.