The master’s thesis explores how primary school teachers perceive supervision as a form of professional support, with particular attention to differences based on their years of teaching experience.
The theoretical part presents key concepts such as the teaching profession, stress, burnout, professional development, professional support, and supervision. The empirical section builds on these foundations by analysing teachers’ experiences of stress, their ability to recognize symptoms of burnout, and their engagement with existing forms of professional support, with a special focus on the potential of supervision as a systemic solution within professional development.
The empirical research was conducted using a questionnaire during the 2024/25 school year, involving 220 primary school teachers from across Slovenia. The aim of the study was to investigate how teachers experience stress, which forms of support they use, their views on supervision, and how willing they are to participate in it, while also analysing differences according to their years of service.
The results show that more than half of the teachers frequently experience high levels of stress, yet only 20 % of respondents reported any experience with supervision as a form of professional support. A key finding is that younger teachers with fewer years of service are significantly more open to and willing to engage in supervision, viewing it as an important resource for professional development and self-care. In contrast, teachers with longer service histories tend to be more reserved about supervision. Although they recognize its benefits, they often emphasize the need for adjustments in both content and organization. Their reservations are linked to past negative experiences with professional training, concerns about confidentiality, heavy workloads, and the perception of supervision as a form of control.
Teachers highlighted that successful integration of supervision into the school context requires professionally guided sessions, mutual trust among participants, accessible scheduling, and direct relevance to real pedagogical challenges. Supervision is recognized as a safe approach for reflection, stress management, and personal growth, all of which significantly contribute to maintaining well-being and professional sustainability.
Based on these findings, the thesis underscores the necessity of systemic integration of supervision as an integral part of primary teachers’ professional development. Supervision models should be tailored to teachers' diverse needs at different stages of their careers, as such an approach could substantially improve teachers’ self-care, psychological well-being, and overall teaching quality in the primary school environment.
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