A scale development study on teacher's quality of work life

The purpose of this study is to develop a valid and reliable measurement instrument to assess teachers' quality of work life, grounded in Turkish cultural context and the specific nature of the teaching profession. The study was conducted using a mixed-methods scale development design. In the first stage, an online scenario-based study was conducted with 20 teachers to explore their perceptions of quality of work life. The qualitative data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, and teachers' responses were categorized under three main themes: organizational, professional, and personal factors. In the second stage, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 10 teachers to gain deeper insights into these perceptions. The findings highlighted that organizational processes—such as administrative support, communication, physical working conditions, and stress—play a central role in shaping teachers' quality of work life. In the third stage, based on the qualitative findings and a comprehensive review of the literature, an initial item pool of 97 items was generated. Following expert reviews and an item importance ranking procedure, the scale was reduced to 62 items. In the fourth stage, Exploratory Factor Analysis was conducted to examine the construct validity of the scale. In conclusion, the Teacher Quality of Work Life Scale developed in this study is a valid, reliable, and theoretically coherent measurement tool that captures teachers' perceptions of quality of work life primarily through organizational and administrative experiences. The scale is considered suitable for use in both academic research and practice-oriented studies aimed at evaluating and improving teachers' working conditions.