POST-RETIREMENT WELL-BEING AMONG RETIRED ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN PUNJAB: A THEMATIC ANALYSIS

Abstract

Retirement is a momentous stage of life that changes the monetary stability, continuity of identification and societal involvement for elementary school teachers (ESTs). In the case of Punjab, Pakistan, this transition is being made more acute by the dependence on public pensions, increasing cost of living, and lack of institutional support. Guided by Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, the purpose of this qualitative study is to examine how retired public ESTs scope with the psycho-social and physical aspects of the early retirement experience. The study is based on in-depth interviews with ten recently retired teachers that were conducted as part of the qualitative phase of a sequential explanatory mixed methods design. Thematic analysis identified three interrelated processes which influence adjustment to retirement. The first theme, pension adequacy and financial stress, underscores the effects of inadequate and variate pension income as well as procedural difficulties in pension administrating, which result in resource loss and emotional stress. The second theme of identity loss and rebuilding depicts how the identity as a teacher is shaken off by the loss of teaching, social identity, and purpose, but again, provides a space in which the identity can be regenerated through spirituality, mentoring, and participation in the community. The third theme is that of social engagement as the protective resource wherein the utilization of peer groups, family groups, and persisting ties to schools as resource gains counterbalances the financial and emotional risks. Together, all these findings show that the retirement experience of ESTs is determined by dynamic interactions among financial, identity-based, and social resources. The paper makes a contribution to the field by using COR theory in a low-resources educational setting and in providing one of the first accounts, using qualitative methodology, on teacher retirement in Pakistan. Some of the implications involve including the necessity of reforming their pension-system, formal pre-retirement counseling, and a formal re-engagement opportunity in order to attentively aid educators to lead healthier retirement lives.