Abstract:

Introduction:
The results of the Pisa 2018 international testing show a slight increase in school belonging in Slovakia compared to 2015, but still below the OECD average. School belonging can be defined as a way of perceiving students' belonging to the school, to the school community, and is associated with feelings of respect, personal acceptance and support from others (Goodenow, 1993). A student´s belonging to school and to the persons who make up the school environment, positively influences the individual's mental and physical health (Ma, 2003; Haslam et al., 2009), and is involved in the development of both well-being (Jose, Ryan & Pryor, 2012) and academic achievement (Demanet, Houtte & Houtte, 2012). It is therefore justified and necessary to examine factors that can be positively related to the development of students' belonging. One of the factors may be the personality of the teacher itself. The aim of the presented paper is to examine how teacher's academic optimism and zest for work contribute to school belonging of secondary school students.

Methods:
The research sample consisted of 750 secondary school students (M= 15.91, SD = 2.07) and 50 teachers (M= 47.68, SD = 9.41). To measure academic optimism, we used Teacher Academic Optimism Scale for Secondary Teachers (Hoy, Tarter & Hoy, 2006). Zest for work was measured by Zest for Work Scale (Sezgin, Erdogan, 2015), and for school and teacher belonging Student's Connectedness to School and Teachers Scale (Waters, Cross, 2010) was utilized.

Results:
The results show that teacher´s zest for work, academic optimism, and its factors trust and emphasis are related to teacher belonging. No statistically significant correlations were found between teacher's character traits and school belonging. We also identified predictors of teacher belonging, which included teacher-student trust and teacher work enthusiasm.

Conclusion:
Findings highlighted that teaching accompanied by the teacher's optimism, supported by a positive attitude and enthusiasm for the work, creates a sense of belonging for the students, making them develop better interpersonal relationships and be more engaged in the school environment.

Keywords:

Academic optimism, Zest for work, School belonging, Teacher belonging, Students.