Teacher wellbeing, teaching practice and student learning

Kristina Turner, Monica Thielking and Denny Meyer
Swinburne University of Technology, Australia

Australian teachers are increasingly experiencing high levels of workplace stress, anxiety, depression and burnout. This has led to calls for action to improve the wellbeing of Australian teachers. This mixed method study demonstrated that when teachers intentionally use four evidence-based positive psychology strategies for six weeks there were flow on effects in their wellbeing, teaching practice and students' learning. This included teachers reporting that they felt less stressed, more relaxed, more positive and more engaged with teaching. Teachers also reported becoming more student-centred in their classroom approach and focusing more on developing better relationships with their students. In addition, teachers perceived that their students were calmer in class, more engaged with learning and completed more work. This study reports statistically significant findings and has implications for future research and in informing changes to organisational and pedagogical practices which are supportive of teacher wellbeing.
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Authors: Dr Kristina Turner (corresponding author) is a lecturer in Education, Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. Kristina is the Course Director for the Bachelor of Education (Primary) and Master of Teaching (Primary) courses. Kristina has worked in a variety of school and university settings. Her focuses on teacher, pre-service teacher and teacher educator wellbeing and emotional intelligence. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0585-9207 Email: kcturner@swin.edu.au Associate Professor Monica Thielking DPsych, FAPS is a psychologist and conducts research on school psychology, teacher wellbeing, and the psychology of vulnerable and at-risk youth. Monica is a discipline leader and an active member of national and international initiatives that seek to improve the educational outcomes of children and young people. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5932-2184 Email: mthielking@swin.edu.au Denny Meyer is a professor of statistics in the Department of Health Sciences and Biostatistics at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. She has co-authored two books and has published more than 240 articles. She is an applied statistician, working in the area of mental health and social research. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9902-0858 Email: dmeyer@swin.edu.au Please cite as: Turner, K., Thielking, M. & Meyer, D. (2021). Teacher wellbeing, teaching practice and student learning. Issues in Educational Research, 31(4), 1293-1311. http://www.iier.org.au/iier31/turner.pdf