Title: “Helping people stay in teaching”: An approach to building teacher resilience in Australia
Presenter: Caroline Mansfield (Murdoch University, Australia)
Co-Author: Susan Beltman, Noelene Wetherby-Fell
Introduction: The role of school and professional communities in supporting teacher resilience has been highlighted by recent research. Particularly for pre-service teachers, resilience is important for easing transition to the profession and building resources to support positive adaptation. This paper describes an online approach for building pre-service teachers’ capacity for resilience.
Methods: Participants were 49 pre-service teachers who completed a series of 5 online learning modules aimed at building knowledge, skills and strategies for teacher resilience. Each module required personal reflection and took an hour to complete. Prior to and after completion of the modules participants completed a survey of teacher resilience, efficacy, commitment and coping. Twenty-seven participants were also interviewed to determine the extent to which engagement with the modules influenced their thoughts and actions while on professional experience placement.
Findings: The modules were found to have a positive influence on measures of resilience and commitment. Interview data highlighted increased self-awareness and use of specific strategies including emotion management, maintaining wellbeing and building relationships. Implications for teacher education and the potential of online learning to support development of resilience are discussed.
Abstract #52
Title: Exploring the resilience of teachers faced with learners’ challenging behaviour in the classroom
Presenter: Marietjie Oswald and Timothy Cornelissen (Stellenbosch University, South Africa)
Introduction: In light of the failing education system and challenging learner behaviour that has become an intractable part of teachers’ experiences schools are in need of resilient teachers who can stay in control of challenging circumstances, maintain their dedication to teaching, and also develop professionally.
Methods: Ungar’s socio-ecological perspective on resilience informed the theoretical framework of this qualitative case study designed to explore teachers’ experiences of learners’ challenging behaviour and the impact upon their resilience. A special school (school of skills) in the Western Cape Province acted as the case for the study. Six teachers participated in the research as voices on behalf of the school community. Semi-structured individual interviews, non-participant observation, and a semi-structured focus group interview were used to gather and triangulate data. Several themes emerged from the data.
Findings: The findings showed that risk factors dominated the available protective factors present in the lives of the participating teachers, making the attainment of resilience a complicated task. Nevertheless, the study also showed that increased resilience enhances the management of challenging learner behaviour as well as teacher well-being, motivation and self-confidence.
Abstract #59
Title: Influences of birth order in shaping aspirations and wellbeing of children in an Urdu-speaking Bihari community in Bangladesh
Presenter: Jiniya Afroze (The Open University, UK)
Introduction: There is inadequate research attention to relationships of birth order in children’s wellbeing, particularly in the context of Global South. This paper explores how birth order shapes the aspirations and wellbeing of children in the context of an Urdu-speaking Bihari community in Bangladesh.
Methods: Drawing attention to the argument of new sociology of childhood, combined with the evidence of empirical studies in resilience research, this paper presents data from an eight-month long ethnographic study of an ongoing PhD project. This paper presents children’s perspectives, from data collected from a sample of 50 children aged 4-18 years through individual interviews, group discussions and participant observations. Adopting participatory tools like hand puppets, photo elicitation and vignettes, this paper explores how the cultural expectations and responsibilities of children are linked to their birth orders, and how children channel their positive coping and aspirations towards their wellbeing.
Findings: Findings present children’s agencies are not related to birth orders, rather negotiated and contested through education, work and gender. This highlights the importance of questioning cultural practices that determine responsibilities of siblings according to birth orders, for making situated understandings about how children explore and promote their own wellbeing.