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Fostering teachers’ resilience and well-being through professional learning: effects from a training programme

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Abstract

Resilience can be fostered amongst teachers in order to sustain their well-being and commitment to quality education. This study examined the effects of a training programme focused on resilience and well-being, targeting in-service Portuguese teachers. This paper reports a study using a quasi-experimental design involving 59 teachers (35 in two experimental groups and 24 in a control group). The effects of the professional learning programme were assessed using the following measures: motivation, global resilience, commitment to the profession, self-efficacy, school support, positive and negative experiences, work well-being, and work meaning. The experimental group participated in an 18-hour professional learning programme. Results showed the effects of the professional learning programme over all the variables, with the exception of Teacher Commitment to the Profession and School Support. These findings contribute to the growing body of research conceptualising teacher resilience as a multidimensional construct and have implications for teacher professional learning programmes.

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Notes

  1. In the Portuguese School System, Basic Education comprises three cycles of studies: the First Cycle or Primary School includes the first four grades, the 2nd Cycle comprises the 5th and 6th grades, and the 3rd Cycle covers from 7th to 9th grade. Secondary Education comprises three school years, from 10th to 12th grade. In the Portuguese Education System in Primary School, one teacher is assigned to each class teaching all subjects, whereas from 2nd Cycle students have one teacher for each school subject

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Acknowledgements

This work is funded by CIE – ISPA, Research Centre on Education - ISPA projects UID/CED/04853/2013 and UID/CED/04853/2016, through national funds of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT/MCES-PT). The authors would like to thank Professor Susan Beltman for her helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.

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  1. Research Centre in Education (CIE-ISPA), ISPA—Instituto Universitário, R. Jardim do Tabaco, 34, 1149-041, Lisbon, Portugal

    Luísa Fernandes, Francisco Peixoto & José Castro Silva

  2. APPsyCI-Applied Psychology Research Center Capabilities & Inclusion, ISPA—Instituto Universitário, Lisbon, Portugal

    Maria João Gouveia

  3. RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Marold Wosnitza

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  1. Luísa Fernandes
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Fernandes, L., Peixoto, F., Gouveia, M.J. et al. Fostering teachers’ resilience and well-being through professional learning: effects from a training programme. Aust. Educ. Res. 46, 681–698 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-019-00344-0

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