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The Role of Preservice Teachers’ Wellbeing, Dispositions and Self-Awareness in Predicting Future Teacher Behaviour

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New Research and Possibilities in Wellbeing Education

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Abstract

Wellbeing and mental health is a major focus of policy, practice and research in the education sector worldwide. This focus includes initial teacher education. This study aims to understand the role of preservice teachers’ wellbeing and mental health and the relationship with intentional teacher behaviour. A desktop analysis of existing data was conducted to understand the nature of this relationship. The data for the study was extracted from the Teacher Capability Assessment Tool database, with data from over 18,000 potential preservice teacher candidates analysed. Structural equation modelling was utilised to determine the strength of the relationship between perceived wellbeing and predicted intended teacher behaviour. The model identified clear patterns and connections between wellbeing and perceived intentional behaviour as a teacher. The results of this research clearly implicate initial teacher educators in the process and support the notion of engaging in developing the self-reflective behaviours of preservice teachers and their knowledge and skill in health education. This research has significant implications for initial teacher education, teacher selection, measurement of classroom readiness, and health education.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the following individuals for their support and assistance in this research: Professor John Hattie, Associate Professor Kim Keamy and Katina Tan.

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  1. The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Janet Clinton & Laura Elvie Smith

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  1. Janet Clinton
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  2. Laura Elvie Smith
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Correspondence to Janet Clinton .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Mathew A. White

  2. School of Education, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Faye McCallum

  3. School of Education, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Christopher Boyle

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Ethics approval (ID: 1750667.1) was given for the ‘Understanding preservice teachers: Factors associated with success in initial teacher education and early career teaching’ program by the University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics Committee on 25 June 2018.

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© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Clinton, J., Smith, L.E. (2023). The Role of Preservice Teachers’ Wellbeing, Dispositions and Self-Awareness in Predicting Future Teacher Behaviour. In: White, M.A., McCallum, F., Boyle, C. (eds) New Research and Possibilities in Wellbeing Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-5609-8_15

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