Keywords

1 Introduction

Resilience, as an everyday word, brings to mind ideas like rebounding and coping. When considered in the context of educational research, teacher resilience can be conceptualised in a range of different ways, each with the possibility of new insights into the nature of resilience and how to support resilience, as explained by Susan Beltman in Chap. 2 of this volume. The chapters in the volume address conceptual and implementation issues, with insights into researching resilience and resilience programmes. The poems that preface each section also provide insights into the nature of resilience and the experiences of the BRiTE and Staying BRiTE research teams.

This volume was initially inspired by two Australian research programmes, BRiTE: Building Resilience in Teacher Education (Mansfield et al. 2016a) and Staying BRiTE: Promoting Resilience in Higher Education (Mansfield 2016), that sought to support resilience in teacher education. The five BRiTE online learning modules (Building resilience, Relationships, Wellbeing, Taking initiative and Emotions) were designed as resources for pre-service teachers, with the design principles that the modules be personalised, interactive and adaptable to different contexts (see Chap. 3). This enabled BRiTE to be used in different ways in teacher education programmes, by individual teachers and pre-service teachers who became aware of the BRiTE website, and to be adopted as part of induction and professional learning programmes within and beyond Australia. Many of the chapters in this volume document the ways the researchers have interpreted and implemented BRiTE to support teacher resilience in their context. Chapter 3 documents the initial implementation as part of the BRiTE programme, four chapters relate to authentic cases from Staying BRiTE in Australia (Chaps. 4, 5, 10 and 15) and three to application or adaption outside Australia (Chaps. 6, 7 and 9). Chapters 7 and 8 refer to ENTREE (Enhancing Teacher Resilience in Europe), an online learning programme developed in Europe with input from the BRiTE team.

The remaining research in this volume (Chaps. 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 and 17) does not explicitly address BRiTE (or ENTREE), but each offers a different perspective on teacher resilience and wellbeing to support our consideration of these important ideas and their relevance for future research and application in education. These chapters address alternative ways to support teacher wellbeing (Chap. 11) and support teacher resilience, through mindful school leaders (Chap. 12), the professional identity and resilience of early career casual teachers (Chap. 13), a different way to understand teacher wellbeing in the context of teachers’ work (Chap. 14), an exploration of the lived-in resilience of experienced teachers (Chap. 16) and an exploration of resilience of teacher educators (Chap. 17).

So what do these chapters reveal about teacher resilience and cultivating teacher resilience? Firstly, I turn to how resilience and wellbeing are conceptualised by the various authors, then to applications and impacts of programmes supporting resilience and wellbeing, with particular emphasis on supportive relationships and networks. The final sections explore resilience and wellbeing in context and future directions for supporting resilience. Two conceptual themes introduced by Beltman, where is the individual and where is the context in conceptualisations of teacher resilience? and where does the responsibility for supporting teacher resilience lie? permeate the chapters, and as we read this volume help us, as a global education community, to reflect on our focus on teacher resilience and what might be possible in the future. Throughout I identify further questions from consideration of the different approaches.

2 Conceptualising Resilience and Wellbeing

A key message from this volume is that how we understand resilience is changing, and alongside changing conceptualisations the language of resilience is changing. Over the nearly decade of research presented in this volume, different terms have been used in relation to resilience and cultivating teacher resilience, and these are evident in different chapters. At the time the BRiTE online modules were being developed in 2014, Mansfield and colleagues were moving from a focus on individual and contextual risk and protective factors (concepts which had dominated a psychological approach to resilience for decades) to a more process-focused approach and using the language of personal and contextual challenges and resources. From this person-context perspective, as Beltman (Chap. 2) explains, resilience lies “at the interface of person and context” which enables individuals to “use strategies to overcome challenges and sustain their commitment and wellbeing”. This perspective highlights teacher agency in the resilience process, with context incorporated as a source of resources as well as challenges.

Most of the chapters conceptualise teacher resilience as process-focused, and all authors refer to “strategies” to support resilience (or wellbeing). This reflects the view that resilience is dynamic and can be developed or cultivated. Surprisingly, authors referring to BRiTE (or ENTREE) do not fully utilise the language of the BRiTE framework and modules, such as personal resources, contextual resources, strategies and outcomes. McDonough and McGraw (Chap. 5) and Fokkens-Bruinsma et al. (Chap. 9) do use these terms, whereas some authors retain the language of protective and risk factors (e.g. Gratacos et al. Chap. 8) or use a mixture of terms (e.g. Fernandos et al. Chap. 7; Falecki and Mann Chap. 11). Besides strategies, the terms which appear in most chapters and with apparent common understandings are “challenges” and “demands”. These relate to the everyday challenges of teachers in their professional and personal lives, and the more institutional, workplace or societal demands related to teaching. The term “resources” is most often used in connection with material resources, such as the BRiTE modules or other educational materials, reflecting an everyday usage of the word.

A number of different forms of resilience are suggested in different chapters. While most authors refer to teacher resilience or resilience, some authors qualify resilience in a different way. For example, McDonough and McGraw (Chap. 5) refer to “resilience in context” as their work is specifically in relation to pre-service teachers’ first teaching experience. In Chap. 10, Correia considers “personal and professional resilience” in developing a mindful approach to supporting resilience which is applicable to both professional environments and personal life. Granziera et al. (Chap. 14) distinguish between resilience in response to adversity and “everyday resilience” which they characterise as response to low-level adversity, and in the context of the chapter, common to teachers in their everyday teaching activities. A quite different approach is taken by Boon (Chap. 16) who argues principally from a trait-based understanding of resilience that teacher resilience as commonly researched is “perceived resilience” and that a notion she refers to as “lived-in resilience”, incorporating both physical/psychological and teaching resilience, better explains an individual’s resilience and would provide a more objective basis for measuring resilience. These distinctions raise a number of questions: In conceptualising resilience do we need to consider levels of adversity (see Chap. 2 comparison of challenges in Australia and South Africa)?; and if resilience is bound up with context, how does resilience in one context support resilience in other contexts? Although most of the participant comments reported in chapters are specific to the teaching context, a few comments reflect potentially broader applicability. For example, in Chap. 7 a participant commented, “in personal and professional terms I thought it was very fruitful because it gave me a new perspective of me as a person”. Similarly, in the BRiTE evaluation a participant commented, “the strategies are relevant coping mechanisms for life and relationships in general” (MacCallum 2016).

As conceptualisations of resilience evolve further it will be important to track changes in language use and try to negotiate a common language for teaching, research and conversation about teacher resilience. Beltman has commenced this work in Chap. 2.

3 Supporting Resilience and Wellbeing: Applications

Across these chapters we see evidence that the broad concept of teacher resilience is relevant to educators in different parts of the world and at different career stages. Further, intervening to support teacher resilience and wellbeing is appropriate at all stages of teacher learning and development: pre-service teachers in bachelors and masters programmes (Chaps. 3, 4, 5, 9 and 15); early career teachers in induction and support programmes (Chaps. 6 and 8); and experienced educators in professional learning activities (Chaps. 7, 11, 12 and 14). Throughout these chapters we see a range of different words used in relation to this support of resilience and wellbeing, for example “improving”, “building”, “enhancing”, “developing”, “nurturing”, “fostering” and “cultivating”. Are these interchangeable and reflect the slightly different perspectives and approaches of the authors, or are they subtly different and provide potentially different insights?

A common thread across the chapters describing implementation or application of resilience programmes is the explicit teaching of resilience or wellbeing. A strength of the design of BRiTE is its adaptability for use in different contexts and the chapters showcase how the online learning modules have been implemented using different approaches. BRiTE has been embedded as compulsory components in teacher education courses, and in induction programmes and professional learning activities to support resilience of the relevant groups. Another consistent thread is the incorporation in implementation programmes of discussion sessions or other activities following completion of each module by individuals, despite the online modules including interactive components and reflective activities. The different approaches to implementation are examined below to highlight the unique features of each and areas of commonality.

In relation to pre-service teachers, Weatherby et al. (Chap. 4) adopted a holistic approach to implementation by embedding BRiTE throughout the four years of a Bachelor of Education (Early Years) programme. Pre-service teachers complete the modules once in the first two years and complete them again over years three and four. The facility within the modules for participants to develop a personalised resilience toolkit and compare responses to scenarios over time provides an opportunity for pre-service teachers to reflect on their personal growth and professional identity over their teacher education course.

McDonough and McGraw (Chap. 5) used a different approach by embedding BRiTE in a specific core course in the Master of Teaching programme with pre-service teachers in the study completing the modules during their first teaching experience. Additionally, the researchers linked BRiTE with the dispositions for effective teaching framework that underpinned the teaching course. Ledger (Chap. 15) explains how BRiTE can be both embedded within teacher education courses and integrated with other frameworks, in this case micro-teaching and augmented reality simulation, the latter providing opportunities for pre-service teachers to engage in “approximations of practice” with avatars to support teacher resilience.

In Chap. 9, Fokken-Bruinsma et al. describe the process of adapting BRiTE for use in pre-service teacher education in a different country and language community. Following a review of current practices and the applicability of BRiTE modules for Dutch pre-service teachers they are building an online environment, translating the modules, incorporating Dutch teaching standards and modifying some of the sections. They plan to use a blended learning approach with discussion of module topics in 5 or 10 sessions (for masters or bachelors programmes, respectively) to which teacher educators from institutes and schools will be invited to broaden the support for pre-service teachers.

Two of the chapters address implementation of the online modules to support resilience of early career teachers. In Chap. 6 Sikma describes a professional development series (five workshops over a year) for new teachers in North Carolina, United States of America. Each workshop was aligned with one of the BRiTE modules and included activities and reflection on the module completed prior to the workshop, as well as “homework” follow-up action on what had been learned. There were two different groups of early career teachers, one group specifically chosen for innovation and leadership, yet the responses to the modules and workshops appear to have been similar and positive for both groups. Gratacós et al. (Chap. 8) report research on a comprehensive professional assessment and development (PAD) induction programme for early career teachers in Spain. The programme included mentoring and seven online modules from ENTREE (and BRiTE) and a monthly face-to-face meeting of teachers and mentors that included practical activities. The approach was carefully structured to incorporate the mentors and self-reflection activities from the modules being assessed by university professors who coordinated the programme.

Chapters 7, 11 and 14 focus on programmes for experienced teachers, and all three give prominence to wellbeing, based on notions of positive psychology. Fernandes et al. developed a “Positive Education” professional learning programme of 18 h for Portuguese teachers around the ENTREE modules (with the addition of a “nuclear” module on Education for Wellbeing). Two-hour interactive workshops were held weekly after work hours and teachers were encouraged to discuss their own experiences and engage in individual and joint reflection to achieve solutions. In Chap. 11, Falecki and Mann argue for professional learning experiences for building teacher wellbeing, and in Chap. 14, Granziera et al. use job demand-resource theory to guide interventions to maximise teachers’ wellbeing. Falecki and Mann present a range of interventions framed around Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment (PERMA), and from visual inspection many of the intervention activities resemble those within the BRiTE modules and workshops in this volume. Importantly, the authors point out that for teachers to develop psychological resources to support their wellbeing they need time to learn, reflect and collaborate in order to pursue new strategies and change habits. Taking a broader approach, Granziera et al.’s interventions address the organisational level as well as individual level.

This leads to an important question about the relation of wellbeing to resilience. They are frequently referred to together in the literature and teacher wellbeing is the most commonly linked outcome of resilience (Mansfield et al. 2016b). In the BRiTE framework incorporating personal resources, contextual resources, strategies and outcomes (see Beltman, Chap. 2; Mansfield et al. 2016b), wellbeing is positioned as one of the outcomes (with job satisfaction and commitment). Wellbeing is the name of one of the BRiTE modules, with a focus on personal wellbeing, work–life balance and maintaining motivation. In Chap. 11, Falecki and Mann define wellbeing as “the psychological capacity for teachers to manage normal stressors within the profession, including awareness of positive emotional states”. They frame resilience as one of the positive and negative influences on wellbeing. Following a similar focus on wellbeing, Granziera et al. (Chap. 14) define wellbeing not as a capacity per se, but as “teachers’ positive evaluations of and healthy functioning in their work environment”. It encompasses a range of outcomes, such as job satisfaction and organisational commitment, consistent with their focus on job demand-resources theory (Bakker and Demerouti 2017). They suggest a dual approach of harm reduction (more in terms of resilience) and wellness promotion (wellbeing). Taking these ideas together wellbeing could be considered both an integral part of teacher resilience and an expression of resilience in a particular context.

Klap et al. (Chap. 12) take an entirely different approach and argue that school leaders need support for their own wellbeing before they can support the wellbeing of their teaching staff. They describe a mindfulness programme for school principals, “Mindful Leaders”, that enabled leaders to enhance self-awareness and engage in self-care and self-compassion, reducing their stress and improving their perceived effectiveness as leaders. In Chap. 10, Correia describes the development of a new BRiTE module, BRiTE Mind, which uses mindfulness concepts such as acting with intention and acting with awareness, to enhance self-awareness and support the development of mindful relationships and wellbeing. Correia argues that in applying mindfulness concepts to resilience processes, BRiTE Mind supports conscious and mindful action to promote personal wellbeing and resilience in the classroom. Although different in focus, both these chapters reveal the potential of a mindful approach for supporting the resilience and wellbeing of a wide range of educators.

4 Supporting Resilience and Wellbeing: Impact

Many of the chapters report research findings related to implementation and impact. The range of approaches and research tools (e.g. self-report surveys, interviews, journal entries) and generally small cohorts make it difficult to draw overall conclusions about impacts. Additionally, pre and post studies were not conducted (the initial BRiTE study in Chap. 3 is an exception), and a larger study (Chap. 8) collected self-report data on resilience and commitment only at the beginning of the research. Despite these limitations, there are a number of findings that cut across a majority of the implementation settings. Pre-service teachers and early career teachers are reported as feeling more confident and self-aware of their skills and knowledge, and all groups reported being more self-aware and reflective.

The building of relationships and networks also feature strongly. While supportive relationships and networks may be considered processes, I include them here as both process and impact. For example, McDonough and McGraw (Chap. 5) point to the central role of a people-centred disposition, oriented towards students and peers, that enabled pre-service teachers to be resilient in the context of their first teaching experience. In a number of chapters, participants are reported as finding the face-to-face workshops and discussions with colleagues particularly helpful, and work to extend these activities. In the context of professional learning for teachers, Fernandes et al. (Chap. 7) found that teacher participants appreciated sharing experiences with colleagues, suggested more and longer sessions and extending the sessions to other teachers. Likewise, Sikma (Chap. 6) reported open-ended survey responses of beginning teachers highlighting the connection with other teachers, and in one group the formation of a strong professional learning community which continued to meet and welcomed new teachers with whom they shared what they had learned. These examples point to the relational nature of teacher resilience (Gu 2014), with the possibility of teachers developing a form of “collective resilience” (a notion used to describe how a group of survivors coordinate and draw upon collective sources of support in the aftermath of emergencies and disasters; Drury et al. 2019). In Chap. 17 McDonough et al. report teacher educators describing a sense of collective resilience to navigate challenging and changing times. The centrality of relationships and networks also underlines the importance of a common language for conversation and action.

Although not in the context of professional learning, Dempsey et al. (Chap. 13) found that for early career casual teachers the building of relationships at all levels supported their work in schools and the formation of their professional identity. Pearce and Morrison (2011, p. 55) argue that for early career teachers to be resilient they need to be able to “author a new script” of themselves to capitalise on their investment in becoming a teacher. Interactions with colleagues, students and family are crucial to this construction of self. Development of professional identity was also considered a potential outcome of pre-service teachers’ consideration of their growth after completing BRiTE modules twice during their Bachelor of Education (Weatherby-Fell et al. Chap. 4). These studies point to an important link between resilience and professional identity.

The development of supportive relationships and networks was a key element in the creation of the BRiTE modules and the implementation projects that were part of Staying BRiTE (MacCallum 2016, 2018). The supportive and effective leadership of Caroline Mansfield facilitated collaboration amongst team members and created opportunities to try different strategies with constructive feedback from others. During the Staying BRiTE programme, team members described their roles in similar ways using words such as “contributing”, “communicating” and “collaborating” with colleagues within their own university and other universities. One team member explained their role as:

Working collaboratively within my own University as team leader, and achieving a common goal intended to enhance the existing BRiTE resource, and expand its impact in teacher education. Similarly, communicating with other teams to provide information about our activities, and drawing on the actions of others to ensure success in our goals. (Staying BRiTE team member, MacCallum 2018)

Another pointed to the importance of the particular people involved:

I’ve really appreciated the way that Caroline has led this project—she’s generous with time and ideas and she has assembled a great team—it’s a pleasure to be part of it. (Staying BRiTE team member, MacCallum 2018)

Together they supported and sustained each other’s resilience, enabling the team to successfully translate BRiTE into a range of implementation approaches.

This didn’t just happen but was the result of a deliberate and strategic approach (MacCallum 2016, 2018). The original BRiTE team members had varied connections contributing to the engagement of a wide range of people as they worked “in different areas”, belonged to “different groups” and “had contacts in different fields of education” (MacCallum 2016). These connections and networks enabled the BRiTE resources to be disseminated in multiple contexts, the formation of a wider team for Staying BRiTE and the resulting wide adoption of the modules. The research documented in this volume is an outcome of this process, and an important reminder of the factors necessary for translation of a development project like BRiTE: Careful planning, effective leadership, collaboration, networking, exchange and discussion of ideas, time and collective resilience.

5 Exploring Resilience and Wellbeing in Context

As pointed out in Chap. 2 by Susan Beltman, context is integral to research on resilience, as well as the relation of person to context. One particular context is teacher education. An important point that emerges from a range of chapters is the acknowledgement that social and emotional aspects of teaching are important but have been largely missing from teacher education and teacher professional learning programmes. When teacher education programmes are perceived as “full”, the inclusion of programmes around resilience can be seen as add-ons. The early work on resilience by Mansfield and colleagues (see Chap. 3) highlighted the need for specific resources to support pre-service teacher resilience. This was also evident during the Staying BRiTE programme, with one team member commenting:

I’ve seen that it has allowed us to pay more explicit attention to aspects that perhaps we had taken for granted. It has allowed us to see how we can integrate this focus in ways that are powerful and meaningful for students rather than as something that might be seen as an add on. (Staying BRiTE team member, MacCallum 2018)

Other authors highlight the lack of focus on the social, emotional and motivational needs of pre-service teachers (Sikma Chap. 6) and teachers (Fernandes et al. Chap. 7; Falecki and Mann Chap. 11). Teacher education and teacher professional development tend to be focused on school students and the curriculum and not teachers themselves (see Chaps. 6 and 11). Sikma (Chap. 6) and Fokken-Bruinsma et al. (Chap. 9) were drawn to BRiTE as similar programmes were not available in the USA and the Netherlands respectively. Comments reported in these chapters show the appreciation of pre-service teachers, teachers and school leaders for the inclusion of professional activities that focus on them and their needs.

In a scan of teacher educators’ current views on enhancing resilience, Fokken-Bruinsma et al. found the term resilience wasn’t used but issues related to it were discussed in an ad hoc way. In a different but related context of “Bouncing Forward” activities following healthcare professional placements, Cardell and Bialocerkowski (2019) found debriefing opportunities focused on self-efficacy, resilience and professional identity made visible these aspects of the usually hidden curriculum that they argue are critical for professional success. Mapping professional standards to interventions like the BRiTE modules also makes the relevance of resilience visible to pre-service teachers and teacher educators, and potentially to policymakers. In addition, as pointed out by Fokken-Bruinsma et al. (Chap. 9) there is a general lack of knowledge about resilience and resilience-building strategies, but noted that teacher education and policymakers are beginning to pay attention. Published research, such as this volume, also bring wider attention to teacher resilience.

Boon (Chap. 16) questions the linking of resilience to teacher attrition. This has been a way for researchers to tap into policy agendas but does raise questions about the resilience of teachers who leave the profession. To highlight this issue Boon presents the cases of two teachers, one called Chris who left a teaching position in Australia, where he perceived the working conditions impacted quality teaching to seek a teaching position overseas, where he perceived teachers had societal respect. Boon asks whether Chris was resilient by leaving the context he thought needed to be changed. Chris’s decision could be interpreted as an action to reduce job demands and maximise wellbeing. What we don’t know is whether or not teaching overseas for more than short periods would support Chris’s resilience and wellbeing.

Consideration of context raises the question of whose responsibility is supporting teacher resilience. A person-oriented approach would imply the responsibility lies with the individuals themselves. In most chapters in this volume, teacher educators have taken the responsibility to support pre-service teachers and in-service teachers. In Chap. 4, Weatherby-Fell et al. explain this role of teacher education programmes in “assisting beginning teachers to develop their capacity for resilience”. Sikma (Chap. 6) explains this a little differently by arguing that it is possible to “improv[ing]e teachers’ resilience” and teachers’ responses to challenges in the workplace can be addressed through building resilience, whereas often “little that can be done to change working conditions”. Granziera et al. (Chap. 14) argue that job demand-resources theory provides guidance on ways to reduce job demands, such as job crafting and a range of school-level interventions. The use of avatars to provide approximations of practice (Ledger Chap. 15) also presents a strategy to change the context to support pre-service teacher resilience. Moving from a focus on the teachers is not simple, but these chapters show that it is possible.

As Falecki and Mann (Chap. 11) point out “teacher wellbeing is not just an individual’s responsibility, but it is a shared organisational, community, and worldwide concern”. The challenge, then, is to move the policy agenda to changing infrastructure and broader workplace and cultural systems. The agency of individuals and groups is necessary for these kinds of changes. Using a social ecological approach, McDonough et al. (Chap. 17) provide evidence of different levels of context that challenge teacher educators’ experiences of resilience, and the potential of harnessing a sense of collective resilience. This is a developing area of research.

6 Future Directions: Moving Forward

The many questions raised throughout this chapter suggest potential directions for future research. So do the key issues of context discussed in the previous section. The poems that introduce each section of this work provide insights into the nature of resilience, and also suggest some ways for moving forward.

In the first poem, “It bends, but does not break”, the young sapling and the environment are one, the young sapling “learning how to be” in the changing seasons. Bending in the wind and wilting in the heat, these strategies overcome challenges and together with resources of rain and the inner strength in its roots that soak up the moisture, the young sapling survives and grows. The metaphor of the growth of a tree is powerful. Translating to a person “learning how to be” in the changing environment, the person and environment are one, and drawing on personal and contextual resources the person is sustained and grows. Being aware of these resources and able to mobilise them is critical for this growth. These notions underpin the rationale for the BRiTE programme and development of the online modules and also the bringing together of person and environment (context). The social ecological approach that brings person together with different levels of context provides a promising avenue for research. But as the young sapling was learning how to be in changing environments, what approaches might present a different lens to provide new insights into resilience?

The second poem, “Tether lines”, uses an ocean metaphor to explore the multiple experiences of confidence and doubt in new and changing contexts, and the self-questioning of different strategies and support. Balancing venturing and risk with the guiding support of others provides both safety and freedom to enable growth. This poem encapsulates the journeys of the BRiTE and Staying BRiTE researchers as they venture into the world of supporting teacher resilience and enabling agency. The tether lines are important for all. These connections with others, the building of supportive relationships and networks are prominent themes in the chapters. What kinds of tether lines might support educators at different points in their careers?

In the third poem, “Time and transformation”, the more tangible evidence of changing challenges and different adjustments are portrayed as stitches on fabric, some old and frayed, and others new with the possibility of renewal. The poem emphasises the importance of the stitcher pausing, becoming aware of what is needed and acting purposefully. The fabric with stitches remains but as the old and the new are woven together it is transformed. How are the old and new woven together for transformation?

One possibility for further conceptualising the person and context and beginning to explore some of these questions is cultural-historical theory. As I was writing this chapter, I took part in a cultural-historical theory reading group discussion on “perezhinvanie” (Blunden 2016; Veresov 2016). Perezhinvanie is a Russian word, meaning an experience in everyday Russian, but like the word “resilience” has been appropriated for specific purposes. Lev Vygotsky (1994, p. 340) used the word in a more elaborated sense to explain that it is not any of the factors in the environment in themselves (if taken without reference to the person) “which determines how they will influence the future course of [the person’s] development, but the same factors refracted through the prism of the [person’s] emotional experience (perezhivanie)”. Taken together with other explanations of perezhivanie in Vygostky’s writing, Veresov (2016, p. 130) argues that perezhivanie is “not merely emotional attitude to environment, but rather a complex nexus of psychological processes that includes emotions, cognitive processes, memory and even volition”. These concepts, initially intended by Vygotsky for explaining child development, can be appropriated for considering adult development (Blunden 2016). It is not the environment per se that determines growth, but how we refract the environment through our experiences. The notion of refraction is important as it is more than reflection, which is reflected back unchanged, but refraction which incorporates moving through and changing direction. Further, Veresov (2016) argues that the social environment as a source of development does not exist outside the individual, but “exists only when the individual actively participates in this environment, by acting, interacting, interpreting, understanding, recreating and redesigning it” (p. 132).

Thinking about resilience, how does each of us refract the different factors in our environment at different times? Which experiences will influence our growth at particular points in time? How do we engage in transformation? These ideas provide a different way to think about the responses of teachers to everyday and more adverse situations (like the experiences of Boon’s two teachers), ways of engaging with programmes that aim to support resilience (like BRiTE modules and associated activities), and ways of exploring the tether lines and connections. And importantly, to ways to actively recreate and redesign the environments in which we participate.

7 Conclusions

The chapters provide a range of ways to think about teacher resilience and wellbeing, and the different approaches to cultivating or supporting teacher resilience. Overall the volume provides some answers to questions permeating the chapters: How do we, as an education community, support teacher resilience? Whose responsibility is teacher resilience? What is the impact and how do we know? and How do we usefully conceptualise teacher resilience? These and other questions raised by considering the volume as a whole body of work will frame research on teacher resilience for some years ahead.