Our Experiences and Voices

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted educational institutions globally. The disruption impacted delivery and teacher wellness—a drastic shift from traditional teaching to hybrid and online models without adequate teacher preparation and training. Schools implemented different platforms to support the paradigm shift. These shifts caused by COVID-19 have lasting positive and negative impacts on educators, educator preparation programs, P-12 students, and the overall wellness of teachers and students. This chapter addresses the pedagogical shifts and impact of educator wellness (physically, mentally, and emotionally) caused by the pandemic. The study's findings indicate that the adjustments made by teachers and students will improve communication, collaboration, and teaching with technology skills. The shift to remote learning further strengthened the relationships between teachers and families. Finally, the chapter addresses the importance of teacher wellness and self-care.

Design of Teachers’ Wellness Program: The Experience of Filipino School Principals

This study was conceptualized to identify how Filipino school principals designed a wellness program as basis for general guidelines for the design of teachers’ wellness program. The researchers used descriptive method, particularly case study method of research. Five public elementary school principals with implemented teachers' wellness programs were chosen as the participants of the study. Instruments used to gather data were prepared by the researchers and has been validated by the experts in the field. Participants were asked to answer questions through interviews. From the results of the interview different strategies emerged and were considered to make the program more effective and successful to the participants such as needs assessments, stakeholders’ involvement, listening to the stakeholders, stakeholders’ consultations, establishment of committee and gathering of resources. As to the outcome of the program, happiness, a healthy lifestyle, a positive attitude, professional growth, and dimensions of wellness should be considered. Stakeholders’ involvement and their willingness make the program possible, successful and well-managed. Their expertise, time and commitment strengthen the program as well as the camaraderie of the stakeholders. The leadership style of the principals also plays a big role to make the program properly designed, implemented and managed. They have the power to influence or make the teachers motivated and committed to their work. Keywords: Guidelines, Principals, Program design, Stress, Teacher wellness

The effect of Sports-based Physical Activity programme on teachers’ relatedness, stress and exercise motivation

Background: Teacher wellness affects teaching performance and students’ academic achievement; hence, teacher wellness matters and should be a concern to educational researchers and practitioners. There are several teacher wellness approaches, but no one of them specifically focuses on a Sports-based Physical Activity programme. Objective: To evaluate the effects of a Sports-based Physical Activity programme on teachers’ relatedness, stress and motivation towards physical activity. Method: Middle school teachers ( n = 32) volunteered to participate in the research as programme participants ( n = 12) or non-programme participants ( n = 20). The Sports-based Physical Activity programme included 7 weeks of training in Catchball, a team sport and a tournament as the culminating event. The study adopted a mixed-methods design: a quasi-experimental design collecting quantitative data from online surveys and a case study design collecting qualitative data from interviews with the programme participants, non-participants and the school principal. Results: Repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed that the Sports-based Physical Activity programme was effective in relatedness, F(1, 30) = 5.16, p = .031, [Formula: see text] = .147, and in one of the six motivation subscales, external regulation, F(1, 30) = 4.23, p = .048, [Formula: see text] = .124. The qualitative analysis findings supported the programme’s contribution to teachers’ relationship, stress and exercise motivation. Conclusion: Overall, the programme was effective in promoting teachers’ relationships in school, controlling levels of teachers’ stress and fostering teachers’ motivation towards physical activity. Further studies are required to examine the impact of a Sports-based Physical Activity approach in diverse school contexts and its impact on student learning.

A Vibrant Ray of Hope: Staff Well Being is Key to Students Well Being

`Wellness is an important asset of every human being. The wellness of health encourages a person to move towards awareness, education and individual progress. Teachers are the superheroes of the educational system and tend to be underrepresented and overworked. The promotion of teacher wellness and health is revealed student health and wellness and may lead to a more effective and positive environment for learning on the whole. According to the National Wellness Institute, “a conscious, self-directed and evolving process of achieving full potential”. This study aims to find the level of wellness among school teachers. Survey method was adopted to collect data through questionnaire from 60 school teachers of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Government and Government Aided School. The finding of the study reveals that the Kendriya Vidyalaya School Teachers scores higher on the dimension of “Meaning” (28.6) and lower on the aspect of “Body and Sexuality” (15) among the ten dimensions, the Government school scores higher on the proportion of “Self-Responsibility” (21.4) and lower on the aspect of “Body and Sexuality” (12) among the ten dimensions and the Government Aided School teachers scores higher on size of “Meaning” (24.5) and lower on the aspect “Body and sexuality” (13.4) among the ten dimensions. The study also reveals that every school scores lowest in one particular point (i.e. Body and Sexuality). Hence, Kendriya Vidyalaya School Teachers have good wellness than the Government and Government Aided School.

Supporting Students by Maintaining Professional Well-Being in High-Stress Jobs

Student mental health, well-being, engagement, and deep learning is tied to teacher wellness. Georgia State University’s Center for Research on School Safety, School Climate, and Classroom Management in partnership with The Collaboration and Resources for Encouraging and Supporting Transformations in Education project approached student health, wellness, and achievement by promoting change within teachers. Culturally specific professional development workshops were delivered to teachers, administrators, and other school staff. The workshops positively affected participants’ health and wellbeing through activities focused on identifying the body’s stress response and the development of personalized stress management plans to support healthy lifestyles.