Developing resilience and enhancing appraisals of mattering among elementary level, non-core subject teachers: Project DREAM

Pennington, Shannon A.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120358 Copy

Description

Title

Developing resilience and enhancing appraisals of mattering among elementary level, non-core subject teachers: Project DREAM

Author(s)

Pennington, Shannon A.

Issue Date

2023-04-12

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Richards, Kevin A

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Richards, Kevin A

Committee Member(s)

• Graber, Kim C
• Woods, Amelia M
• Gaudreault, Karen L

Department of Study

Kinesiology & Community Health

Discipline

Kinesiology

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• elementary teachers
• non-core subjects
• resilience
• teacher stress
• marginalization

Abstract

Although all teachers experience stress, elementary level, non-core subject teachers experience unique stressors associated with marginalization and low perceived mattering (Richards et al., 2018). Therefore, one strategy to help teachers manage these stressors is to develop teachers’ resilience which includes developing social-emotional skills to better cope with, navigate, and thrive in the school environment. Combatting the stress connected to marginalization by increasing perceived mattering and resilience can be achieved through continuing professional development (CPD) in a community of practice (Gonçalves et al., 2021; Pennington et al., 2021). The Project DREAM conceptual framework (Pennington et al., 2021) was developed as a mechanism to help elementary level, non-core subject teachers manage stressors and was used to develop a CPD for this unique subset of teachers. Specifically, the framework was designed to describe the ways in which social and emotional skill development (e.g., mindfulness practices, relationship building, advocacy strategies) can lead to increased resilience and perceived mattering. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the influence of the Project DREAM CPD initiative on teacher stress. The guiding theory used to ground this research was the transtheoretical teacher change model (Kern et al., 2021) because it takes into account teachers’ socialization experiences, specific teaching contexts, and individual beliefs and dispositions when considering teachers’ ability to make changes that may improve their wellbeing and job satisfaction. This ethnographic case study examined the lived experiences of the elementary level non-core subject teacher participants and how both socialization and internal characteristics (i.e., beliefs and dispositions) influenced those experiences. Data sources included a demographic survey, semi-structured interviews, course documents completed by participants, discussion board posts, observations of participant interactions during the sessions, and field notes. Results indicated that teachers’ negative experiences motivated them to make changes in the ways they address their well-being at work. As a result of participation in Project DREAM, teachers found a renewed sense of value and found the experience validating. Project DREAM can mitigate teacher stress due to marginalization and low perceived mattering through community-building and by delivering relevant content and applicable strategies. The participating teachers also felt strongly that the skills taught in Project DREAM can help prepare pre-service and beginning teachers as well as the students in participants’ classrooms. A common experience can be uniting and may provide an open door for non-core subject teachers to build relationships and better position themselves to advocate for their emotional needs.

Graduation Semester

2023-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2023 Shannon Pennington

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