Rationale

While teaching like many other professions has inherent challenges and indisputable rewards but is often reported as as highly stressful occupation (Carton & Fruchart, 2014., Meanwell & Kleiner, 2014). We also know that in contemporary times, the global issue of teacher recruitment, retention and attrition continues to receive considerable attention (Beltman, Mansfield & Price, 2011). Often researchers exploring such issues focus on the relationship between work-related stress and intention to leave the profession. However, research attention has increasingly shifted to highlighting what it is that motivates teachers to “stay” and indeed effectively sustain their commitment to teaching in the face of inherent challenges and change (Day, Edwards, Griffith & Qing, 2011). This shift has been driven by discourses of e.g., teacher resilience, self-care ,well-being, sustainability, quality retention and more recently mindfulness.

Of specific concern to teacher educators and the teaching profession is the number of  young teachers who appear to be simply ‘surviving’ rather than ‘thriving’ (Beltman et al., 2011). One way of addressing this issue would be to explicitly embed a personal dimension within teacher education programes with a view to placing, from the outset, teacher well-being at the heart of professional learning. We argue here that developing teacher resilience and capacity to be ‘mindful’ must take centre stage in such an endeavour. While we acknowledge that there is no universal definition of resilience (Aburn, Gott & Hoare, 2015) we concur with Gu & Day’s assertion that resilience is conceptualised as ‘relative, developmental, and dynamic manifesting itself as a result of a dynamic process within a given context” , p.1305). We would also argue that developing teachers capacity to be mindful, which Jennings et al., (2013) describes as a ‘way of paying attention’ and ‘as the practice of paying attention in that way’ (p. 376), could play a key role in the development and demonstration of resilience. It is argued that enabling teachers to develop strategies for self-care such as those associated with mindfulness would not only enhance their well-being and capacity to meet the challenges of the profession but would also have an impact on student learning, school success (Flook, et al., 2013, p. 182) and we would argue quality teacher retention.

Background

Due to recent developments within our particular Scottish context, the need to consider the intersection between ‘teacher education’ and teacher ‘well-being’ has become even more pressing. Our new teaching qualification pathway was accredited by the GTCS in May 2015, to sit alongside the already established MsC(Dance Science) Education.  This degree is the first of its kind internationally in that students study at masters level and are qualified to teach their subject specialism (i.e., Dance) across the 3-18 age groups. However, the  demands of such a unique course, especially for students who may not have followed the traditional route to teaching,  should not be underestimated.

It is for this reason the programme team are in the process of refining a personal development inset to the course which places student teachers’ well-being at the heart of their unique professional learning journey. Building on international research and initiative such as 'Enhancing Teacher Resilience in Europe'; (Europe); Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Educators' (USA) and 'Building Resilience in Teacher Educators' (Australia) our key aim here is to report on the development of our own 'well-being'  intervention which is due to commence in August 2016. This 'intervention' will be specifically designed to enhance student teacher capacity to develop and demonstrate resilience and mindfulness within the school context/s (i.e during school experiences).

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