The current landscape of schools is marked by heightened uncertainty, with factors such as ongoing war conflicts, eco-anxiety, and economic crises significantly impacting the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. Recognising the pivotal role of teachers in children and young people’s experiences in school, our research targets teachers and their own wellbeing. In order to successfully contribute to the mental health of children and young people, teachers themselves need to feel good in school and have relevant skills, not just knowledge, about developing mental health. 

Our research targets Slovakia, a country with a neglected education system that has not fully gone through the transformation to support the development of 21st century skills, since becoming an independent democratic country just over 30 years ago. 95% of teachers in Slovakia report experiencing stress in school and 25% find the school atmosphere harmful to their mental health (Durikova, 2021). When considering the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in schools, it is therefore essential to start by examining teachers. What are the current wellbeing needs of teachers in Slovakia? What training do they need to facilitate positive wellbeing experiences in schools? To what extend could experiential training support the wellbeing of teachers in Slovakia? 

We emphasise an experiential approach to professional development in the area of mental health and wellbeing. Experience-based learning is pivotal to understanding one’s own and proximal others, and this underpins the whole-school approaches to wellbeing. We draw on Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory and conceptualises teachers as change agents within the microsystem of the educational environment. The framework highlights the interconnectedness of teachers, students, and the broader school community, illustrating how support networks contribute to effective teaching practices in the face of evolving challenges. 

Our understanding of wellbeing includes hedonic and eudaimonic elements to provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing teachers' experiences. Hedonic aspects, focusing on positive emotions, and eudaimonic elements, emphasising purpose and personal growth, collectively shape the conceptualisation of wellbeing in school.  

Our study leverages cross-national collaboration, involving educators from Slovakia, the UK, and Ireland. By comparing experiences and strategies across diverse educational contexts, we aim to provide nuanced insights that can inform policies addressing mental health and wellbeing on an international scale.

We conducted our research in three phases, employing multiple methods. Initially, we mapped the specific wellbeing needs of teachers in school. Our national survey posed multiple choice and open-ended questions directed at teachers and school psychologists in various school contexts in Slovakia, encompassing primary schools, gymnasiums, and high schools. We excluded third level educational organisations. A total of 1,055 educators responded to our survey and we analysed 884 full answers. Subsequently, we actively engaged a team of six teacher-researchers in co-creating the pilot experience-based training programme. Through series of online and in-person workshops held in Ireland, we collaboratively developed the pilot programme. The teacher-researchers, based in different locations in Slovakia, included one primary teacher, two high school teachers, two gymnasium teachers, and one school psychologist. We recorded the workshops and collected additional data through reflective journals and materials produced during the workshops. Finally, we tested the pilot programme at a two-day workshop in Slovakia. Fifteen participants took part in the testing, comprising three three primary school teachers, two high school teachers, three gymnasium teachers, four school psychologists, and three representatives from organisations under the Ministry of Education in Slovakia. We collected pre/post-survey data, recordings, and materials produced during the workshops. We adjusted the training programme based on participants’ feedback, and the final veresion was reviewed and approved by teacher-researchers.

Our survey reveals the importance of distinguishing between hedonic and eudemonic wellbeing, and considering group differences such as gender and years of service, when supporting specific wellbeing needs of teachers. Additionally, our findings underscore the significant role of relationships, both within and outside school, in teachers’ positive wellbeing in school. At the same time, one-third of respondents would not seek help from anyone if they are not feeling psychologically well in school. There may be various reasons for this, such as teachers relying on their own resilience, feeling unsafe talking about their feelings at work, having no one to turn to for help, not knowing how to articulate their wellbeing concerns, and so on. We are continuing to analyse the survey further to possibly identify indicators for this result. For now, the implication for our work is that developing interpersonal relationships and related skills is crucial for the psychological wellbeing of teachers in Slovakia. Our experiential training programme for teachers aims to address some of these results by enhancing self-awareness and communication skills. Feedback from the testing phase reveals the high effectiveness of the experiential approach, as it provides an opportunity for participants to experience and learn how to deal with unpleasant situations, among other personal developments. Participants suggest offering the programme on a voluntary basis. We have compiled a handbook with training activities for participants to use. Additionally, in collaboration with our pilot testing participants, we have compiled a list of recommendations that we shared with the Ministry of Education and relevant organisations in Slovakia. We have established a multinational partnership and are working on a long-term collaboration to promote mental health in schools in Central Europe. Our survey is currently distributed to teachers in Czech Republic. We meet regularly with teacher-researchers and partners while seeking additional research funding.

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