Educational Psychologists (EPs) spend much of their time working with school staff to solve problems. Staff often report perceptions of high levels of stress, overwork and lack of time to plan and implement changes indicating frequent experience of poor mental well-being. There has been a recent increase in awareness of promoting the well-being of children and young people, however, little attention appears to have been focused as yet upon the school staff who will promote and support this agenda.Research in schools has tended to focus on teachers rather than including all staff. There is a preponderance of research clarifying contributors to teachers’ stress and, to a lesser extent describing interventions in schools. However, little research has focused on school staff understanding and value of well-being and about perceptions of interventions carried out in schools. This study aimed to obtain a greater understanding of the perceptions of school staff about well-being, the value they placed upon it and the experience and perceived impact of taking part in a study aiming to promote staff well-being. An 8 week intervention was carried out in a primary school with weekly sessions of a project which was known as ‘Chill and Chat’. Data was gathered via questionnaires completed before and after the project and 3 focus groups held before, during and after the project. Data was analysed using thematic analysis.It was found that well-being was seen as important, however, colleagues with poor mental well-being were ‘pathologised’. ‘Learning’ to cope and maintain positive well-being was perceived as a responsibility of the staff member. Staff perceived the informality of provision to support their well-being as important and valued the time to develop better relationships with colleagues rather than ‘working relationships’ and also feeling valued and cared for. Staff reported perceptions of greater efficacy in the classroom, increased job satisfaction and feeling calmer in the classroom. The most significant limitation of the study was the continuation of provision to support staff mental well-being which requires commitment and understanding from school senior management teams and local authority members regarding the impact that increased well being can have on teaching and learning and a shift of thought towards focusing on positive well-being promotion rather than managing poor well-being.There are implications for EP practice and research in helping school staff reflect on their well-being and actions that they can take as a team to promote well-being in school. EPs can also be instrumental in disseminating research findings highlighting the impact of staff mental well being on teaching and learning.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:559346 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Sharrocks, Louise |
| Contributors | Woods, Kevin; Squires, Garry |
| Publisher | University of Manchester |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/school-staff-perceptions-of-wellbeing-and-experience-of-an-intervention-to-promote-mental-wellbeing(1d196198-4ded-4aaf-b082-b3568777a294).html |
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