Abstract:

Research indicates that attrition rates for new teachers continue to rise as stresses on teachers often outweigh their ability to cope with the personal and professional challenges of the first five years of their professional career. The authors contend that building skills in resilience and grit as an intentional part of the pre-service teacher education program can aid to support new teachers as they enter the profession, and help them to build better coping skills in order to manage the inherent and growing challenges of becoming an effective teacher. Using an online survey, the authors assessed the Resilience and Grit Behaviours, Habits and Attitudes of Pre-service Teacher Candidates at three Canadian university faculties of education.

The work is focused on these research questions:
1. What are the self-perception factors that have a positive/negative impact on Resilience and Grit of pre-service teacher candidates?
2. What are the physical lifestyle factors that have a positive/negative impact on Resilience and Grit of pre-service teacher candidates?
3. What are the social/community factors that have a positive/negative impact on Resilience and Grit of pre-service teacher candidates?
4. What are the emotional/mental health/wellbeing factors that have a positive/negative impact on Resilience and Grit of pre-service teacher candidates?
5. What are teacher candidates’ beliefs about the profession of teaching that have a positive/negative impact on Resilience and Grit of pre-service teacher candidates?

The issue at hand is that while teacher candidates may take courses in mental health to understand their future students, they do not have specific or measured instruction in resiliency, grit and mental health for themselves. This research postulates that the intentional development of resiliency skills and grit can provide one potential and impactful solution to the problem of new teacher attrition.

The theoretical framework for this paper is based on the research of Duckworth (2009), Dweck (2008) and other authors who studied the role of grit and talent in students and adults across a variety of work and educational settings. The premise of the research argues that pre-service teacher education is an ideal setting in which to provide real world opportunities to nurture both resilience and grit, two ideal characteristics that the authors argue are critical elements for new teachers, or those early in their careers, given the challenging socio-educational environments within which new teachers find themselves. This research assessed the current Resilience and Grit habits, behaviours and attitudes of teacher candidates, and provides a base-line from which teacher educators can begin to understand the effects of teacher candidates’ coping strategies and lifestyle factors that could be critical to their success in the classroom. As a result, the authors suggest this should be included in the pre-service teacher education curricula. This research indicates that pre-service teacher socialization in to the profession can be aided by an intentional, reflective dialogue about how to support the development of Resilience and Grit habits, behaviours and attitudes.

Keywords:

Resilience, Grit, Pre-service Teacher Education, Mental Health, Wellbeing.