PeopleBench + Penn GSE research collaboration.
A collaboration between PeopleBench and the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education’s Project for Mental Health and Optimal Development explores educator resilience and leadership support.
At a glance.
Multi-disciplinary, mixed methods research.
813 staff across 4 districts completed the PeopleBench Workforce Resilience Tracker™ diagnostic.
Qualitative interviews and focus groups with staff across 3 districts.
Statistically significant differences in staff resilience scores illustrate that employees’ experience of resilience in the workplace can vary considerably based on multiple factors, such as:
Staff age
Staff race/ethnicity
Staff gender
Findings indicated leaders improved their practice through:
Improved understanding of resilience provided by the Workforce Resilience Tracker™—beyond a limited view of ‘stress’ and self-care
Access to visual quantitative data about staff resilience, enabling them to involve staff in developing targeted, responsive action plans
Enhanced resilience planning processes that accommodate and respond to cyclical stress peaks during the school year
Every student deserves a high-quality teacher, and every teacher deserves to be well-supported by their district. Our research with PeopleBench is showing that district leaders highly value educators’ well-being and crave the data to better understand their feelings and insights. When students have well-supported teachers, they are in a better position to thrive both in the classroom and beyond.
PennGSE Project for Mental Health and Optimal Development
Michael J. Nakkula
Co-Director | PennGSE Project for Mental Health and Optimal Development
Key takeaways for education leaders.
The research underscores the benefit of:
- measuring resilience in context
- understanding the multiple dimensions of resilience in order to expand leaders’ opportunities to take targeted action
- visualizing staff resilience data to enable action at the organizational level
The research collaboration recommends that leaders interested in enhancing their team’s resilience level take action in three main areas:
- leadership style
- organizational culture
- human resources processes
Put PeopleBench tools and research to work for your district..
Through our ongoing research, we are unlocking the deep wisdom of educators, behavioural scientists and workforce experts across the country to tap into new insights into how to build the best school workforces in the world.
