When Educators Come Together to Speak About Well-Being: An Invitation to Talk

Oct 15, 2026

Educators’ well-being is treated as a growing concern both inside and outside schools amid increasing complexity in schooling environments. A qualitative case study investigates how educators negotiate well-being across incommensurable lifeworld realities. Results identify dimensions tied to the cultural politics of well-being, relationality, the need for self-care, and context-specific ways of being and doing well-being. Conclusions outline supports for educators across individual, collective, and institutional levels.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Research purpose and symposium aims

When Educators Come Together to Speak About Well-Being: An Invitation to Talk Marlon Simmons Mairi McDermott Jennifer Lock Rachael Crowder Evelyn Hickey Noeleen DeSilva Rebecca Leong Katrina Wilson University of Calgary Abstract Contingent on multiple variants, educators’well-being is becoming a concern regarding quality of life in and out of schools. Our qualitative case study aimed to understand how educators negotiate well-being through ever-increasing complexities in schooling environments and incommensurable lifeworld realities. Findings include material Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation 42:3 (2019)©2019 Canadian Society for the Study of Education/ Société canadienne pour l’étude de l’éducation [www.cje-rce.ca](www.cje-rce.ca) relevant to (1) the cultural politics of well-being; (2) relationality of/with well-being; (3) the need for self-care; and (4) ways of being and doing well-being in context. Conclusions discuss how to support educators in creating and fostering well-being for themselves individually, and within collective and institutional levels. Keywords: educator well-being, school environment, community engagement and leadership, well-being resources, educator support Résumé Dépendamment de plusieurs facteurs, le bien-être des éducateurs devient une préoccupation à l’école et à l’extérieur de celle-ci. Notre étude de cas examine comment ils négocient leur bien-être à l’intérieur d’espaces scolaires complexes des réalités du monde d’aujourd’hui. Les résultats incluent (1) politique culturelle du bien-être; (2) rapport du / avec le bien-être;(3) besoin de prendre soin de soi; et (4) manières d’être et de savoir-faire dans un contextespécifique. Les conclusions présentent comment aider les éducateurs à créer et à favoriserleur propre bien-être, ainsi qu’au niveau collectif et institutionnel. Mots-clés : bien-être des éducateurs, environnement scolaire, engagement communautaire et leadership, ressources de bien-être, soutien de l’éducateur Acknowledgements AWerklund School of Education Research Collaboration and Community Engagement Grant funded this research. We also acknowledge the University of Calgary’s Doucette Library for the creation of the “Well-Being LibGuide.” We thank Dr. Sylvie Roy, Associate Dean of Research, from the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, for the French translation of the abstract and keywords. Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation 42:3 (2019) [www.cje-rce.ca](www.cje-rce.ca) Introduction In the complexities of contemporary education, educators—along with school counsellorsand social workers—grapple with issues of trauma, grief, loss, and, in turn, well-being, in both their professional and personal lives. Wasserman (2015) calls teaching “multi-layered, multi-dimensional, multi-faceted,” a perspective she calls “kaleidoscopic”(p. 87). In the contemporary landscape, educators may have to design learning to meet the needs of refugee students and the inherent complexities that emerge from experiences of displacement (Miles & Bailey-McKenna, 2016; Record-Lemon & Buchanan, 2017; Weeks, Sullivan, & Simonson, 2017), or students who may come from myriad traumatic backgrounds, requiring specific knowledge and strategies to have a positive influence (Brunzell, Stokes, & Waters, 2018). Necessarily, under these local and global conditions, much recent attention has focused on the importance of cultivating the well-being of students. However, as Briner and Dewberry (2007) concluded, educator well-being also needs attention, to improve school performance among other reasons. Konu, Viitanen, and Lintonen (2010) propose that “without teachers’wellbeing it is hard to build up students’wellbeing”(p. 44). Research supports the conclusion that student well-being is necessary for students to reach their potential (Oberle, 2018), making educator well-being significant not just for educators but, important

FAQs

What concern about educators’ well-being does the study address?

It examines how educators’ well-being is becoming a concern regarding quality of life in and out of schools amid changing schooling complexities.

How does the study explore educators’ negotiation of well-being?

Through a qualitative case study focusing on how educators manage well-being within complex school environments and diverse lived realities.

What practical supports do the conclusions emphasize?

They discuss supporting educators in creating and fostering well-being both individually and at collective and institutional levels.

Oct 15, 2026

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