Abstract
The purpose of this study was to understand the impact of transformative professional development on educator resilience in a K-12 public education system. Through this study, educators participated in a nine-month professional development series that targeted the growth of personal and professional resilience skills and strategies.
Utilizing a mixed methods approach with a mixed methods case study design, the quantitative data from pre-course and post-course survey and the qualitative data from open-ended one-to-one interviews were analyzed using an integrative analysis. This analysis provided both statistical data and data that tells a story (Patton, 2015). Through the data analysis, themes and sub-themes were identified to demonstrate the impact of ongoing transformative professional development. The consistent themes that emerged from the data included: gained personal resilience that supported their professional work, new perspectives from their colleagues, and development of new strategies to support educators’ personal and professional resilience.
By utilizing two different theoretical frameworks, the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 2005) and the theory of resilience (Aguilar, 2018), it is evident that the themes aligned with the theoretical approach. The theory of planned behavior focused on attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control. The evidence suggests that one’s intentions and focus on positive skill development impacted the behavior of the educator in a positive way. The theory of resilience contains four central elements: who we are, where we are, what we do and how we are (Aguilar, 2018). The resources provided in the book Onward: Cultivating emotional resilience in educators coupled with the Onward workbook: Daily activities to cultivate your emotional resilience and thrive (Aguilar, 2018) outline ideas and strategies that support individual growth in the central elements.
The positive impact of ongoing, transformative professional development on educators personal and professional resilience may influence the performance of educators in the classroom and decrease the likelihood of burnout and leaving the profession. This study gives school districts resources and research behind the importance of providing specific professional development for educators, to support their resilience. While the study focused on teachers as educators, this research could also have a positive implication for administration and support staff in the K-12 system, as well as higher education.