Teacher Well-Being in Diverse School and Preschool Contexts

Well-being is a familiar and possibly over-used term in current discourse. Yet, despite the frequency of its use, it is difficult to pin down in terms of definition. Thomas (2009, p. 11 in Dodge, Daly, Huyton and Sanders 2012) argues that well-being is ‘intangible, difficult to define and even harder to measure’. This chapter interrogates the concept of well-being with a view to outlining its breadth and complexity. Application of the term in schools is then explored with a particular focus on how teachers internalise the definition for themselves. Using research undertaken with a group of teachers working in a multicultural and multilingual preschool and primary school, the chapter outlines the extent to which the participants reflect on their own well-being in their personal and professional lives and the structures (or lack thereof) in place to support their needs in this complex and often challenging context. Qualitative research by means of focus groups was undertaken with the entire staff of the school. Data were analysed with a view to identifying facilitators of, and challenges to, teacher well-being. Findings indicate that the teachers tend to overlook the importance of their own well-being in order to address the concerns and needs of the children in their care.