What is the best way to prepare future teachers for the emotional challenges they will face as they pursue their careers?
That’s the question that led McGill’s Faculty of Education to make well-being in education a strategic priority and create the Regulating Emotions and Stress for pre-Service Teachers Program (RESST), with the support of the Rossy Foundation.
Now overseen by McGill’s Education for Mental Health Resilience Office, the program aims to equip future teachers for the stress-related challenges they will face when they begin practising their profession, something that will also benefit their students.
Contributing to the reduction of teachers’ stress
“Stress among teachers is a global issue,” explained Naz Böke, Academic Associate in the Faculty of Education and RESST program co-ordinator. “We’re seeing in research that a large portion of teachers are leaving the profession within the first five years, largely due to burnout, stress, workload or working-conditions issues.”
She explained that teachers’ stress not only has an impact on the teachers themselves, but also on students’ academic achievement and on the classroom atmosphere.
Each RESST module explains the theory and evidence behind the strategies to manage emotions and reduce stress and how they can be applied by education students for their own well-being. Then, each module demonstrates how the strategies, which include mindfulness and self-compassion, can be applied in the context of their professional work (for example, how to respond to student’s stress in the classroom).
A success beyond McGill
Originally created as an in-person program, RESST has been adapted into a self-paced virtual format. It is available in English and French versions.
This versatile format has helped drive the program’s success, facilitating its adoption at other universities, Böke said.
Part of McGill’s B.Ed. curriculum since 2019, the program has since been adopted by 13 other Education faculties across the country, including at Nipissing, Lakehead, Western universities and the University of Ottawa. The program is also starting to spread internationally: the team worked with the Education University of Hong Kong to implement a version adapted to its local context.
Rigourous process led to RESST’s creation
RESST’s creation started with a national needs assessment. The team conducted numerous interviews with education students, instructors, administrators and directors of teacher education programs across the country. They also reviewed the literature and consulted with peers conducting research on teacher training and teachers’ welfare.
The different versions of the program were subjected to a rigorous process of scientific evaluation, as documented in several peer-reviewed studies. The process included pre- and post-intervention evaluations as well as follow-ups and the use of control groups.
Those studies demonstrated that RESST led to statistically significant improvements in several indicators related to well-being, such as mindfulness, the ability to handle stress and good mental health generally. The studies also found that there was a high satisfaction rate among the participants, ranging from 78 to 96 per cent, depending on the survey questions and program versions.
“It really indicates the value added for their professional and personal development,” said Böke.
Next steps
Does RESST have anything to offer outside the world of teaching?
“Yes,” said Böke. “The strategies that we’re sharing in the RESST program are all evidence-based general strategies that have been studied for their effectiveness for stress management and regulating emotions.”
The Education for Mental Health Resilience Office is working on a new learning module that would support undergraduate students as they adapt to university life.