1

THE CORRELATION IMPACT OF STUDENT RESILIENCY

ON TEACHER MORALE

by

Constance Wright

Dissertation

Submitted to the Faculty of

Trevecca Nazarene University

School of Graduate and Professional Studies

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of

Doctor of Education

March 2021
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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

“Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving; we get stronger and more resilient.”

-Steve Maraboli (2019)

Price-Mitchell (2019) attests that resilience is one of eight core abilities that drive

successful children. Resilience, as described by Price-Mitchell is the ability to meet and

overcome adversity in ways that maintain or promote well-being. Similarly, The American

Psychological Association (2009) contends that resilience strategies with regular classroom

instruction can improve students' outlook on life. Teachers who teach resilience might change

the trajectory of their student’s lives. When students believe that they are worthy and capable

of overcoming challenges, they become resilient (Souers & Hall, 2016). Teachers can help

students develop resiliency by thinking about alternative paths through adversity (Price-

Mitchell, 2015). Teacher commitment to sustainable learning communities is necessary for

the research of promoting student resiliency, and students must learn to develop resilience

and promote well-being early on (Cherkowski, 2012; Cook-Sather & Curl, 2014). McCoy

(2014) attested that children who develop resiliency are better equipped to handle life's

problems and cope with the emotional challenges that school and life can present.

Lerva et al. (2016) suggested resiliency may be perceived to buffer the process by

which stress is managed, not eliminating the stress, but instead allowing the individual to deal

with the stress more effectively. When students have a firm knowledge of their belief and

place in the world, they become more resilient (Tocino-Smith, 2019). Additionally, positive

adult relationships, where students are taught to create strong bonds, influence students'

overall resiliency (Njoroge & Nyabuto, 2014). When students are resilient and motivated,
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there is an increase in positive teacher morale (Byrd, 2017). While there have been studies

that examine the relationship between teacher morale and external factors, this study is

unique, focusing on teaching resiliency to students to improve teacher morale. When there is

high morale, the staff is satisfied with how the school operates (Haggard, 2016). The

potential data of this research can identify the impact student resiliency has on teacher

morale.

Statement of the Problem

Retaining and recruiting good teachers presents a critical issue today, as many

teachers leave teaching after only four or five years of service (Smollin, 2011). A related

issue is that an estimated 1,600,000 teachers will retire within 10 years (Smollin, 2011).

Lopez-Zafra, Garcia-Retamero, and Martos (2012) identify factors that contribute to whether

or not teachers have positive morale and include effective leadership, teacher autonomy,

administrative support, student resilience, and a safe and positive school climate.

The construct of resilience is multifaceted (Kaplan, 2013). Resilience is generally

understood as a set of personal characteristics or factors that assist the individual in

overcoming hardship (Arslan, 2013). Teachers can create an environment and conditions that

foster resilience. Building resilience involves motivating the attainment of realistic goals and

encouraging students to take responsibility for their educational success (Arastaman & Balci,

2013).

School climate can be affected by teacher morale, and teacher morale holds a vital

role in student achievement (Arslan, 2013). A school with positive morale helps to create

what educators call an environment conducive to learning (Stewart-Banks, Kuofie, Hakim, &

Branch, 2015). When there is high morale, the staff is satisfied with how the school operates

(Williams, 2013). Almost all administrators at one time have encountered a problem with

teacher morale (Willis & Varner, 2010). If principals increase teacher morale in their school,
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then student achievement will increase (Williams, 2013). Protheroe (2006) attests that when

there is positive teacher morale in the school teachers are excited about going to work, they

are concerned about the direction in which the school is going, they are actively involved in

school functions, perform jobs outside of their duties, and are supportive in improving school

relations.

Every day, school leaders and district administrators experiment with innovations to

improve teacher performance (Willis & Varner, 2010). Teachers have reported that when

there is positive morale, they are more enthused about learning and instruction; as a result,

student achievement improves (Willis & Varner, 2010).

Rationale

Influencing subsequent generations must be modeled and cultivated. Teacher

commitment to sustainable learning communities is necessary for the research of promoting

student resiliency (Cherkowski, 2012; Cook-Sather & Curl, 2014). Franklin (2013) argued

that a limited number of studies had targeted the impact of student resilience development on

teacher morale. There is an array, however, of research that suggests effective leadership

practices have some degree of influence on teacher morale and student resiliency (McCown,

2018). Byrd (2017) suggested that when studying resiliency, researchers should assess the

features people develop that aid in averting mental instability. Kutsyuruba, Walker, Stasel,

and Al Makhamreh (2019) suggested that students learn to develop resilience and promote

well-being early on.

Research Questions

The research questions in a qualitative study identify the phenomenon under study

and support an in-depth examination of the phenomenon (Korstjens & Moser, 2017). Based

on the problem and purpose of this study the research question was:
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RQ1: How does behavior training impact student resiliency?

RQ2: How did changes in student resiliency impact teacher morale?

RQ3: What demographic differences exist in student resiliency?

Description of Terms

Grit. Voluntary continuation of goal-directed action despite obstacles, difficulties, or

discouragement (Peterson & Seligman, 2004).

Morale. The extent to which an individual's needs are satisfied, and the extent to

which an individual perceives satisfaction stems from the job situation (Bentley & Rempel,

1980).

Resilience. The ability to meet and overcome adversity in ways that maintain or

promote well-being (New York Academy of Sciences, n.d.).

Self-efficacy. The belief in one’s ability to influence events that affect one's life and

control over how these events are experienced (Bandura, 1977).

Teacher Morale. The mental and emotional condition of a school with regards to the

required tasks at hand is teacher morale (Merriam-Webster, 2018).

Contribution to the Study

This study aimed to contribute to the field of education to build on prior knowledge of

the research and related literature on student resiliency and teacher morale. This study was

conducted to help schools develop students’ resiliency to impact teacher morale positively.

The research findings of this study may be beneficial to schools that wish to teach and

develop students’ resiliency and improve teacher morale. When students are resilient and

motivated, there is an increase in positive teacher morale (Byrd-woodward, 2017).

While there have been studies that looked at the relationship between teacher morale

and external factors, this study is unique with its focus on the implementation of teaching

resiliency to students to improve teacher morale. When there is high morale, the staff is
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satisfied with how the school operates (Haggard, 2016). Additionally, student resiliency can

be critical to students' success in the classroom (Neville et al., 2019). Schools are a

significant part of children’s development, and the role of schools in promoting resilience is

significant. By reviewing this research, the effectiveness of school intervention resiliency

approaches could be considered to guide student resiliency approaches to improve teacher

morale potentially.

Process to Accomplish

The American Psychological Association (2009) contends that resilience strategies

with regular classroom instruction can improve a student’s outlook on life. School-based

interventions exist and may be a more effective way to promote resilience by providing

students with access to support systems (Neville, Joscelyne & Chester et al., 2019).

Retaining and recruiting good teachers presents a critical issue today, as many teachers leave

teaching after only four or five years of service (Smollin, 2011). A related issue is that an

estimated 1,600,000 teachers will retire within 10 years (Smollin, 2011). Lopez-Zafra et

al. (2012) identified factors that contributed to whether or not teachers have positive morale

and include effective leadership, teacher autonomy, administrative support, and a safe and

positive school climate.

Research Design

This study sought to investigate the impact of student resiliency on teacher morale.

The study also sought to develop students’ resiliency through behavior training to determine

if the behavior training impacted teacher morale. Byrd (2017) contended that when students

are resilient and motivated, there is an increase in positive teacher morale. By capturing the

data of this research, schools can play an integral role in developing student resiliency and

increase teacher morale.

The researcher used a quasi-experimental design approach for this quantitative

research to better understand the impact of student resiliency on teacher morale. According to

Simon and Goes (2018), such experimental designs are set up to allow the most considerable

control possible, in the absence of randomly assigning groups. Mills and Gay (2019) attested

that sometimes it is not possible to assign individual participants to groups randomly.

Therefore, when random assignment is not possible, the researcher can choose to conduct a

quasi-experimental design that provides adequate control (Mills & Gay, 2019). Mills and

Gay (2019) contended that quasi-experimental designs do a much better job than pre-

experimental designs. The researcher used a pretest-posttest design to measure students’

resiliency before and after the treatment and to measure teacher morale before and after the

treatment. The pretest-posttest design is an experiment where measurements are taken both

before and after treatment and are the most commonly used experimental design (Simon &

Goes, 2018).

Participants

The research consisted of students and teachers from a rural school district in

West Tennessee. According to the Tennessee State Report Card (Tennessee Department of

Education, year), the school district was comprised of 3,315 students in grades K-12. Of

those students, approximately 46.7% were economically disadvantaged and qualified for Title

I services, including free and reduced lunch. In 2019, 56% of the student body in this rural

school district was African American, 40% was Caucasian, and the remaining 4% were Asian

and Hispanic (Tennessee Department of Education, 2019).

The target population consisted of student and teacher participants from an

elementary school in a rural school district in West Tennessee. The researcher utilized

convenience sampling (Mills & Gay, 2019, p. 158) to select approximately 200 students and

50 teachers. The convenience sampling was not representative of the population, but the
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data's availability was obtained in a convenient manner (Mills & Gay, 2019). The researcher

selected participants for the control and experimental groups based on the school's ability

grouping. The school had two accelerated classrooms and two non-accelerated classrooms.

The researcher’s non-random sampling selected one of each type of ability grouped

classrooms. Students in the experimental group received the treatment in an alternate setting

(the library) with the professional school counselor. Students in the control group remained

with their homeroom teacher in their classroom and continued their regular coursework.

Instrumentation

This study utilized instruments to measure teacher morale and student

resiliency. The instruments included are The Student Resiliency Scale (Sun & Stewart, 2007),

the Teacher Morale Survey (Brion, 2015), and a demographic survey created by the

researcher.

The Student Resiliency Survey (SRS, Appendix A) was developed by Jing Sun and Donald

Stewart (2007). The SRS is a four-item measure comprising 12 subscales to measure

students’ perceptions of their characteristics and protective factors embedded in the

environment measuring: communication and cooperation, self-esteem, empathy, problem-

solving, goals and aspirations, family connection, school connection, community connection,

autonomy experience, prosocial peers, meaningful participation in community activity and

peer support. Each item was rated on a 5-point scale, 1 = never to 5 = always (Sun & Stewart,

2007). This scale has been utilized in numerous studies and is a valid measure assessing

relevant protective factors in resilience research (Suzet et al., 2016).

The Teacher Morale Survey (Appendix B) is a 26-item survey developed by

Sarah Brion (2015) to examine factors that impact teacher morale, including the inter-related

areas of morale. Brion (2015) identified the interrelationships using factor analysis scores

and The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test to provide evidence of construct validity. In order to

measure reliability, Brion (2015) ran a Cronbach alpha coefficient and the Kuder-Richardson

reliability formula 21 and the 0.5 scores indicated a larger sample size was required.

The Demographic Survey (Appendix C) was developed to collect data to

determine what demographic differences exist in student resiliency growth. The demographic

survey collected gender and race data from participants.

The New York Academy of Sciences developed the resilience curriculum

(Appendix D). The curriculum was designed to teach students how to understand the concept

and importance of resilience, explore the skills and strengths associated with resilience, and

set goals for developing some of those skills and strengths that will increase their resilience

(Resilience in Children: The New York Academy of Sciences, n.d.).

Data Collection

The researcher sought permission from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) to begin

to conduct research. The researcher obtained approval to research the Director of

Schools/designee. The researcher obtained parental consent for student participants. The

researcher assigned classes to control and experimental groups. The researcher determined

that the treatment would take place over a 10-week cycle. The experimental group received

the 30-minute behavior training five days a week, taught by the professional school counselor

in the library. The control group remained with their homeroom teacher and continued with

their regular course of study. The behavior training consisted of lessons that explored the

skills associated with resilience and consisted of setting goals for developing some of those

skills.

To answer research question one, how does behavior training impact student

resiliency, the researcher administered the paper-pencil Student Resiliency Survey pretest

(Appendix A) to the control and experimental groups. The students self-reported along the

continuum of choices. The paper-pencil pretest measured students’ resiliency before the
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resiliency behavior treatment and gathered baseline data. For selection measures, students

rated survey items on a 5-point scale. After the resiliency behavior treatment, the researcher

administered the Student Resiliency Survey posttest (Appendix A) and compared the results

of the baseline data collected from the pretest for the control and experimental groups and

compared it to the data collected in the posttest.

To answer research question two, how did changes in student resiliency impact

teacher morale, the researcher administered the paper-pencil teacher morale survey

(Appendix B) to teachers. The paper-pencil pretest measured teacher morale before students

receiving the resiliency behavior treatment and gathered baseline data of teacher morale. For

selection measures, teachers rated the items on a 5-point scale, including “Strongly Agree,

“Agree,” “Neutral,” “Disagree,” and “Strongly Disagree.” After the behavior treatment, the

researcher administered the post teacher morale survey and compared the results of the

baseline data collected from the pretest to the data collected in the posttest. To address the

possible risk of fidelity with the behavior training, the district-level guidance counselor

administered the behavior training to participants in the absence of the regular school

counselor.

To answer the third and final research question, what demographic differences exist in

student resiliency, the researcher collected demographic data that consisted of gender and

race.

Data Analysis

The researcher ran a series of statistical tests to analyze the data concerning the

research questions. The researcher utilized descriptive statistics to calculate the mean and

standard deviation. To analyze research question one, how does behavior training impact

student resiliency, the researcher organized the data and utilized SPSS to transform the
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Student Resiliency Survey items into subscales. The researcher ran a mixed-model ANOVA

to compare the control and experimental groups on their resilience pre- and posttest scores.

To analyze research question two, how did changes in student resiliency

impact teacher morale, the researcher organized the data and utilized SPSS. The researcher

ran a mixed-model ANOVA to compare findings to understand if there is an interaction

between student resiliency and teacher morale. The researcher compared findings to

investigate whether there are effects between student resiliency and teacher morale.

To analyze the third and final research question, what demographic differences exist

in student resiliency, the researcher coded females, males, African American, Caucasian,

Spanish, Native-American, Native American, and Other. The researcher ran a two-way

ANOVA, one for race, and one for gender The research compared the findings to determine

if gender or race showed significant trends. The researcher determined whether the mean

scores for gender or race are reliably different from each other.

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the impact of student

resiliency on teacher morale. The goal of the behavior intervention was to determine if there

was a significant impact on teacher morale after administering behavior training to students.

While convenience sampling was utilized for this study, any study that does not utilize

random sampling has the potential for internal validity threats (Mills & Gay, 2019). While

there have been studies that looked at the relationship between teacher morale and external

factors, this study is unique with its focus on teaching resiliency to students to improve

teacher morale.
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CHAPTER II

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

This chapter aims to give the overview of relevant studies done concerning impacts of

student resilience on teacher morale. The chapter will describe the relevant literature review,

provide a summary of the main point in the literature review, and discuss the findings in these

peer reviewed articles. According to Hytten (2011) an apparent connection exists between

how students' resiliency and perseverance impact teacher morale. Ungar, Ghazinour, and

Richter (2013) attested that placing greater importance on the interaction between individuals

and their environment is of considerable significance in fostering meaningful relationships

between teachers and students.

Although there is a correlation between motivational factors and student resiliency, it

is yet broad, but deemed as intricate in playing a significant role in students' academic

success (Masten & Barnes, 2018). Masten and Barnes (2018) further contend that resilience

in children research emerged around 1970 and is present-day explored, addressing the

significance of resilience in not only children but in human development at large. Therefore,

this chapter will discuss the concept of the term 'resilience', how resilience develops in

people, student resilience (academic resilience), and the concept of morale, teacher morale

and the impact of teacher morale on student achievement.

Historical Background

Theories in education have consistently provided context around teacher morale.

Meeting the demands of maintaining conducive learning environments is paramount in

increasing teacher morale, and one of the greatest demands is developing the capacity to
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adapt to challenges (Hollnagel, Woods, Leveson, 2013). Resilience studies suggest that

facilitating resilience through preventative interventions is beneficial (Masten & Barnes,

2018). The transformative effects on resiliency approaches promote child development,

which suggests that investing in early childhood development increases the likelihood that

resiliency in children can be fostered early (Syslová Zora, 2020).

Historical context surrounding teacher morale noted that theories in education are

constantly evolving. As teachers’ roles expand to include instructing students at higher

cognitive levels and acting as informal counselors for high-risk students, it is important to

help teachers and administrators handle issues of teacher morale (Hollnagel, Woods, &

Leveson, 2013). New curricula and new methods of improving the educational program

offered to students are always at the forefront of educational discussions.

The paradigm of resilience is multifaceted. Broadbent and Boyle (2014) described

resilience as being generally understood as a set of personal characteristics or factors that

assist the individual in overcoming hardship. It was further noted that teachers can create an

environment and conditions that foster resilience, but that building resilience involves

motivating the attainment of realistic goals and encouraging students to take responsibility for

their educational success (Broadbent & Boyle, 2014). Hollnagel, Woods, and Leveson

(2013) noted that the history of resiliency in education relates to understanding adaptation in

the wake of risk or adversity.

Concept of Resilience

The concept of resilience can be explained as the core of capabilities that drive successful

people. One of the ways to overcome diversity is through resilience. Studies show that the outlook on

the life of people, mainly students can be improved through resilience strategies such as regular

classroom instructions. This implies that resilience plays a huge part in shaping and molding a

person’s life and creating thus room for regrets. Alternate paths through diversity can be achieved

when a student develops the art of resiliency. When put into consideration, this may later help the

students withstand various problems in life, as they will be able to recover quickly from any notable

problem, as commit themselves to sustainably educate communities, which is necessary for the

research of promoting student resiliency. Children who develop outstanding resiliency skills at a

tender age tend to have the vigor to handle many life problems as compared to students who lack

resiliency skills. Such children can cope with emotional challenges at school. Also, some factors such

as adult relationships and the ability to create strong bonds towards each other, largely contribute to

the overall resiliency that a child inhibits.

The teacher’s morale drastically increases when the students become motivated and resilient.

When the teacher's morale increases, the whole staff is satisfied with how the school is running.

Resiliency tends to be affected by several factors. One of the factors that hugely affect resilience is

stress. When an individual is battling stress, resiliency is perceived to buffer.

Resilience in Education

Many students will have to adjust to life away from home, struggle with changing timetables,

and understand the curriculum set for them. Students with disabilities will have these same worries.

Starting something new like school may seem to scar to them. These disabled students have to deal

with a whole new building to navigate and classes to pass just like everybody else. It may be rough at
 15

the start, but tips and advice from other young disabled people and other educational professionals can

prove to be helpful.

Since no child is alike; some students are engrossed and engaged, then some students start

working but get distracted. They begin working but if the work becomes challenging, they may give

up and begin doing other things that are not important. Helping the second group of students to

become as focused as the first group involves building resilience. “Effective strategies can turn

resistance into cooperation even for children with whom the teacher typically struggles” (Kersey, and

Masterson, 2011). There are many ways teachers can build resilience. Teachers must first develop a

relationship with their students.

Resilience Developed

. Having resilience means one is capable of adapting to and overcoming changes. If

something severe happens, something beyond control, our resilience is tested. The more resilient

people are, the better able they will bounce back and keep going. Resilience to stress is not the same

as resistance to it because resistance implies the there is no response to the stress. Five factors are key

to resilience: positive outlook, spirituality, active coping, learning and making meaning, and accepting

your limits.

A positive outlook is a key to resilience because it allows people to think positive and

understand that setbacks are part of life. Problems are not always avoidable, so resilience allows them

to remain open and flexible in the face of change. Some people develop a positive outlook by using

those who are great at dealing with stress as role models. Everyone needs to allow themselves to find

opportunities for growth in every stressful situation. Finding growth opportunities enables one to

remain calm and find practical ways to comfort ourselves. There are other ways to be positive such as

recharging before facing new challenges and taking a break from everyday routine.

Many find that religion (or spirituality) helps build resilience. Religion and spirituality can

influence how a person lives, how they cope with stress, and how well they recover from emotional

strain. For many people, leaning on faith allows a person to have stability. It also allows a person to
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have an ultimate purpose in their life or a reason for being. It can assist a person find a value system

for setting goals and setting helpful life principles.

Student academic self-efficacy

Students entering college come with a wealth of experience, some positive, and some

negative. Some have been successful academically from an early age, some later, and some not so

much. Every student has their perception of their abilities and an expectation of their work that

generally corresponds to that perception. Assuming that academic skill is in place with accomplishing

an academic task, it appears that self-efficacy is the single most important aspect of academic

achievement and the single most important predictor of success or failure.

Socioeconomic background

Resilience is impacted by a variety of factors including personality, support systems, a coping

mechanism, and how one deals with stress. It is also affected by one's social-economic background.

low socioeconomic background and poverty go straight to the brain which makes someone experience

stress. It affects learning capacity and a range of other coping and adjustment issues . Socio-economic

status is one of the strongest determinants of students’ academic performance and general well-

being. It affects student outcomes through a variety of channels, at the individual, and school and

system levels. A family's socioeconomic status can determine parents' ability to provide for their

child's needs and to be involved in their education. It can also influence the socio-economic

composition of the school that students attend, which has an impact on the school's resources and

environment.

Concept of Morale

Morale is what makes something interesting to listen to. Therefore, morale is very crucial in

professions such as teaching. The collective sets of attitudes, emotions, and satisfaction

exhibited by people, affect how others pay attention to them. From an educational viewpoint,
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morale can be said to be the degree of enthusiasm and willingness to how someone carries

himself or herself while accomplishing a certain task. Doing something with passion and

vigor show high morale in that particular activity. morale should be distinguished from

motivation although both of them are cognitive concepts. Morale is a composite of feelings,

attitudes, and sentiments that contribute to a general feeling of satisfaction at a workplace, but

motivation is something that moves a person to action. It is a process of stimulating individuals to

action to accomplish the desired goal. Motivation is concerned with 'mobilization of energy' whereas

morale is concerned with 'mobilization of sentiments'. Motivation provides high potential for morale

and morale reflects motivation. For example, morale is very crucial in matters concerning

employment. Employees who exhibit high morale are very proud of what they do at the end of the

day. Such employees are willing to cooperate with others in the accomplishment of an organization's

objective. Each employee has attitudes that range over the entire spectrum of human behavior. All

managers have a constant concern for the morale of the group, which they lead. However,

considerable confusion prevails over the use of the term morale because of variation in defining

characteristics of the term. In certain cases, job satisfaction and morale are considered as individual

concerns.

Teacher Morale

A teacher’s morale affects student outcomes through a variety of channels, at the individual,

school, and system levels. When a teacher is energetic and possesses high morale while teaching, the

students can understand better. In return, this affects the student’s performance positively. Also,

several reasons can negatively affect a teacher's morale. A good example is when the school
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management does not involve teachers in decision making. Moreover, public criticism and ignorance

by students may lower the teacher’s morale directly

.
Teacher Rapport with Principal

A principle’s task is much more diverse as compared to a teacher’s nature. It is however

expected, to be commanding, demanding, and reprimanding. For a teacher to build a cohesive

rapport with a principal, he or she must have outstanding leadership skills. Secondly, the teacher

should be a dependable person who is not irresponsible. Teachers should possess organizational

skills which reflect preparedness and hard work. In addition to that, teachers who display

professionalism usually establish a strong bond with the principal, and the principal regularly counts

on them at all costs. Principals also trust teachers who are flexible and able to deal effectively with

unique situations that present themselves. Teachers cannot be rigid in their approach. They must

adapt to the strengths and weaknesses of their students. They must be adept problem solvers who

can remain calm making the best of strenuous situations.