Measuring the resilient characteristics of teachers

by 1959- Morris, Betty A.

The purposes of this study were to collect detailed data to measure the resilient characteristics of teachers with three or fewer years of teaching experience, and to reach a deeper understanding of the concept of resilient adults and how it applies to adults who are teachers with three or fewer years of teaching experience. The independent variables explored in this study were the personal and professional descriptive characteristics of the participants: (a) age, (b) gender, (c) presence of children under the age of eighteen, (d) marital status, (e) exercise frequency, (f) level of education, (g) combination of teaching assignment, certification, and education of teacher, (h) years of classroom teaching experience, (i) school level, (j) level of religious or spiritual affiliation, (k) the level with which work and life are intertwined, and (l) self-ranking of general resilience. The dependent variables were the resilient characteristics of: (a) positive world, (b) positive self, (c) focus, (d) flexible thoughts, (e) flexible social, (f) organization, and (g) proactive. The Personal Resilience Questionnaire, developed by ODR, was the instrument used for this study. This instrument was designed to measure the five characteristics of resiliency: Positive (divided into two categories; Positive: the world, and Positive: Yourself), focused, flexible (divided into two categories; Flexible: Thoughts, and Flexible: Social), organized, and proactive. The Personal Resilience Questionnaire (PRQ) was completed as a self-report, pencil and paper questionnaire, or an online copy of the questionnaire. The member schools of the National Christian School Association represented the population for this study. This study was designed as a foundation piece of research into the implications of resilience for teachers. The conclusions of this study reinforced the research on resilience and its impact on each individual’s ability to successfully overcome tragedy.