Collaborative and Resilience-Oriented Practices and Teacher Wellbeing

Dear Colleagues,

As we grapple with solutions to increase teacher wellbeing in the midst of the current teacher workforce crisis, we must identify and bolster protective mechanisms that support educators to sustainably thrive in the profession. Research suggests that effective strategies for enhancing teacher wellbeing include Collaborative and Resilience-Oriented Practices (CROPs). Collaboration, in addition to benefiting students, also benefits educators (Allensworth et al., 2009; Haines et al., 2022; Strolin-Goltzman et al., 2023). Resilience-oriented practices include those that promote positive relationships (Mansfield et al., 2016; Mullen et al., 2021). Such practices include culturally responsive approaches (Howard, 2021; Ladson-Billings and Tate, 1995), social-emotional learning (Zinsser et al., 2016), restorative approaches (Kervick et al., 2019), trauma-informed practices (Middleton et al., 2019; Phifer and Hull, 2016; Strolin-Goltzman et al., 2018; Thomas et al., 2019), family–school–community collaboration (Haines et al., 2015, 2017), and relational leadership strategies (Ainsworth and Oldfield, 2019). Proactive strategies such as these can lead to wellbeing and perseverance in both educators and the students they teach (Day and Gu, 2014; Kangas-Dick and Shaughnessy, 2020; Mansfield et al., 2016). 

This Special Issue aims to bring together research enhancing the field’s understanding of how CROPs affect teacher wellbeing. Submissions may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The effect of family, school, and community partnership on teacher wellbeing;
• The effect of collaborative or connecting practices on teacher wellbeing;
• The effect of resilience-oriented practices on teacher wellbeing;
• The effect of teacher wellbeing on their use of CROPs;
• Methods of promoting teacher wellbeing that relate to CROPs;
• Methods of promoting CROPs among in-service and preservice educators. 

Contributions to this Special Issue can include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Conceptual and theoretical discussions;
• Empirical studies (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method);
• Tool development and validation studies;
• Systematic literature reviews (e.g., meta-analyses and scoping reviews).
• We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Shana Haines
Dr. Jessica Strolin-Goltzman
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• family–school collaboration
• teacher wellbeing
• resilience
• burnout