A Proposed Pilot Study of a Gratitude Practice Program to Increase Gratitude Among Educators: The First Step Towards Exploring the Potential of Gratitude Practice to Increase Work Engagement and Buffer Against and Decrease Burnout

Abstract

Burnout in educational settings is an international issue. Drawing on practitioner experience in Flexi schools for disenfranchised young people and the methods of positive psychology, this paper outlines a gratitude practice program (GPP) as a proposed intervention to address burnout within Flexi schools. The proposed intervention comprises a full-day workshop and 10 weekly group coaching sessions that aim to develop gratitude practice among teachers. The intention of the paper is to consider the GPP's capacity to increase gratitude and the potential benefit of the program to participants. This proposed pilot study will be delivered to 14 educators in a single school. A pretest-posttest, multi-method design of evaluation will be presented and discussed. The GPP's capacity to increase gratitude will be evaluated utilising a gratitude questionnaire. A focus group will be used to ascertain the benefit of the program. It is predicted that the GPP will increase gratitude and will be found beneficial by participants. The potential of the GPP to increase work engagement is discussed in terms of future studies. This proposed pilot study offers a practical intervention that can potentially address the real-world problem of burnout in alternative educational settings.

The Relationship between Gratitude, Wellbeing, Spirituality, and Experiencing Meaningful Work

“…Previous research has consistently shown that gratitude practice results in positive emotions and a high level of satisfaction with life [47]. Based on Fredrickson's [6] broaden-and-build theory, it is possible that gratitude enhances work engagement and enables individuals to experience meaningful work by building their work-related and personal resources [69]. For example, gratitude has been shown to broaden-and-build positive emotions, improve interpersonal relationships, and reduce levels of resentment which, in turn, could foster a co-operative and supportive organizational environment [5,14,45,70].…”

“…For example, gratitude has been shown to broaden-and-build positive emotions, improve interpersonal relationships, and reduce levels of resentment which, in turn, could foster a co-operative and supportive organizational environment [5,14,45,70]. In addition, feelings of gratitude may foster a positive working environment, enhance learning and growth [71], heighten cognitive performance, increase resilience, improve coping skills, decrease the risk of exhaustion, and increase trust and commitment to the organization [11,46,48,69,72].…”

Gratitude interventions to improve wellbeing and resilience of graduate nurses transitioning to practice: A scoping review

“…Positive psychology, a formal branch of psychology established in the late 1990s, is concerned with promoting optimal conditions for individuals, groups, and organisations to thrive and flourish ( Gable and Haidt, 2005 , Wandell, 2016 ). Gratitude, defined as the appreciation of meaningful elements and experiences in one's life, is a key focus of positive psychology and has been studied as both a trait and a state ( Jans-Becken et al, 2020 ; Sansone and Sansone, 2010 ).…”