Innovation, Participation and Tutoring as Key-Leverages to Sustain Well-Being at School

Abstract

Background: Well-being at school is a recurrent hot topic within the educational field as a crucial issue for societies. Teachers often face tension with pupils and colleagues. Well-being is very often considered an individual achievement requiring individual measurement and support. This paper, in contrast, applies an approach that supports an ecological perspective of school well-being, implying a complex and multi-dimensional development investment. Methods: The paper investigates an innovative program initiative aimed at providing support to 50 Italian schools that have been deemed as critical for specific aspects (pupils’ levels of learning, discomfort among teachers, scarce innovativeness, etc.) through evaluative qualitative research. Results: This work sheds light on well-being as a dynamic construct created through an integrative effort in which many factors can play a role. These factors are the possibility of professional tutoring to help engage the school management and involve teachers in a bottom-up involvement, the development of creative initiatives and innovative projects to respond to context-based challenges and pupils’ needs, and the availability of space and time for collective sharing of ideas among teachers. These processes are closely related to the concept of well-being, which appears to be a systemic construct, rather than an issue related to the single individual. Conclusions: Focusing on the representation of schools’ managers and tutors involved in the program, this research illustrates the application of an ecological perspective that creates well-being through social and productive sustainability processes.

What drives young workers? Person‐organization fit‐in identity motives—A mixed‐method study

“…In order to meet their identity needs, organizations should focus on internal policies that promote communication with younger workers as well as nurturing competence and identity construction through continuous staff development. This means investing in projects that promote the motivational notions stated in this study by undertaking ongoing dialogue with younger staff members and developing communication strategies for generating innovative ideas, training, and sharing and establishing new meanings around work (Gorli, D'Angelo, & Corvino, 2022). Organizations should also develop or consolidate a culture of participation and ongoing evaluation to monitor and appraise the effectiveness of staff policies and procedures in place (Corvino, Gazzaroli, & D'Angelo, 2022) as well as introduce concrete actions and initiatives that meet the needs of young workers in forming their work identity.…”

“…In addition, in Wiedmer (2015), millennials show that they are willing to participate in the operational process of the business as long as it is 'meaningful'. Moreover, millennials seem to value highly those job positions that allow them to pursue other meaningful life choices outside the workplace, showing an inclination for jobs that allows for work-life balance in which 'family time' is guaranteed (Goessling, 2017). Thus, it is fair to conclude that millennials, in building their work identity, are driven by the meaning motive.…”

Strength Use and Well-Being at Work among Teachers: The Mediating Role of Basic Need Satisfaction

“…They are responsible for teaching students knowledge and for the prosperity of the country. Improving teachers' well-being at work not only directly contributes to their mental health and work performance [1] but also promotes schools' sustainable educational effectiveness and student growth [2]. Consequently, examining the factors contributing to teachers' well-being is of great importance.…”

University teachers and students in the pandemic: Connection, disconnection, and identity challenges

“…The Covid-19 pandemic has profoundly disrupted the university experience of teachers and students. Many studies have explored the effect of this crisis on the psychological well-being of the most exposed groups, while many others have discussed the effectiveness of distance learning and the effects of specific technological devices and new digital learning environments (Quattrone et al, 2020;Quintiliani et al, 2022;Rossi et al, 2022;Gorli et al, 2022;Zucchermaglio et al, 2021). An emergent area of interest involves remote schooling and its effect on learning and identity-building processes (Amenduni & Ligorio, 2022).…”