The dysbeing and wellbeing of secondary English teachers in England: an arts-based, collaborative inquiry
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: Education
Abstract
The dysbeing and wellbeing of secondary English teachers in England: an arts-based, collaborative inquiry:
This research will investigate an apparent paradox: that teachers are expected to promote the values of government policies relating to wellbeing, citizenship and sustainability even though the aims and objectives of these policies are not met in their own working lives; it will develop a new conceptual framework for understanding and potentially addressing this disjuncture.
(Full proposal submitted with this application)
This research will investigate an apparent paradox: that teachers are expected to promote the values of government policies relating to wellbeing, citizenship and sustainability even though the aims and objectives of these policies are not met in their own working lives; it will develop a new conceptual framework for understanding and potentially addressing this disjuncture.
(Full proposal submitted with this application)
Organisations
| Description | The fieldwork for the main study is now complete and preliminary findings have been generated. Data was created with over 40 secondary English teachers in different locations in England between 2019 and 2020. I made a connection with Simon Wrigley, founder of the National Writing Project UK (NWP), which is a grassroots, not-for-profit, teacher-owned network of teacher writing groups. I also made connections with teachers of English through the social media platform Twitter. I worked with several NWP groups delivering creative writing sessions on teacher wellbeing, using techniques based on Marshal Rosenberg's Compassionate Communication. From these workshops, a manifesto was written collaboratively with the participants, along with individual poetic and prose pieces on the topic of wellbeing. I also had in-depth, exploratory conversations with nine teachers of English in total and from these conversations I composed a collection of 'third-voice poems' (Glesne 1997). The 'third-voice' is a fictionalised voice comprised of the participant's words and the researcher's arrangement of those words, but which cannot be attributed to either 'person'. The third-voice pieces, individual contributions and manifesto comprise the 'data-set' for the project. In total there are over 90 poems and prose pieces in the collection. I analysed the collection using traditional literary analysis techniques that I learned during my time as an English scholar and teacher as well as through the theoretical framework developed from the literature review. Preliminary findings identify the following key conceptualisations of teacher wellbeing: autonomy and freedom; authentic relating; time and space; and, trust and integrity. Key conceptualisations of teacher dysbeing are: tokenistic wellbeing practices; dehumanisation; disingenuousness; indifference; and, exhaustion. |
| Exploitation Route | I have been invited to use the data-creation workshop in the research group Educational Futures Network to help form a vision for the group. I would like the creative nonfiction collection to reach diverse audiences and especially the participant population so I am looking into ways to achieve that. The project will offer a contribution to the corpus of literature that examines the effects on educational and general wellbeing of an individualistic tradition that is currently strengthened and perpetuated by market forces. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Education,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teacher-Wellbeing-Inquiry-Sian-Ephgrave/dp/1535098961/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517842640&sr=8-1&keywords=Sian+Ephgrave |
| Description | BAICE 20th Anniversary Symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The aim of the day was to explore multiple perspectives on the interface between theory, policy and practice for sustainability through a mixed format of keynote presentation and interactive breakout sessions. My specific role was to facilitate one of the breakout sessions on wellbeing and sustainability and this facilitation included a brief presentation of my work and chairing the debate that followed the main presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.bristol.ac.uk/education/events/2018/baice-20th-anniversary-symposium.html |
| Description | Presentation and Q&A session as part of the Bristol Conversations in Education Seminars |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Over 100 postgraduate students and others attended this seminar in order to understand more about the potential and scope of successful Masters' dissertations in education. The presentation sparked an interesting Q&A session afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.bristol.ac.uk/education/events/2017/bcined22nov.html |
| Description | Presentation to doctoral students (EdD) on how I am using policy in my research. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The presentation was delivered as part of a module on the EdD course at the University of Bristol. Around 25 people attended and the presentation sparked interest and questions afterwards, relating both to my methods and use of policy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |