Should participation in

wellness education be
mandatory for teachers?

Jodi, Mark, Kealin, Danika, Carolyn

What is wellness? According to the World Health
Organization “wellness is the
optimal state of health of individuals
and groups.”

Wellness is a process of making

active choices towards a healthy
and fulfilling life.
 A poor
approach to
health and
wellness

(The Office,
S05 E01)
 Physical Health
The condition of your body
including everything from
absence of disease to fitness
level.
Mental Health
Mental Health includes
emotional, psychological and
social well-being.

Affected by: Affected by:

● Lifestyle ● Biological factors
● Human Biology ● Life experiences
● Environment ● Family history of mental
● Healthcare services health problems
Mental Health + Physical Health = Wellness

Clausen & Petruka Case Study:

“as each teacher became more burned out, his or her

routine of daily physical activity and proper diet dissipated.
Perhaps the key to de-stressing is making more time in the
schedule for these aspects, rather than sacrificing them to
catch up on work” (2009, p. 191).
 Work-Life Balance

Prioritizing between work and lifestyle

(health, pleasure, leisure, family, etc.)

“Teachers work 10 to 20 hours per week

outside of regular school hours. These
long hours create stress and exhaustion,
which, in turn, lead to higher rates of
absenteeism and burnout” (Naylor and
White, 2010).
 Why does health and wellness matter?
Why are teachers stressed?
Overworked and underappreciated due to
governmental focus on global private
sector competition, resulting in budget cuts
and devaluation:
“Not only do Canadian teachers spend an
average of 58 hours per week in ‘paid and
unpaid teaching work,’ but they also feel
unappreciated and scapegoated for the
problems generated by a poorly managed
and underfunded system” (Robertson,
2002)
What is the history of health
and wellness in the school
system?
Teachers, like nurses, face stresses due to
the historical implications of their
not-for-profit jobs, and because the majority
of teachers are “the juggling gender”
(Robertson, 2007, p.21), and have been
historically responsible for both maintaining
their own mental hygiene and directly
influencing the mental hygiene of their
students (Gleason, 2000, p.124).
What is currently available for teachers?
Provincial Programs

Alberta Health Services: Alberta Schools Employee Benefit Plan

● Offers teacher resources for implementing
and teaching wellness into lessons
Alberta Teachers Association
● Offers 50 PD workshops, but only 1 on
mental and physical wellness…
● Staff Wellness—Don’t just
survive—thrive!
● The employee and family assistance plan (EFAP)
provides different counselling services for
employees and their families.
● Many plans offer the online resource called The
Sandbox which provides strategies for promoting
employee wellness in your school.
What is currently available for teachers?
Provincial Programs

Ever Active Schools

● A provincial initiative designed to create and
support healthy school communities
● Supplementary program is a special project of the
Health and Physical Education Council of the
Alberta Teachers Association
● Receives funding from Alberta Health, Alberta
Education and Alberta Culture, Multiculturalism
and Status of Women
● Resources provided: activities, play kits, lesson
plans/unit plans, posters
● Three PD sessions on health and wellness are
available for a cost - paid for by school division
(physical activity, mental wellbeing, play at
school)
 What is currently available for teachers?
Independent Programs

Joint Consortium for School Health

● Focuses on the comprehensive school health These programs are not automatically a part of
by building a culture of wellness and each Alberta school, instead, it is up to each
well-being in the school setting and in the lives district to purchase and implement programs of
their choice.
of students.
● Programming is created for the students, with
little information on what can be done for
teachers’ mental health
What is currently available for teachers?
Independent Programs

Alberta Healthy School Community Mental Health First Aid

Wellness Fund Provides your school with the ability to improve
● A collaboration between UofA, the Alberta mental health literacy and gain skills and
government, and other institutions knowledge to better support potential or
● The focus is on 4 central comprehensive developing mental health problems in
school health components: yourselves, your colleagues and your students.
1. Social and physical environment
2. Teaching and learning
3. Healthy school policy
4. Partnerships and services
 Some benefits for schools
● Enhanced physical, mental and social
health
How health and ● Improved academic achievement for

wellness training
students
● Decreased behavioural issues in

for teachers can

classroom and schoolyard
● Healthier positive attitudes

impact students ●
●
Enhanced student engagement
Higher staff morale and productivity in a
healthier, more productive workplace
● Complements your school improvement
plans
Our Reasoned Judgement

Our Conclusion Our Position

There is no standard set now for teachers to
It is clear that there is an adequate amount of
complete training regarding physical and mental
resources available regarding health and
wellness in the workplace. There are many third
wellness. School districts should, rather than
party organizations that have initiatives and
making health and wellness training mandatory,
programs available for schools to participate in.
strive to make these resources more readily
The cost for these programs vary, and must be
available to the staff by selecting programs that
paid for by the school division, requiring each
would most benefit the teachers. We
division to take it upon themselves to prioritize
recommend selecting wellness programs based
staff health and wellness.
on the demographic, location, and personal
interests of the staff.
Aspects to consider
Potential consequences and counter-arguments

To what extent are teachers

How can this be implemented? expected to fund/find their own
resources?
Who is responsible?
- Individual teachers or Alberta Ed/School Boards?
- What role does insurance play in integrating How can health and wellness
health and wellness in the workplace?
program efficacy be measured?
- How can or should Alberta Health Services be
involved?
What happens if a teacher is
How is this funded? “unwell”?
- With all of the cuts - is this priority? Should
- Are they reprimanded?
it be? - Does someone report them?
Recommendations and Supporting Evidence
While individual teachers should
attempt to be “healthy,” teachers
We suggest that School Boards be should not be penalized if they find
required to implement at least one themselves “unwell.” Teachers must
recognized platform/program that feel secure in their employment if
focuses on the importance of staff they are to share health concerns
health and wellness (PD sessions, with administration. (Clausen &
division-wide initiatives, etc.) Petruka, 2009, p. 191).

“an environment should be created in

which teachers feel free to disclose
their stress to administrators”
References - Articles
Brown, E et. al.. (2019). “United States and Canada pre-service teacher certification standards for student mental health:
A comparative case study.” In Teaching and Teacher Education, 80, 71-82.

Clausen, K. & Petruka, D. (2009). “Tending the Garden: Case Studies in School Stress.” In The Clearing House, 82(4),
187-191.

Gleason, M. (2000). ?Constructing Normal Schools?Psychology in Postwar Schools. In Normalizing the Ideal:
Psychology, Schooling, and the Family in Postwar Canada, 119-139. Toronto, On: University of Toronto Press.

Robertson, H. (2007). “Tales from the Jungle.” In Our Schools, Our Selves, 16(4), 21-28.
References - Websites
Alberta School Employee Benefit Program. (2020). Employee Wellness. Retrieved from
https://www.asebp.ca/my-benefits/employee-wellness

Alberta Teachers Association. (2020). Workshops. Retrieved from

https://www.teachers.ab.ca/For%20Members/Professional%20Development/Workshops-and-Presentations/Pages/Works
hops-PD.aspx

[artschoolTHROWDOWN]. (2010, Jan 5). The Office- Season 5- Kelly- I Swallowed A Tapeworm Last Night. Retrieved
from youtube.com/watch?v=kmLZBSET0us.

Eupati (n.d.). Physical Health. Retrieved from https://www.eupati.eu/glossary/physical-health/

Ever Active Schools. (2020). Supporting Healthy School Communities.Retrieved from https://everactive.org/

Froese-Germain, Bernie. (July 2014). Work-Life Balance and the Canadian Teaching Profession. Retrieved from
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED546884.pdf

Joint Consortium for School Health. (2020). Comprehensive School Health Framework. Retrieved from
https://www.jcsh-cces.ca/about-us/comprehensive-school-health-framework/
References - Websites (cont’d)

MentalHealth,gov (n.d.). What is Mental Health? Retrieved from

https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health

Smith, B.J. Cho Tang, K. Nutbeam, D. (2006). WHO Health Promotion Glossary: new terms. Oxford University Press.
doi:10.1093/heapro/dal033

University of Alberta. (2020). Alberta Healthy School Community Wellness Fund. Retrieved from
https://www.ualberta.ca/alberta-healthy-school-community-wellness-fund/index.html

World Health Organization (2020). Constitution. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/constitution

Resources - Images

1.https://campusrec.illinois.edu/programs/student-wellness/dimensions-of-wellness/
2.https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/life-work-balance-illustration_831855.htm#page=1&query=work%20life%20balance%20&positi
on=11
3.https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1244003/Dont-bottle-stress-explode-Read-groundbreaking-series-to-beat-stress-forever.h
tml
4. https://ssc.teachers.ab.ca/links/pages/Home.aspx
5. http://www.hpec.ab.ca/ever-active-schools18
6. https://www.jcsh-cces.ca/
7. https://access.stalbert.ca/city/csd/training/mental-health-first-aid/