Date of Award

4-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

School of Education

First Advisor

Dane Joseph, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Marc Shelton, Ed.D.

Abstract

Teachers and administrators have been leaving the education industry with nearly half of educators hired living within their first five years in the classroom. Burnout and stress contribute most significantly to the high attrition rates. One research-based strategy that has been deemed impactful is creating a culture of wellness and establishing trusting relationships in the workplace. These relationships may be achieved through engagement structures, inclusive environments, and strong leadership attributes that foster one-to-one connections. The method researched in this improvement science in practice methodology is the implementation of bi- monthly team huddles with a department of education administrators. Included in each team huddle were social-emotional wellbeing activities that elicited engagement with one another, ample opportunities for individual voices to be brought into the learning space, and a understanding of personal strengths and how they attribute to the overall team. The results showed that well-being activities did yield both higher pleasantness and energy in team huddles conducted and overall identification of self-care strategies in the workplace were improved from intentional time spent cultivating the learning. Future implications would encourage facilitators to seek additional qualitative data to find out more detailed information attributed to specific facets of the team huddle that deemed positive or negative for the participant.

Included in

Education Commons

COinS