Cultivating Wellness: An Explanatory Mixed Methods Study of Ohio School-Based Agricultural Education Teacher’s Personal Wellness
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v67i2.3281Keywords:
Teacher Wellness, Teacher Health, Work/Life Balance, Teacher RetentionAbstract
Wellness as a concept can be characterized by holistic, multidimensional, and integrate elements and has been applied and practiced in varied ways depending on culture. The Indivisible Self, a model refined by science, guides this study which aimed to apply a holistic view of wellness to a sample of Ohio SBAE teachers. The study seeks to understand how SBAE teachers conceptualize and manifest wellness in their lives, examining both wellness measures and teacher experiences. The research incorporated quantitative and qualitative methodologies specifically employing an explanatory mixed-method sequential design. Quantitative methods utilized the 5-Factor Wellness Evaluation of Lifestyle (5F-Wel) with 212 completed responses from Ohio SBAE teachers to identify participants for the qualitative phase. Interviews were completed with nine teachers. Quantitative results indicated the sample exhibits more healthful behaviors than unhealthful ones, with social wellness as a notable strength. Qualitative findings were convergently analyzed with quantitative results to variation in scores related to physical, social, and vocational wellness. Convergent findings demonstrated the emphasis that the participants placed on their physical wellness, how advising students supported social wellness, and the give and take of vocational wellness. From the findings it is recommended that proactive conversations are had about SBAE teacher wellness to enact strength-based wellness practices. Future research should continue to develop a holistic definition of wellness with vast theoretical applications.
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