A multidimensional view on pre-service teacher resilience in Germany, Ireland, Malta and Portugal

Abstract

Teacher resilience is a key factor to understand how teachers effectively cope with the strains and stresses of their profession. In this chapter, we are presenting results from a survey study, in four different countries (Germany, Malta, Ireland and Portugal), on pre-service teacher resilience which was part of the project ENTREE (ENhancing Teacher REsilience in Europe). The main goals were to examine the relationships between a global dimension of resilience and its related dimensions and to test the communalities and differences in these relationships amongst the four different countries. Participants were 764 pre-service teachers from Germany, Ireland, Malta and Portugal who answered to a questionnaire including perceptions of individual (e.g. teacher efficacy, commitment, personal life, rumination) and social/contextual (e.g. school support, social context) factors, as well as a global evaluation of resilience. Results showed that self-efficacy appears as one of the key factors related to resilience. Furthermore, differences in the relationships between the variables were found according to each country, suggesting that resilience is influenced by the context in which teachers live and work.