Background

The process of teaching students is incredibly difficult. Oftentimes, the adversities of the profession sway highly effective teachers into social and emotional deficits, and eventually lead to burnout (Spilt, Koomen, & Thijs, 2011; Wisniewski & Gargiulo, 1997). Emotional depletion, burnout, and high attrition in the profession may be costly for the educational system – both financially and academically (Klusmann, Richter, & Lüdtke, 2016).

Aims

We suggest the key to preventing burnout, and cultivating flourishing individuals, is through the educators themselves. We posit that educators who are taught, practice, and implement the skills of well-being at the onset of their careers are more likely to positively adapt and endure the adversities associated with the profession.

Method

We investigated teacher education accreditation standards, course catalogues, and graduation requirements of teacher education programs at two prominent universities, specifically examining each for the incorporation of well-being and culturally sustainable instruction.

Results

Investigation of the current integration of well-being skills in teacher education programs suggests teaching well-being and resilience is not prioritized and, therefore, not well included in the curriculum of teacher education programs. In addition, current interventions to boost resilience often do not take into account the cultures of individuals.

Conclusion

As a result, we suggest a framework for the reform of teacher education programs, which includes embedding culturally sustainable resilience education into both course work and field experiences. Teacher education programs who adopt these changes may allow educators to build culturally sustainable proactive practices and pedagogies based on the science of human flourishing, which may lead to flourishing teachers and students. We hope this research sparks conversations about the importance of prioritizing teacher resilience as well as the need to provide interventions that are culturally sustainable in nature.