Dr. Sabre Cherkowski says that organizing schools for teacher well-being results in happier students and better school communities.
Focusing on the positive
Prof explores ways schools can help teachers to flourish
If there’s one thing Dr. Sabre Cherkowski hopes that educators take away from her lecture on “Teacher Well-Being Matters,” it’s that they should focus on the positive.
As part of the Joan Irvine Lecture Series, Cherkowski is presenting this week on how schools can organize in ways that help teachers to flourish. The talk is based on findings from her recent work with Dr. Keith Walker, professor at the College of Education, University of Saskatchewan.
As an associate professor at University of British Columbia, Cherkowski is an expert on mindful and teacher leadership, studying how teacher well-being can result in the well-being of students and the broader school community.
“We noticed from the stories that we were gathering from participants that flourishing for teachers in schools is really a collective experience—that when groups of teachers are able to come together, often they can build relationships with each other. … When they’re all working toward common goals and purposes, it tends to be improving the lives of their students,” she explains.
Cherkowski was a high-school French teacher in Saskatchewan and British Columbia, but says her interest in the topic arose as an extension of her studies in university, researching professional-learning communities, and how to create conditions in schools for educators to come together, to learn well together, and the kind of leadership that can create those opportunities. She realized existing literature lacked solutions to these issues.
“Studies seemed to be mostly a deficit orientation or with what’s wrong? What are the problems, the stressors?” Cherkowski said, adding her research examines approaches to organizational psychology that focus on compassion, purpose and meaning. “What are the ways that appreciative inquiry can help create positive change in organizations?”
What: Teacher Well-Being Matters
When: Thursday, November 22, 2018
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Where: Room 224, Education Building, Fort Garry Campus, U of M
- RSVP optional at 474-9001 or click here.
- Paid parking at University parkade.
- Free parking available on campus at St. Andrew’s College.
For more information, contact:
Charlie McDougall, communications coordinator, Faculty of Education, 204 474 7402, or email: Charlie [dot] McDougall [at] umanitoba [dot] ca