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Teachers Matter: Student Outcomes Following a Strengths Intervention are Mediated by Teacher Strengths Spotting

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Abstract

There is increasing interest in students well-being at school. One useful approach to improving school well-being is adopting strengths-based programmes. Many studies use teachers to deliver strengths programmes. However, little is known about how teachers influence the success of these interventions. This possible mediating effect of teachers forms the focus of the present analysis. Ten teachers and their classrooms participated in the study, seven in the intervention group and three in the control group, as part of a larger study. The intervention was delivered by a trained facilitator over 6 weeks and the teachers acted as support during these sessions encouragement to continue between sessions. The strengths intervention was associated with several improved student outcomes. Models showed that the student outcomes that were mediated by changes in teacher strengths spotting were: positive affect, classroom engagement, and need satisfaction (autonomy, competence and relatedness). Student negative affect and strengths use were not mediated by teacher strengths spotting. This finding suggests that programme effectiveness is influenced by contextual variables such as teacher behaviour and attitudes to strengths. Future school programmes might consider the influence of the people who deliver strength intervention programmes—whoever they might be.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing and Resilience, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Denise Quinlan

  2. Centre for Positive Psychology, Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Dianne A. Vella-Brodrick

  3. Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Andrew Gray

  4. Department of Psychological Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Nicola Swain

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  1. Denise Quinlan
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  2. Dianne A. Vella-Brodrick
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  4. Nicola Swain
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Correspondence to Nicola Swain.

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Quinlan, D., Vella-Brodrick, D.A., Gray, A. et al. Teachers Matter: Student Outcomes Following a Strengths Intervention are Mediated by Teacher Strengths Spotting. J Happiness Stud 20, 2507–2523 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-0051-7

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