Resilience and Social Emotional Health of Teachers in Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania in Pandemic Times

Introduction. Research on teachers’ resilience and social emotional health is important for quality learning and well-being at school, especially during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Research on mental health and
resilience of teachers from Slovak republic, Latvia, and Lithuania was conducted as part of the ERASMUS+ project “Supporting Teachers to Face the Challenge of Distance Teaching” (2020-1-LV01-KA226-SCH-094599).
Methodology. The primary goal of the first project phase was to assess social emotional health, so-called Covitality and resilience of teachers in elementary, secondary, and high schools in post-pandemic times and to focus on those
areas which require significant support and development. 1,200 teachers, 400 from each participating country, took part in the research. Results were based on data from research methods: Resilience Scale (RS 14) and social-emotional health survey-teachers (SEHS-T) with the approval of the authors and with the consultation of M.J. Furlong, University of California, USA. Results. Teachers reported in all high level of social-emotional health overall indicator—Covitality, as well as enough high level in four of its domains: Belief in Self, Belief in Others,
Emotional Competence, Engaged Living. Level of teachers’ resilience has reached a moderate level in all three participating countries. There were found high significant positive correlations between teachers’ resilience and overall covitality, as well as between resilience and covitality domains: Engaged living, Emotional Competence, and Belief in Self. Conclusions. Positive teacher strengths that were identified are self-regulation, empathy, cognitive reappraisal. Teachers demonstrated limits in resilience as a whole, in Belief in Others, especially in
institutional and colleagues support, and in Engaged Living subscales gratitude, zest, and optimism. Identified weaknesses and limits will be used as a foundation for preparation of intervention activities for the teachers in the second project phase in 2022. These activities will target strengthening and support of mental health and resilience of teachers in participating East European countries.