The difficulty in the guidance of students’ life, guidance in the course for students, heavy miscellaneous works and criticism on teachers have direct impact on the teachers’ mental health. In relation to this situation, the mental health of teachers who suffer from excessive stress at school can be reached a critical level. To resolve and support the difficulties such as job stress and psychological burnout they made an experience, this study would develop a group counseling program for teachers, who could promote their mental health by improving their resilience. For a group counseling program for teachers’ resilience, the technique of encouraging-strokes was utilized. Encouraging-strokes introduce Adler’s encouragement (1969) in unconditional/positive strokes of Berne’s concepts of strokes (1964), which is very similar to the conceptual definition of ’resilience’ in that it improves positivity, encourages inner strength and allow overcoming external stress like psychological burnout. Thus, this study aims to develop a group counseling program for resilience using encouraging-strokes to promote teachers’ mental health. To achieve the purpose of this study, research questions were set up as follows:
First, what impacts of the group counseling program for teachers’ resilience using encouraging-strokes on the sub-factors of teachers’ resilience, level of encouragement and life attitude?
Second, what is the impact of the group counseling program for teachers’ resilience using encouraging-strokes on teachers’ mental health?
For this study, a group counseling program for resilience was worked out based on Kim, Chang-dae’s model framework consisting of four steps (2002), including goal setting, program configuration, program modification/supplementation and program accomplished with the help of was implemented with elementary and middle school teachers, and its effects were tested.
Due to the support of the district educational office, elementary and middle school teachers who wished to participate in the program were divided into an experimental group (13 persons) and a control group (13 persons). The program was last 120 minutes per session, totally consist of 8 sessions during the vacation period. Three measurement tools, were used in total. The tool for measuring resilience index test was the test sheet of Resilience Quotient Test (RQT), which was developed by Reivich and Shatte (2003) for adults and adapted by Woo, Mun-sik and Yun, Sang-yun (2012). Also as a tool for measuring teachers’ encouragement was used the Teachers’ Encouragement Scale (TES) developed by Kim, Tae-sun and Lee, Ji-yeon (2012). Finally, as a tool for measuring teacher’s life attitude, life attitude (Ok-gram) test was used, which was developed by Harris (1985) and passed the process of standardized development of Korea Transaction Analysis Counseling Academy (TACA). As a method for examining the program’s effects, the collected data were statistically processed, using SPSS 20.0. In a comparison of the experimental group and the control groups the ANCOVA was conducted to research changes in teachers’ resilience, level of encouragement and life attitude and effects, and a t test was conducted to reveal the difference before and after the program in the experimental group.
The drawn results at this study were summarized as follows:
Firstly, the development of group counseling program for teachers’ resilience in this study was carried out in a systematic process according to the program development procedure in Kim, Chang-dae (2002).
Secondly, teachers’ resilience, level of encouragement and life attitude were compared between the experimental and the control groups. It turned out that there were effects on the ability to control emotions, ability of empathy, self-efficacy and active challenge, the sub-factors of resilience of participating teachers in the experimental group was more than in the control group. However, there were not significant differences in the sub-factors including the ability to analyze causes and optimism between the experimental and the control groups. In the sub-factor of the encouragement level, turned out effects of positivity for students, openness to the experience and the sense of belonging, while there was not found out significant difference in self-openness between the experimental and the control groups. In the sub-factors of life attitude, there was an effect on self-positivity, but there were no significant differences in self-negation, positivity to others and negation of others between the experimental and the control groups. In other words, the developed group counseling program for resilience had effects on the improvement of teachers’ resilience and level of encouragement, but careful interpretation is necessary concerning the effects on life attitude. In other words, it is necessary to understand the degree of changes in their life attitude in dimension of the limitation as the program was carried out for a short time on vacation period.
Thirdly, to check the promotion of teachers’ mental health through the group counseling program for teachers’ resilience using encouraging-strokes, changes in the experimental group’s resilience, level of encouragement and life attitude were compared before and after the program. There were found out some changes in the sub-factors of teachers’ resilience, level of encouragement and life attitude in the experimental group in the differences before and after the program. There were significant results in most sub-factors of teachers’ resilience and level of encouragement, so it is summarized to that the developed group counseling program for resilience is really helpful for the promotion of teachers’ mental health.
The results of the study above suggests keep that the group counseling program for resilience developed in this study can promote teachers’ mental health by changing elementary and middle school teachers’ resilience, level of encouragement and life attitude utilizing encouraging-strokes. By this implication, this study has significance that the group counseling program for resilience contributed to the activation of the group counseling program for the promotion of teachers’ mental health, which has not took place for attention, previously.
It is necessary to expand the subjects from general adults and elementary school students to college students in the subsequent research. In addition, active efforts should be developed so that it can be routinized in the interpersonal dimension through a continuous study of the utilization of encouraging-strokes.