An exploration of teacher wellness and leadership practices for support in Hawai'i public schools

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Content An Exploration of Teacher Wellness and Leadership Practices for Support in Hawai‘i
Public Schools
Jonathan Timothy Su
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education
May 2025

© Copyright by Jonathan Timothy Su 2025
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Jonathan Timothy Su certifies the approval of this Dissertation
Gregory Franklin
Elisabeth Summers
Maria Ott, Committee Chair
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2025

iv
Abstract
The Hawai‘i State Department of Education (HIDOE) has the highest teacher turnover in the
nation, exacerbating disparities in student achievement and highlighting the need for sustainable
support systems for educators (HIDOE, 2023; Walker, 2020). This study examines the factors
affecting teacher mental health and wellness in a high-attrition, underperforming district within
the HIDOE and explores leadership practices that foster a supportive school environment. Using
a qualitative research design, this study draws from semi-structured interviews with 12
participants from seven schools within the district. Findings reveal that bureaucratic demands,
excessive workload expectations, lack of transparency and accountability, and challenges within
organizational structures negatively affect nearly all aspects of teachers’ wellness. Participants
emphasized the need for purposeful leadership practices that prioritize relationships,
collaboration, and meaningful professional growth. The study offers recommendations for site
leaders to drive deeper cultural and structural support systems within their school settings rather
than rely on simplistic solutions that fail to address teacher wellness. These recommendations
aim to support site leaders in creating school environments that authentically prioritize teacher
well-being, ultimately improving job satisfaction, teacher retention, and student achievement.
Keywords: teacher mental health, teacher wellness, teacher attrition, teacher turnover,
teacher retention, school environment, leadership, Hawai‘i public schools

v
Dedication
To my dad in heaven, David Hwa-Hsing Su. Dad—although you were battling cancer throughout
most of my doctoral program, one of the moments I truly felt your pride was when I first started
this journey and you proudly told everyone in our family that your son was going to be a doctor.
More than anything, I wished you could have been there to see me cross the stage. Your support
for me throughout my life, and your endless love instilled in me a strong work ethic, and a
positive, never quit attitude. Without those values, I would not be where I am today. I am
eternally grateful for the love you showed as you raised me, and your spirit will always be with
me. With the utmost humility, I say thank you, and I love you.

vi
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to thank all the educators who have taught me over the
years—from my time as a public school student to my career as an educator. Your support has
led me to develop a lifelong commitment to learning, teaching, leading, and empowering
students.
To my dissertation chair, Dr. Maria Ott—your mentorship, organization, grace,
flexibility, and encouragement kept me grounded in this journey as I navigated a career change
and the loss of my father. I am forever grateful for the way you guided me towards the finish line
with both wisdom and compassion.
To my committee members, Dr. Greg Franklin and Dr. Lis Summers—thank you for your
gift of time and feedback which always pushed me to think critically in ways I had not imagined.
Dr. Summers, I remember the night we talked on the phone and you told me I should apply for
USC’s Doctor of Educational Leadership Program. I began my application the very next day.
Having you on my committee, reading each of my drafts and giving your insights, has been both
a full circle moment and a blessing.
To the 12 participants in this study—thank you for sharing your stories. I have learned so
much from each of you, and I hope our collective work will make a meaningful impact on our
school system.
To the teachers and former students I have had the privilege of working with at ‘Ewa
Makai Middle School—you have each played a role in my growth as an educator and led me to
where I am today. To the PUEO scholars and the rest of my ‘ohana at Punahou School—thank
you for showing me what it means to be resilient, believing in me, and providing me the
flexibility that allowed me to dedicate myself to my doctoral studies.

vii
To the Gates Millennium Scholars program—thank you for investing in my education
from my bachelor’s to my master’s, and now my doctorate. Receiving the Gates Millennium
Scholarship not only made higher education financially possible, but also allowed me to envision
myself one day receiving a doctoral degree—something my family and I had never imagined
before. I am dedicated to using everything I have learned as a result of your investment to pay it
forward to my students and their communities.
To all my professors at USC—thank you for your guidance and encouragement. The
coursework was very rigorous, and I spent all my free time over the last few years at Starbucks,
but your mentorship gave me confidence as a writer, researcher, and educational leader. The
conversations we had in class each week provided invaluable lessons that I will carry for the rest
of my life.
To my fellow Trojan cohort members—this experience would not be the same without
you. The past 3 years were filled with many late nights, challenges, celebrations, and lots of
WhatsApp messages. Knowing we were in this together gave me strength, and the nights we had
class were always the highlight of my week. I enjoyed learning with each of you, and your lived
experiences and insights have given me the courage to pursue new leadership roles and envision
futures for our students I never would have considered. Fight On forever!
Lastly, to my friends and family—thank you for your constant check-ins, and for your
patience and understanding as to why I did not have a social life over the past few years. More
importantly, thank you for your encouragement and for investing in my education from
childhood to the completion of this doctorate. This has truly been a team effort, and I hope I have
made you all very proud.

viii
Table of Contents
Abstract.......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication....................................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgements........................................................................................................................ vi
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. xi
List of Figures............................................................................................................................... xii
List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................xiii
Chapter One: Overview of the Study.............................................................................................. 1
Background of the Problem ................................................................................................ 4
Statement of the Problem.................................................................................................... 5
Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................................... 6
Research Questions............................................................................................................. 7
Significance of the Study.................................................................................................... 7
Limitation and Delimitations.............................................................................................. 8
Definition of Terms............................................................................................................. 8
Organization of the Study ................................................................................................. 14
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature ........................................................................................ 15
School Environment.......................................................................................................... 15
Teacher Mental Health and Wellness............................................................................... 24
Leadership Practices ......................................................................................................... 32
Lack of Current Research ................................................................................................. 32
Conceptual Framework..................................................................................................... 33
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 34
Chapter Three: Methodology........................................................................................................ 35
Statement of the Problem.................................................................................................. 35

ix
Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................................... 36
Qualitative Research Design............................................................................................. 37
Sample and Population ..................................................................................................... 37
Data Collection ................................................................................................................. 40
Positionality ...................................................................................................................... 42
Power ................................................................................................................................ 44
Ethics................................................................................................................................. 44
Credibility and Trustworthiness........................................................................................ 45
Data Analysis.................................................................................................................... 46
Research Timeline ............................................................................................................ 48
Summary........................................................................................................................... 49
Chapter Four: Findings................................................................................................................. 50
Participants........................................................................................................................ 50
Findings for Research Question 1..................................................................................... 52
Findings for Research Question 2..................................................................................... 68
Findings for Research Question 3..................................................................................... 78
Summary........................................................................................................................... 90
Chapter Five: Discussion .............................................................................................................. 92
Findings ............................................................................................................................ 93
Limitations........................................................................................................................ 98
Recommendations for Practice ....................................................................................... 100
Recommendations for Future Research.......................................................................... 104
Conclusions..................................................................................................................... 106
References................................................................................................................................... 108
Appendix A: Participant Screener.................................................................................................... 123

x
Appendix B: Interview Protocol ................................................................................................. 127
Background Information................................................................................................. 128
Concepts.......................................................................................................................... 128
Final Question................................................................................................................. 129
Closing ............................................................................................................................ 130

xi
List of Tables
Table 1: Concepts in Interview Protocol 41
Table 2: Timeline of Research 48
Table 3: Summary of Interview Participants 52
Table 4: Research Question 1 Themes 54
Table 5: Research Question 2 Themes 70
Table 6: Research Question 3 Themes 80

xii
List of Figures
Figure 1: Swarbrick’s Eight Dimensions of Wellness 25
Figure 2: Conceptual Framework 34
Appendix A: Participant Screener 123

xiii
List of Abbreviations
BLM Black Lives Matter
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019
EL English learner
ESSA Every Student Succeeds Act
FSC Fully-self contained classroom
HĀ Nā Hopena A‘o framework
HIDOE Hawai‘i Department of Education
IRB Institutional review board
Low-SES Low socioeconomic status
MTSS Multi-tiered support system
NCLB No Child Left Behind
PD Professional development
SEL Social emotional learning

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Chapter One: Overview of the Study
If I had to sum up my entire experience as a teacher in a single sentence, it would be that
teaching is an impossible profession. While drawn to teaching 7 years ago with the aspiration of
creating a positive impact on future generations of students, I quickly realized firsthand the
immense demands that came with fulfilling what schools and society expects of teachers. My 1st
year teaching in the Hawai‘i State Department of Education (HIDOE) public schools, I was
assigned to teach special education math, having had no experience in either special education or
math, yet being expected to effectively address my students’ diverse learning needs and
behaviors while ensuring they all made dramatic growth. Throughout my experience as a
teacher, I have also been tasked with spearheading a new yearbook journalism program through
designing and refining the entire curriculum over 5 years, teaching the course with limited
resources and having to secure grants for technological equipment, while establishing
partnerships with numerous stakeholders. Additionally, when a new introductory Spanish course
was offered at my school, I was entrusted with designing the entire curriculum and teaching the
course for 5 years. My teaching experience has also been profoundly influenced by the global
coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which began in my 2nd year in the classroom and brought
about swift, overnight changes in the way education is delivered and experienced by both
educators and students.
Over the years, the system’s insistence on maximizing my capabilities and “doing it for
the keiki [kids],” translated into minimal preparation time and an unrelenting workload. My
persistent feeling of inadequacy from failing to please students, parents, and administrators;
unsuccessfully handling misbehaviors in the classroom; and never having time for self-care led
me to a cycle of burnout, characterized by my constant thinking about work outside of school,

2
prepping each night until 11 p.m., working multiple jobs to compensate for the low teacher pay,
and even skipping meals because I simply never had enough time to fulfill all my professional
demands and personal needs.
While it can seem impossible to meet all the responsibilities of being a teacher, it is well
acknowledged that teachers are the most important school-related factor influencing student
achievement (Darling-Hammond & Baratz-Snowden, 2007; Opper, 2019; Rice, 2003). However,
teaching is also known to be one of the most demanding occupations as it involves contending
with numerous daily stressors such as an overwhelming workload, extended hours, the challenge
of managing student behavior, and the constant pressure to enhance student achievement—all of
which negatively affect teachers’ mental health and wellness (Cooper & Travers, 2012).
Compared to the general population, teachers experience higher levels of burnout and symptoms
of depression, with these challenges being nearly universal amongst all teachers, whether or not
they are diagnosed (Steiner & Woo, 2021).
I am not alone in how I felt as a classroom teacher. Similar sentiments are shown through
the recent surge of teachers taking it to social media platforms to express their feelings of
discontent and burnout from the profession (Dowd, 2023). By doing a quick search of trending
TikTok hashtags such as #TeacherQuittok, #ExTeachersOfTikTok, and #LifeAfterTeachers, one
can find thousands of posts from teachers across the nation who left the profession, all citing
different factors affecting their mental health and wellness as their primary reason for leaving.
For example, TikTok user @musicalnory (2023) described the following in a testimonial:
I taught in the classroom for eight years. For years, my life, money, and time revolved
around my students. I was in a place where I felt mistreated and miserable. I decided to
leave and never look back. I immediately felt a sense of relief and hope.

3
When describing why she left teaching, Newman (2023), who goes by
@teresakayenewman on TikTok, comments specifically on teaching Gen Alpha students—those
born between 2010 and 2025—and mentions that:
So many kids make the job unbearable simply by the way they treat their teachers and
fellow students. They have the capacity to be better human beings, but choose not to.
Teachers burn out and quit because of what they endure from within their own
classrooms, and a lack of support from parents and administrators to mediate those
problems.
Finally, another former teacher who goes by @hollyacre states that: “Because of the
stress and the second-hand trauma from the classroom, I developed anxiety and I fell into a
depression. I had to go to the doctor and he prescribed me talk therapy and antidepressants—all
to cope with my daily job” (Acre, 2023).
These testimonies tell the same story over and over again—that while it is critical to
support teachers who often experience high levels of stress, teacher mental health and wellness is
frequently overlooked. While schools may claim to address teacher wellness, leaders may
provide simplistic solutions to the very nuanced and systemic issue or require educators to seek
help on their own outside their work environment, failing to make educator well-being a true
priority (de Oliveira Andreotti, 2016). Prioritizing teacher wellness is important as it will
ultimately contribute to greater teacher retention and stability in schools, enhanced teaching
effectiveness, and increased student achievement (Devaki et al., 2019).
This study will delve into the experiences of kindergarten through twelfth grade (K–12)
classroom teachers in the ‘Ike District (‘Ike, the Hawaiian word for knowledge, is a pseudonym)
of Hawai‘i’s public schools, explore their perspectives on mental health and wellness, and

4
discuss effective leadership practices that will help site leaders effectively address wellness in
their school settings to more authentically support teachers.
Background of the Problem
The mental health and wellness of K–12 teachers has been a persistent national concern,
and has grown during and after the COVID-19 pandemic (Doan et al., 2023). According to Lever
et al. (2017), prevalent factors impacting teacher wellness include high-stakes testing, large class
sizes, student behavioral challenges, workload, and a perceived lack of sufficient recognition or
pay for their efforts. These stressors are directly linked to absenteeism, attrition, and intentions to
leave the profession (Doan et al., 2023).
This problem is especially important to consider in the HIDOE, where leadership
practices often inadequately support the mental health and wellness of teachers, leading to
profound implications for attrition. Only 50% of teachers in the HIDOE remain in their positions
for more than 5 years, leading Hawai‘i to rank first in the nation in teacher attrition (HIDOE,
2023; Walker, 2020). Additionally, teacher attrition has risen 12% over the past 5 years, with
nearly three times as many teachers resigning than retiring (Stinton, 2023). Based on the 2022-
2023 HIDOE Employment Report, a third of teachers who resigned cited the workplace
environment as the primary factor for their resignation—encompassing stressors such as
workload, lack of administrative support, co-worker dynamics, salary concerns, and job location
(HIDOE, 2023). This is a number which has more than doubled over the past 4 years (HIDOE,
2023). In the same time period, the number of teachers transitioning into non-teaching careers
often perceived as less demanding has also increased (HIDOE, 2023). This shows that the
challenging work environment that places pressure and unrealistic expectations on teachers, and
arguably more so both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, negatively affects their

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perceived sense of wellness at work and leads to Hawai‘i having the highest teacher attrition rate
in the country (Stinton, 2023; Zamarro et al., 2022).
While teacher attrition is an issue affecting the entire State of Hawai‘i, the ‘Ike District
consistently sees the highest rate of teacher turnover (HIDOE, 2023). In the ‘Ike District, where
the population is predominantly Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, and most schools serve
low-socioeconomic status (low-SES) students, only 35% of teachers remain in their schools for 5
or more years, significantly lower than the statewide average of 50% (HIDOE, 2023; Lee, 2019).
This results in a dramatic gap in student performance compared to schools in other areas of the
state. For example, ‘Ike High School (pseudonym), one of the schools serving the district which
is known to have one of the highest turnover rates in the state, shows only 17% proficiency in
reading compared to a statewide average of 60% (HIDOE, 2023). For more equitable student
outcomes, site leaders must better address teacher mental health and wellness to enhance
retention and ensure students in the ‘Ike District can receive a high-quality education.
While Doan et al. (2023) argued that restoring teacher well-being could improve job
satisfaction and performance, and boost teacher retention, teachers currently reside in a system
that provides minimal and simplistic solutions to these extreme sentiments. Some schools in
Hawai‘i may claim to have initiatives in place to address wellness, however, attrition is still high,
and teachers continue to cite the general work environment as the primary reason they leave the
profession. In order to create a positive work environment and retain teachers, school leaders
must actively prioritize teacher wellness with fidelity.
Statement of the Problem
Education is a profession that is associated with high levels of stress (Cooper & Travers,
2012; Lever et al., 2017). In the HIDOE, dissatisfaction with the workplace environment

6
continues to be one of the primary reasons that educators leave the profession, showing the
importance of understanding and supporting teachers in their wellness. Yet, despite the data that
shows the urgent need to address teacher wellness, educators and leaders alike still show denial
of the problem.
According to de Oliveira Andreotti (2016) from the Gesturing Towards Decolonial
Futures Collective, there are four different types of denial that restrict humans’ capacity to create
a liberatory future. These include the denial of violence, unsustainability, entanglement, and the
depth of the problems in our society (de Oliveira Andreotti, 2016). De Oliveira Andreotti (2016)
argues that denial is shown when leaders find hope in simplistic solutions that make others
temporarily feel good whilst turning away from the deep and painful work necessary to address
the root causes of the issues. Despite the data that shows that teachers need to be supported when
it comes to their wellness, little is known about how to do so to sustainably benefit teachers and
improve student outcomes (Bukko, 2019; Lever et al., 2017). Therefore, is important to gain a
deep understanding of the factors that affect teacher mental health and wellness to recognize the
depth of the issue rather than denying it. Equally important is understanding the leadership
practices needed for effective school leaders to authentically support teachers in their wellness,
rather than providing simplistic solutions that only temporarily heal the wounds.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is twofold. First, this research study will provide insight into
the specific challenges faced by K–12 classroom teachers in the ‘Ike District of the HIDOE
concerning their mental health and wellness. Despite the increasing number of schools that claim
to prioritize teacher wellness, attrition is continuously high, showing that there could be a
disconnect between the solutions being implemented and what would actually support teacher

7
wellness. By exploring teacher perspectives on the factors that impact their overall mental health
and wellness, the study aims to shed light on critical factors influencing teacher attrition.
Interviews will provide in-depth qualitative insights into the nuanced aspects of teacher wellbeing, and reveal how schools support or hinder teacher wellness.
The second purpose of this study is to focus on leadership practices of site leaders in
fostering a school environment where teachers feel their wellness is prioritized. Because it can be
argued that the conditions of teaching affecting teacher wellness are shaped by systemic policies
and job demands that will continue to exist, the way site leaders respond and shape the climate of
their school environments by supporting teachers with their wellness is largely determined by
their leadership. Therefore, interview questions with teachers will include topics about their
school’s site leadership.
Research Questions
The following research questions were used to guide this study:
1. What do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike District believe to be the
job-related factors that influence their mental health and wellness?
2. How do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike District describe their mental
health and wellness?
3. What do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike District believe are
important leadership practices their site leaders must exhibit to authentically support
teachers with their mental health and wellness?
Significance of the Study
This study aims to provide insight into the specific challenges impacting teacher mental
health and wellness, while also identifying leadership practices that teachers believe would

8
support their well-being. When organizations authentically address employee wellness,
individuals are happier and more productive in their roles, which in educational settings, leads to
improved student achievement outcomes (Achor, 2018). The findings from this study aim to
provide actionable insights for site leaders and policy makers seeking to implement strategies
and allocate resources to support teacher well-being, enhance retention, and ultimately improve
student learning outcomes in Hawai‘i public schools.
Limitation and Delimitations
This study is limited to K–12 teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike District and their self-reported
personal narratives concerning teacher wellness. It is important to understand that teachers are
not psychologists or mental health professionals and may not have the scientific or psychological
knowledge to know how to accurately describe their mental health. Therefore, the specific
experiences described in this study are limited to the participants’ personal perceptions and may
not be scientifically accurate or generalizable to all K–12 teachers in the HIDOE.
The delimitations of this study were limited to the geographic region of the HIDOE ‘Ike
District, the work environment factors (the study excludes factors outside the workplace that may
also affect their wellness), and the number of teachers interviewed.
Definition of Terms
Alternative certification programs refer to pathways allowing individuals to enter the
teaching profession without completing a traditional, university-based teacher preparation
program (Walsh & Jacobs, 2007). These programs are designed to provide a faster route into
teaching, often to address shortages in high-need areas by allowing aspiring educators to begin
teaching before fully satisfying certification requirements (Walsh & Jacobs, 2007).

9
Attrition refers to a reduction of numbers in a company, usually as a result of resignation
or retirement (Merriam Webster, 2024). Applied to a teaching context, teacher attrition refers to
teachers leaving the profession.
Absenteeism is when teachers fail to fulfill their responsibilities by not showing up for
work. This has shown to result in significant financial losses for school districts and has a
detrimental impact on student achievement (Norton, 1998).
The Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement is an anti-racist, human rights movement
which began largely as a response to police brutality against Black folks (Drakulich & Denver,
2022). BLM has impacted education by prompting a wider conversation about systemic racism
in schools, prompting educators to make many reforms within the school setting to push for a
more inclusive and equitable learning environment for Black students (Drakulich & Denver,
2022).
Burnout is an exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a
result of prolonged stress or frustration (Merriam Webster, 2024). Farber (1984) describes that
teacher burnout can be characterized by when teachers
● feel anxious, irritable, and depressed;
● become less sympathetic towards students;
● have a lower tolerance for frustration in the classroom;
● plan for their classes less often or less carefully;
● fantasize about or actually plan on leaving the profession.
A core subject teacher is one who teaches one of the four foundational subjects (English,
math, science, or social studies) that are required courses in each grade level (Collins, 2024).

10
One of the ways core subject teachers are evaluated is based on their students’ performance on
high-stakes testing at the end of their course (Denham, 2002).
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was a global outbreak of coronavirus, an
infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome and eventually declared as a
global pandemic in March 2020 (World Health Organization, 2023).
The concept of denial comes from the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures researchers
collective, headed by de Oliveira Andreotti (2016). According to the collective, four different
types denial restrict society from reaching a liberatory future. These four types of denial are:
denial of violence, denial of unsustainability, denial of entanglement, and denial of the depth of
the problem(s).
While definitions of early career teachers may vary, this study defines them as educators
with 5 or less years of classroom experience. This is because the HIDOE often uses 5 years as a
benchmark for measuring teacher retention in the early stages of their careers (Lee, 2019).
The National Equity Project (2018) argues that educational equity is about ensuring
equally high outcomes for all participants in the educational system by interrupting inequitable
practices so that every child can develop to their full academic and social potential.
Elective teachers teach subjects that students enroll in by choice and provide credits for
promotion without having a state end-of-course exam (Denham, 2002).
Signed into law by President Obama in 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
replaced the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.). The ESSA
aims to promote educational equity and excellence for all students by providing states with more
flexibility in designing their accountability systems (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.).

11
The Hawai‘i State Department of Education (HIDOE) refers to the statewide school
district in Hawai‘i which is comprised of 257 public schools (Teach in Hawai‘i, 2024).
Kama‘āina is the Hawaiian word meaning “the people of the land” (Atkinson, 2023).
While kama‘āina live in Hawai‘i, they may not necessarily identify their racial background as
Native Hawaiian (Atkinson, 2023).
Leadership practices refer to the practices that site leaders take when leading educational
organizations (Wilson et al., 2020). Leadership practices are largely affected by the qualities,
interests, values, beliefs, and attitudes leaders possess (Wilson et al. 2020).
Learning loss refers to the decline in K–12 student academic achievement during and
after the COVID-19 pandemic (Fordham Institute, 2020).
Low-socioeconomic status (Low-SES) schools refer to educational institutions that serve a
student population predominantly composed of inidviduals from economically disadvantaged
backgrounds, often facing resource limitations and socioeconomic challenges (American
Psychological Association, n.d.).
‘Ike District (‘Ike, the Hawaiian word for knowledge, is a pseudonym) is one of the seven
smaller districts within the larger statwide HIDOE (Teach in Hawai‘i, 2024).
Mental health is a concept that describes the condition of being mentally and emotionally
sound (Merriam Webster, 2024). It is operationalized through being able to feel comfortable
about oneself, have positive feelings about others, and the ability to meet the demands of daily
life (Merriam Webster, 2024).
Implemented in many schools after the COVID-19 pandemic, multi-tiered support system
frameworks (MTSS) is a strategy of supporting students academically, socially, and behaviorally

12
in a differentiated way that allows every student to get the right level of support they need
(Kearney & Childs, 2021).
Native Hawaiians are the indigenous people of the Hawai‘i and descendants of the
original Polynesian settlers who arrived in Hawai‘i over 1000 years ago (Atkinson, 2023).
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act was enacted in 2002 during the Bush
Administration (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.). NCLB placed measures, primarily though
high-stakes testing, that mandated accountability in ensuring a quality education for all children.
(U.S. Department of Education, n.d.). Due to its rigid mandates which became impractical for
schools and educators to implement effectively, NCLB was later replaced with the ESSA, which
provided more flexibility for school accountability (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.).
Remote learning refers to the practice of delivering educational instruction to students
through online platforms and digital tools, to ensure continuity of learning despite physical
school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020).
School climate, distinct from school culture, pertains to the emotional atmosphere
experienced by teachers upon arriving at work and is shaped by perceptions and influences the
overall mindset of individuals (Gruenert & Whitaker, 2015).
A site leader refers to a principal, assistant principal, or other individual who is
responsible for the daily instructional leadership and managerial operations in a school building.
In this study, the terms ‘site leader,’ ‘administrator,’ ‘principal,’ and ‘assistant principal’ are used
interchangeably.
Social emotional learning (SEL), which CASEL (2024) argues is essential to every
child’s education, is the holistic process through which young people and adults acquire and

13
employ knowledge, skills, and attitudes to foster healthy self identities, emotional regulation,
goal attainment, empathy, relationships, and responsible decision-making.
Social justice education refers to classroom practices and curricular choices that lead
students to recognize the social, political, and moral implications of maintaining systems of
oppression (Bell, 2023).
Merriam Webster (2024) describes stress as a feeling that stems from factors that tend to
alter an existing equilibrium.
Teacher leadership refers to responsibilities teachers may have outside their classrooms,
including but not limited to department chairpersons, grade-level representatives, union
representatives, committee leaders, and so forth that support school wide decision-making
processes (Cosenza, 2015).
Traditional teacher preparation programs are 4-year undergraduate degrees in education
that include instruction in content knowledge and pedagogical methods; and supervised student
teaching under a mentor (Walsh & Jacobs, 2007).
This study defines a veteran teacher as one who has more than 5 years of classroom
experience.
Swarbrick’s (2006) model of wellness initially included five dimensions of wellness
when it was first created in the early 1990’s, and has since evolved to include eight dimensions
for understanding human wellness as a whole. In no particular order, wellness should address the
following factors to support a more satisfying lifestyle: physical, spiritual, social, intellectual,
emotional/mental, occupational, environmental, financial (Swarbrick, 2006).

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Organization of the Study
“An Exploration of Teacher Wellness and Leadership Practices for Support in Hawai‘i
Public Schools” is a traditional dissertation study organized into five chapters. Chapter One
provides an overview of the study, introduces data to illustrate why teacher mental health and
wellness should be prioritized, and includes definitions of terms used in the study. Chapter Two
presents a literature review in the following three areas: the school environment and the evolving
role of the teacher, teacher wellness, and leadership practices. Chapter Three describes the
methodology selected for this research study and includes: sample and population selection,
interview questions, data collection, and data analysis. Chapter Four is a report of the research
findings. Chapter Five is composed of a summary of findings, implications for practice,
conclusions, and recommendations. References and appendices are included in the conclusion of
this research study.

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Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the complex and multifaceted
nature of the teaching profession. As the educational landsape continues to evolve, especially
after the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to understand the factors that can influence teachers’
mental health and wellness, as well as the importance of leadership practices in sustaining
teacher well-being so they can be best positioned to support students in attaining high outcomes.
Organized into three key sections, this chapter offers a comprehensive review of the
relevant literature pertinent to the study’s objectives. First, I discuss how the school environment
has evolved and changed pre and post COVID-19 pandemic. I also discuss some unique factors
that shape the educational system in Hawai‘i. This section sets the stage for understanding the
demands that define the teaching profession both nationally and specifically in Hawai‘i. In the
second section focused on teacher mental health and wellness, I examine pertinent literature
regarding historical conceptualizations of wellness and its significance for teachers. Furthermore,
I explore the detrimental personal, school, and system impacts associated with poor teacher
wellness, including stress, burnout, attrition, and absenteeism. The last section delves into the
significance of school leadership, highlighting the pivotal role site leaders play in supporting
teachers with their wellness and how that will positively support student outcomes.
School Environment
Role of the Teacher Pre-COVID-19 Pandemic
Teaching is an incredibly intense profession which has undergone significant evolution
over the centuries (Darling-Hammond & Baratz-Snowden, 2007; Lanier, 1997). In the 19th and
early 20th centuries, teachers’ roles encompassed a blend of information dissemination, custodial
child care, and the categorization of academically inclined students from others (Lanier, 1997).

16
Ellwood P. Cubberly, a professor and dean of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford
University compared the schooling model of that era to factories, in which teachers were paid
hourly or daily to dispense information to their assembly line of students in a way that forced
them to learn the same subjects at the same pace (Callahan, 2007). This factory model led
schools in the 19th and early 20th centuries to mirror the common perception of a teacher
positioned at the front of the room, delivering lectures from a textbook as students absorbed
knowledge through rote repetition and memorization (Darling-Hammond & Baratz-Snowden,
2007; Kaestle & Foner, 2006).
In the late 20th century, theorists such as Freire (1978) offered critiques of the factory
model, contending that the banking system of education integral to the factory model positioned
teachers as the sole repositories of knowledge, which dehumanized students by depriving them
of the opportunity to develop as creators and critical thinkers. According to Freire (1978), in
order to break the cycle of dehumanization, it is central to a teacher’s role to deliver problemposing instruction to their students. Over the years, numerous theorists have enriched this
discourse by advocating for essential skills required of teachers. Ladson-Billings (1995), for
example, discusses the importance of linking content with students’ identities and culture, and
Darling-Hammond and Baratz-Snowden (2007) discuss the importance of managing
relationships with students on an ongoing basis. In addition to theories, policies over the years,
such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2002 and its replacement in 2015 with the Every
Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) were developed to push teachers to deliver rigorous instruction,
hold students accountable for their learning, and meet measurable goals evidenced by highstakes testing (Davidson et al., 2015).
These theories and policy changes highlight that over the centuries, teaching has become

17
more complex and multifaceted than it has historically been. Examining a brief job description of
a teacher on Diversity Jobs (2023) reveals that teachers have more than 25 different
responsibilities in a typical day which are shaped by theories and policies developed over the
years. The average teacher is responsible for planning and preparing instructional activities;
managing student behavior; meeting schoolwide student performance and accountability goals;
utilizing curricula that reflect the identities of students served, and so forth (Diversity Jobs,
2023).
The evolvement of job demands as a teacher in the 21st century is exemplified by what
McCourt (2005) writes in his memoir after his 30 years teaching in New York City public
schools:
In the classroom, you are a drill sergeant, a rabbi, a shoulder to cry on, a disciplinarian, a
singer, a low-level scholar, a clerk, a referee, a clown, a counselor, a dress-code enforcer,
a conductor, an apologist, a philosopher, a collaborator, a tap dancer, a politician, a
therapist, a fool, a traffic cop, a priest, a mother-father-brother-sister-uncle-aunt, a
bookkeeper, a critic, a psychologist, and a last straw. (McCourt, 2005, p. 19)
Teaching During and Post COVID-19 Pandemic
In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of all schools across the
globe. With minimal warning and little to no training in online instruction, teachers were forced
to transition to fully remote teaching until it was deemed safe to resume in-person schooling
(Kraft, Simon, & Lyon, 2021). Teachers at every career phase struggled with the unexpected
additional job demands that came as a result of the pandemic (Kraft et al., 2021). Additionally,
the COVID-19 pandemic created dramatic changes in the school environment affecting teachers’
job demands post-pandemic (Al Ansi & Al-Ansi, 2021).

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Rise in Technology
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, incorporating technology into the classroom was often
viewed as an ancillary aspect of schooling, particularly for school settings with access to
resources (Winter et al., 2021). Despite educators acknowledging the importance of technology
in the late 20th century, there were first and second order barriers that limited efforts to fully
integrate technology (Ertmer, 1999). First-order barriers, or extrinsic factors which include
equipment availability, access to resources, and school-level training and support, were notably
more limited prior to the pandemic (Ertmer, 1999). Additionally, first-order barriers were more
prevalent in low-SES schools, which encountered significant opportunity gaps when it came to
access to resources at the start of the pandemic (Dorn et al., 2020; García & Weiss, 2020).
Second-order barriers were predominantly intrinsic, revolving around teachers’ access to
technology juxtaposed with their personal preference for traditional teaching methods (Ertmer,
1999).
Following the sudden transition to remote learning during the pandemic, schools across
various socioeconomic strata prioritized investing in a one-to-one model, providing each student
with a device for learning (Klein, 2021). According to an EdWeek Research Center Survey
(2021) that examined technology integration among school leaders nationally, 90% of middle
and high school leaders reported a shift to one device per student post-pandemic, compared to
just 65% pre-pandemic. Teachers during the pandemic were also compelled to shift to online
learning, irrespective of their personal inclinations regarding technology integration (Winter et
al., 2021). As first and second-order barriers to technology were removed during and after the
pandemic, teachers’ responsibilities have evolved to include not only using technology, but also

19
instructing students on its ethical use, even if teachers had to adapt and learn these skills
independently (Winter et al., 2021).
Supporting Learning Loss
The COVID-19 pandemic also prompted significant learning setbacks across all subjects
and grade levels amongst students of all backgrounds, and particularly amongst students of color
(Donnelly & Patrinos, 2022; Dorn et al., 2020). According to Soland et al. (2023), following the
Spring 2020 school closures, students began the following school year virtually with roughly
30% learning loss in English and 50% learning loss in math compared to a typical school year.
Citing research on long-term effects of unprecedented school closures, Dorn et al. (2020) argues
that when schools in Pakistan were closed due to an earthquake in 2005, learning losses persisted
4 years later. These learning losses were not solely attributable to the school closures themselves
but were exacerbated by students’ return to school and subsequent challenges in catching up with
the curriculum (Dorn et al., 2020). To address the widening learning gap, teachers have a large
responsibility in supplementing students’ educational progress with additional instructional
techniques (Dorn et al., 2020; Lachlan et al., 2020). After the pandemic, multi-tiered support
system frameworks (MTSS) emerged as prominent pandemic response recommendations and
were implemented in many schools to support students academically, socially, and behaviorally
(Kearney & Childs, 2021). This has changed the nature of the school environment post-pandemic
as teachers have to consistently engage in training to understand how to effectively utilize MTSS
systems and meet students where they are at while simultaneously maintaining grade level rigor
(Dorn et al., 2020; Kearney & Childs, 2021; Lachlan et al., 2020).
Social Justice
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the public health restrictions, a remarkable

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number of Americans participated in protests in support of Black Lives Matter (BLM), following
the untimely deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd (Drakulich & Denver, 2022). This
societal awakening prompted a reevaluation of the traditional school environment and teachers’
roles (Mealy & Bennett, 2023). While the BLM movement was not new, its prevalence at the
height of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic led educators to begin scrutinizing their curriculum and
challenge the status quo by actively integrating more inclusive and anti-racist learning
experiences into the classroom (DeMartino & Fetman, 2023). Historically, the hegemonic
curriculum taught in schools, which has been rooted in Whiteness and settler colonialism and
designed to civilize the other by assimilating minoritized students into Euro-American culture,
perpetuated the erasure of minoritized students’ identities, values, and languages (Spring, 2016).
Contemporary achievement-focused initiatives such as NCLB continue to deepen historical
settler colonialism through perpetuating a standardized, one-size-fits-all culture and curriculum
that does not align with students’ diverse needs (Jeynes, 2014). The BLM movement emphasized
the evolving role of teachers and schools, not just as advocates for social justice, but as educators
of social justice, as they must work continually to question and challenge what schools currently
teach to better equip students with the skills necessary to navigate and positively contribute to an
increasingly diverse and complex world (DeMartino & Fetman, 2023).
Social Emotional Learning
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a concerning trend of increasing
school violence (Pierce, 2021). According to federal data collected from nearly 850 school
leaders across the country, nearly one in three administrators saw a rise in student fights or
physical attacks that they believed were brought on by the pandemic and its negative effects on
students’ socioemotional development (Institute of Education Sciences, 2022). While SEL was

21
not created directly as a result of the pandemic, it has been prioritized by many schools after the
pandemic as an approach that fosters healthy identities, emotional management, empathy,
supportive relationships, and sound decision-making skills amongst students (CASEL, 2022).
Effective implementation of SEL equips students with the tools to appropriately navigate
challenging circumstances, exercise impulse control, and cultivate positive interpersonal
relationships, thereby mitigating conflicts and violence within schools and beyond (CASEL,
2022). In this evolving landscape, CASEL (2022) suggests that the role of teachers and the
school environment has expanded to encompass not only academic instruction and supporting
learning loss, but also the cultivation of students’ social and emotional competencies more so
than ever before.
Teaching Environment in Hawai‘i
Amidst the broader evolution of school environments and teaching demands, educators in
Hawai‘i face a distinctive set of circumstances shaped by the unique characteristics of the public
education system in the state. The statewide education system and policies governing education
in Hawai‘i contribute to a unique teaching environment different in notable ways from school
systems on the mainland.
Centralized School System
The public education system in Hawai‘i has deep roots, dating back to the days of the
Hawaiian kingdom. King Kamehameha’s enactment of the first public education laws in 1840
during Hawai‘i’s plantation era established a centralized educational system, making Hawai‘i
one of the oldest educational systems in the United States (Ponce & Trinidad, 1981; Zulich,
1989). While Zulich (1989) describes her personal experience as a student in the system 35 years
ago and mentions the benefits of this centralized system, particularly in ensuring that students

22
attending rural schools received resources and education comparable to their peers in suburban
areas, modern critics such as Terrell (2023) contend that this approach may not be suitable for
Hawai‘i’s size and complexity, now serving nearly 300 schools across eight islands. According
to Roth (2023), who served once served as Hawai‘i Governor Linda Lingle’s education advisor,
The Hawai‘i public schools structure is rigid. It’s overly centralized. It’s overly top
down. It’s overly standardized. It has shamefully little transparency. And the way it’s
structured, it’s impossible to hold anyone accountable for what the kids are or are not
learning.
Policies and Governance
One such example of a state policy teachers are responsible for implementing in Hawai‘i
is Nā Hopena A‘o (HĀ), a framework of educational outcomes deeply grounded in Hawaiian
values that prioritizes cultural inclusivity for Native Hawaiian and Hawai‘i residents regardless
of their racial background. The policy introduced six distinct and culturally-rooted outcomes
designed to enhance students’ development across all subjects throughout their entire K-12
journey (HIDOE, n.d.). These six outcomes include (a) belonging, (b) responsibility, (c)
excellence, (d) aloha, (e) total well-being, and (f) connection to Hawai‘i (HIDOE, n.d.). The HĀ
Framework seeks to humanize pedagogy by bringing in students’ cultural capital to the
classroom, re-indigenizing educational outcomes, and allowing students to acquire knowledge
and connection to the ‘āina (land), ultimately promoting a more inclusive, culturally sensitive,
and equitable learning experience. However, while the state aims for all teachers to implement
such policies, the centralized system offers little to no support to help educators understand the
context of their communities, especially those from the mainland (HIDOE, 2024). Furthermore,
there is no formal system in place within the policy to evaluate its impact, leaving teachers to

23
learn about their communities and navigate many aspects of their cultural awareness completely
on their own (Sang & Worchel, 2017).
The unique governance of school funding in Hawai‘i, which is the only state in the entire
nation to utilize general state funds rather than property taxes to fund education (Zulich, 1989),
profoundly impacts teacher compensation. Unlike other regions in the United States, where
increasing property taxes or local fundraising can generate additional revenue for schools,
Hawai‘i’s centralized funding model makes it impossible to simply ‘add to the pot’ to address
resource allocation like increasing teacher compensation (Terrell, 2023). According to the
Hawai‘i State Teachers Association (2022), teachers in Hawai‘i have historically not been paid
based on years of experience like in other districts in the nation, and when adjusted for the cost
of living, teacher salaries consistently rank as the lowest in the nation. This is not only a
significant challenge for teachers, but is also a significant factor characterizing the school
environment for many teachers in Hawai‘i.
Teacher Leadership Expectations Outside Instruction
In the 21st century, the concept of teacher leadership has continually evolved as the role
of teachers has expanded beyond the isolation of their classrooms in order to support their
professional development as well as school wide decision-making processes (Cosenza, 2015).
While teacher leadership may look different in each school depending on the administrative
leadership, teacher leader roles include department chairpersons, grade-level representatives,
union representatives, and committee or focus group leaders (Cosenza, 2015). While teacher
leadership can be an empowering experience for teachers to make a greater impact on school
wide goals, the National Education Association (2020) argues that teacher leadership should be
focused on instruction and student learning. While teacher leadership should be focused on

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promoting instructional excellence, school leadership often has an impact in using it as a guise to
give teachers extra responsibilities that do not meet the goals of how teacher leadership is
intended (Ledesma, 2011). This impact of what teachers are assigned to do outside the classroom
largely shapes their perception of their school environment.
Teacher Mental Health and Wellness
Given increased responsibilities and societal changes that influence the school
environment, especially over the past 3 decades, teacher mental health and wellness has been
recognized as a very real and urgent problem (Ferguson et al., 2012). The greater job demands
that emerged during and after the COVID-19 pandemic led to more work pressure and
exhaustion in the school environment that further impacted teacher wellness (Sokal, 2020). In
this section, I review research on how wellness has been historically defined, how it has evolved,
and how it can be applied to understanding teachers’ holistic well-being.
Conceptualizing Mental Health and Wellness
There is no single definition of wellness. Sixty five years ago, Dunn (1959), regarded as
the father of the wellness movement, explained wellness as a direction towards an ever-higher
potential of functioning. Central to Dunn’s (1959) definition of wellness is the concept of
holism—that wellness is not just physical, but involves the interconnectedness of many facets of
the total individual, including their thoughts, feelings, and actions. This foundational idea has
influenced subsequent conceptualizations of mental health and wellness. Ardell (1977) expanded
upon earlier definitions of wellness by introducing a model with five dimensions: nutritional
awareness, environmental sensitivity, stress management, physical fitness, and selfresponsibility. Concurrently, Hetler (1977) proposed a model comprising six dimensions:
emotional, spiritual, intellectual, social, physical, and occupational. Subsequent iterations, such

25
as Swarbrick’s (2006) model, expanded the dimensions to eight, adding financial and
environmental dimensions.
Figure 1
Swarbrick’s Eight Dimensions of Wellness
Note. From “A wellness approach,” by Swarbrick (2006).

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Despite these variations of wellness, the overarching theme has remained consistent that
wellness is a multifaceted construct and its various dimensions are not only intertwined, but
affect each other. Understanding this is crucial in the context of teacher wellness, where various
dimensions intersect to shape educators’ overall well-being.
Teacher Wellness
Research has consistently demonstrated the strong correlation between wellness and
productivity across various industries. A large-scale study of different industries found that
workers are 13% more productive when they are happy (Bellet et al., 2019). Organizations that
began prioritizing their employees’ mental health and wellness found that absenteeism decreased
by 60% (Wu et al., 2021). In the school context, teacher wellness plays a crucial role in shaping
student experiences and outcomes. Happy teachers are more likely to create supportive
classrooms, model positive social-emotional behaviors, and foster student motivation and
engagement, all of which contribute to a more effective learning environment (Jerrim, 2024).
Ultimately, these factors contribute to improved academic achievement and improved outcomes
for students, particularly those from low-SES backgrounds (Banerjee et al., 2017).
Teacher Unwellness
Those in the caring and helping professions (teachers, doctors, psychologists, nurses, etc.)
are particularly susceptible to adverse impacts on their wellness (Skovholt & Trotter-Matheson,
2016). While it is expected for teachers to experience stress levels that impact their wellness,
they may feel lacking in the efficacy or power to resolve those challenges on their own
(Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001). Without having the resources or support in place to address
their wellness leads to higher levels of stress, burnout, absenteeism, and attrition.

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Stress
Since Selye (1976) initially defined stress as the “rate of wear and tear of life” (p. 74),
the concept of stress has undergone significant evolution. Lazarus and Folkman (1984) expanded
upon this definition by introducing cognitive appraisal theory, which is widely accepted as the
leading model explaining stress (Garrosa & Moreno-Jimenez, 2013; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).
Cognitive appraisal theory emphasizes the idea that situations are not intrinsically good or bad,
and that stress is highly interpretive and contingent upon individuals’ perceptions (Garrosa &
Moreno-Jimenez, 2013). According to cognitive appraisal theory, because humans make
cognitive appraisals to determine whether situations are stressful, some situations may be
perceived as positive if the surrounding environment of the situation is framed positively,
thereby reducing the feeling of stress (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).
Teaching, as revealed by surveys conducted prior to the pandemic, has always been
known to be one of the most stressful professions in the United States (Gallup, 2014). Steiner
and Woo (2021) found that during the pandemic, three out of every four teachers reported feeling
frequently stressed. Roff (2006) notes that teachers in low-SES settings tend to experience higher
levels of perceived stress, indicating that high-need students are more likely to have teachers
who are not well-supported. Lever et al. (2017) argues that schools often fail to provide adequate
programs, resources, or tools to support teachers in managing stress effectively. According to
cognitive appraisal theory, teachers will continue to experience stress if tangible support remains
absent, perpetuating their appraisal of various factors as stressors (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984;
Lever et al., 2017).
Burnout
The concept of burnout emerged in the mid-1970’s when Freudenberger (1974)

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conducted a research study on healthcare workers and observed a gradual emotional depletion
and loss of motivation amongst long-term employees. Building upon those ideas, Maslach (1976)
expanded the scope of burnout research to include participants from various professions, such as
lawyers, physicians, nurses, and psychologists. Maslach’s (1976) findings revealed that burnout
was not confined to specific jobs but existed across diverse work settings, and is characterized by
similar themes of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal
accomplishment.
In the context of education, researchers have described depersonalization and cynicism as
some of the biggest symptoms of burnout resulting in significant repercussions not only for
educators, but also for students (Brasfield et al., 2019). Specifically, burnout negatively impacts
student–teacher relationships, which are crucial for student achievement (Brasfield et al., 2019;
Klem & Connell, 2004). Teachers perceived as supportive and compassionate foster
environments of high student engagement and achievement, whereas those affected by burnout
and depersonalization contribute to an adverse learning environment (Maslach, 1976; Klem &
Connell, 2004).
Attrition
Teacher attrition refers to qualified teachers leaving the profession for reasons other than
having reached the age of retirement (Kelchtermans, 2017). In the 1990’s, teacher attrition in the
United States was relatively low, and was comparable to the annual attrition rate in highperforming countries such as Finland and Singapore (Carver-Thomas and Darling-Hammond,
2017). However, Carver-Thomas and Darling-Hammond (2017) note that teacher attrition has
increased dramatically in the 21st century, with an average 16% attrition each year. CarverThomas and Darling-Hammond (2017) note that stressors—most notably NCLB testing, lack of

29
administrative support, and dissatisfaction with teaching conditions among the biggest factors of
attrition. After the COVID-19 pandemic, data shows that in eight states (including Hawai‘i),
teacher attrition is at the highest level it has ever been while the achievement gap has
concurrently widened (Barnum, 2023). Walker (2020) adds that Hawai‘i consistently has the
highest rate of teacher attrition in the nation.
While researchers like Abelson and Baysinger (1984) may argue that teacher attrition is
not all bad and can bring in better people and new ideas into an organization, it poses particularly
detrimental effects on low-SES schools, especially when those students are taught by new
teachers or substitute teachers each day their entire lives. Ronfeldt et al. (2013) argue that when
teachers leave, low-SES schools in particular have a hard time filling their vacancies and end up
hiring new and inexperienced teachers. Additionally, the Learning Policy Institute (2024)
discusses it costs nearly $25,000 to replace each teacher with costs related to recruitment, new
teacher training, and mentorship. This ultimately impacts all students, even those in classes with
teachers who remain in the school, as funds are used to replace teachers rather than on
instructional supports for students (Hanushek et al., 2016). According to Berne and Stiefel
(1999), when the inputs—such as teacher experience and stability—are consistently low, student
learning outcomes suffer.
Low-SES schools in particular struggle to close the achievement gap because there is a
persistent gap in teaching quality that comes from having to constantly rebuild their staff
(Carroll, 2015). Ronfeldt et al. (2013) note that schools that consistently have new staff are more
likely to struggle in implementing instructional programs coherently, which harms student
achievement. Bryk and Schneider (2002) emphasize that high attrition impacts the quality of

30
relationships and trust between teachers, and between teachers and students, which is a huge
predictor of student achievement.
Absenteeism
According to Rhodes and Steers’ (1990) theory of absenteeism, absence behavior is
determined by two distinct factors: their physical ability to attend and their personal motivation.
Research conducted since the late 1990’s, notably by Norton (1998), has revealed a statistically
significant correlation between job-related stress among teachers and their absenteeism. This
underscores the profound impact of workplace stress on teachers’ motivation and attendance.
Greene and Butcher (2023) highlight the exacerbation of teacher absenteeism post-pandemic,
with 72% of public schools experiencing higher teacher absenteeism rates. The consequences of
frequent teacher absences extend beyond staffing challenges, with substantial financial and
learning implications. From a financial perspective, teacher absenteeism has an extremely high
cost and results in a lessening of school resources needed to support instructional programs
(Bruno, 2002). Teacher absenteeism also contributes to significant learning loss amongst
students (Greene & Butcher, 2023; Norton, 1998). Additionally, Greene and Butcher (2023)
claim that teacher absences can also result in negative behavioral concerns amongst students,
which not only affects their learning but the overall atmosphere and culture of the school.
Importance of Teacher Wellness on School and Student Outcomes
The development of different wellness models over time underscores the universal
significance of well-being across all professions and contexts (Ardell 1977; Dunn, 1959; Hetler,
1977; Swarbrick, 2006). Teachers, however, work within an ever-changing field influenced by
dynamic policies, societal events, and cultural shifts, which lead to more responsibilities and
heightened stress levels (Ben-Peretz, 2001; Valli & Buese, 2007). Research consistently

31
indicates that teachers experience elevated stress levels compared to other professions, often
manifesting in detrimental outcomes such as burnout, attrition, and absenteeism (Lever et al.,
2017; Steiner & Woo, 2021). The current demands inherent in the school environment
significantly influence teacher wellness. Policies surrounding high-stakes testing, for instance,
has emerged as a prominent stressor (Brasfield et al., 2019). Moreover, the surge in demands,
particularly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has significantly impacted teachers’
occupational and physical wellness, presenting a stark contrast between the expectations of the
profession and the realities teachers face, often leading to teachers consistently working extended
hours (Herman et al., 2021). The physical and occupational exhaustion also takes a toll on
teachers’ emotional wellness. Fisher (2011), Maslach et al. (2001), and Skaalvik and Skaalvik
(2017) argue that when teachers’ physical and occupational wellness is not prioritized, it leads to
a decline in emotional wellness, characterized through depersonalization or the disengagement of
students or teaching and reduced feelings of personal accomplishment. Klem and Connell (2004)
and Yoon (2002) find that this decline in emotional wellness negatively affects teachers’ social
wellness, as they struggle to maintain healthy student–teacher relationships. These findings
exhibit the concept of holism and underscore the interconnectedness of teacher wellness: when
one dimension of teachers’ wellness is compromised, it inevitably reverberates through other
wellness dimensions and ultimately impacts how they decide to cope with their sentiments.
This is problematic because the resulting effects of teachers’ unwellness not only impact
students’ academic achievement but also their emotional well-being (Lever et al., 2017). To
promote more equitable student outcomes, school leaders must better support teacher mental
health and wellness, fostering efficacy and retention, ensuring that all students—especially those
attending low-SES schools—are taught by high-quality, effective educators.

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Leadership Practices
Teachers’ mental health and wellness is inextricably linked to the demands and pressures
of the school environment and evolving job responsibilities. While the demands of teaching that
have historically developed will not go away, the school environment can be influenced by
leadership. As noted by Leithwood et al. (2004) in their influential Wallace Foundationcommissioned school leadership research review, school-level leadership is the second most
important factor influencing student achievement, surpassed only by the teacher. This is because
school leaders have significant influences on staff members’ motivations, commitments, and
perceptions regarding the supportive nature of their school environment that influence how they
support their students (Day et al., 2020). Leadership practices, which encompasses everything
from the personal qualities or characteristics possessed by leaders to the actions leaders take to
support their staff, are critical in promoting teacher wellness and fostering a supportive school
environment (Borko et al., 2007; Taylor & Wasicsko, 2000). Considering Lazarus and Folman’s
(1984) theory of cognitive appraisal, which outlines that stressors are largely subject to how
individuals interpret events, leadership is necessary to create a supportive structure. Leaders who
prioritize creating supportive structures can significantly influence how teachers perceive and
respond to the demands and pressures within the school environment. This highlights the pivotal
role of leadership in shaping the overall wellness and morale of teachers.
Lack of Current Research
Despite widespread acknowledgement of teacher mental health and wellness concerns,
evidenced by extensive state and national-level data, substantive solutions to address teacher
wellness remain elusive. While much of the existing literature discusses the implementation of
specific wellness programs and strategies tailored for teachers, such as mindfulness and SEL for

33
teachers, there remains a notable gap in understanding how leadership practices are important to
consider in bettering teacher wellness outcomes. In their systematic review of 2 decades of
research on school leadership, Grissom et al. (2011) describe the key responsibilities of
principals, including instructionally focused interactions with teachers, equity-driven decisions,
and facilitating learning communities. However, there is a gap in understanding how principals’
support of teacher wellness outcomes could also be a significant responsibility that allows them
to contribute to positive school outcomes.
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework presented in Figure 2 illustrates the cyclical process of the
three primary concepts in this study: school environment, mental health and wellness, and
leadership. In this cyclical framework, factors in the school environment, shaped by job
demands, state policies, and principal leadership, affects teacher mental health and wellness.
Teacher mental health and wellness is either positive or negative, depending on the how the
individual perceives the factors in the school environment. Positive teacher mental health and
wellness results in greater job satisfaction and increased performance, while negative teacher
mental health and wellness can result in stress, burnout, attrition, and absenteeism (Achor, 2018;
Doan et al., 2023). The way teachers experience their wellness then affects the leadership
practices that principals must adopt to improve school-based conditions for their teachers, which
if done effectively, will better the perceptions of the school environment for teachers.

34
Figure 2
Conceptual Framework
Conclusion
This chapter reviews the literature on the increased and ever-changing job demands that
impact teacher wellness, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. From the literature, it is
apparent that teacher mental health and wellness, when supported, leads to increased teacher
performance and student outcomes. Conversely, the repercussions when teacher mental health
and wellness is overlooked, leads to high stress levels, burnout, attrition, and absenteeism that
negative affects students, schools, and systems. While existing literature predominantly
emphasizes program-based interventions to alleviate teacher stress, an under researched area is
the role of effective school leaders in supporting teacher wellness. This study aims to address this
gap by exploring how site leaders can provide meaningful and sustained support for teachers’
well-being. Chapter Three will outline the methodology used to answer the research questions.

35
Chapter Three: Methodology
The primary objective of this study is to provide insight into the factors K–12 classroom
teachers in the HIDOE’s ‘Ike District believe affect their wellness. Additionally, the study aims
to explore the leadership practices of site leaders in effectively supporting teacher mental health
and wellness. This chapter outlines the research design, beginning with a review of the problem
of practice and research questions, followed by a rationale for a qualitative approach. Next, I
describe the study’s sample and population, detail the data collection methods, and discuss my
researcher positionality, ethical considerations, credibility, and trustworthiness. Finally, I address
the data analysis methods and the limitations of the research.
Statement of the Problem
The teaching profession is consistently linked to high stress levels that impact teacher
mental health and wellness (Cooper & Travers, 2012; Lever et al., 2017). While this problem
exists nationwide, it is particularly prevalent in the HIDOE, which has the highest rate of teacher
attrition in the nation largely attributed to factors in the school environment (HIDOE, 2023).
Within the HIDOE, the ‘Ike District experiences the highest attrition rate which contributes to
disparities in student achievement compared to in other areas of the state and highlights the need
to understand and authentically support teacher well-being particularly in this region (HIDOE,
2023; Lee, 2019). Despite compelling evidence that underscores the urgency of addressing
teacher mental health and wellness, there is a gap in understanding effective strategies that
genuinely benefit educators and lead to greater retention that improves student outcomes (Bukko,
2019; Lever et al., 2017). Therefore, there is a pressing need to comprehend the factors
influencing teacher wellness. Equally important is understanding the leadership practices
teachers believe are essential for feeling authentically supported.

36
Purpose of the Study
This study has a dual purpose. First, it aims to illuminate the specific challenges K–12
classroom teachers within the ‘Ike District of the HIDOE encounter in their school environments
that affect their mental health and wellness. Despite the proliferation of initiatives targeting
teacher wellness, attrition rates remain high, showing a misalignment between implemented
solutions and the genuine needs of teachers. This research seeks to understand job-related factors
in the school environment affecting teacher wellness in the HIDOE ‘Ike District.
Secondly, this study focuses on the leadership practices of site leaders in cultivating
school environments that prioritize the wellness of teachers. Given that conditions affecting
teacher wellness are often entangled in policies and job demands that will continue to persist and
grow in the future, the way site leaders respond and shape the school environment by supporting
teacher wellness is heavily influenced by their leadership practices. Therefore, this study will
also seek to understand the leadership practices teachers believe are needed to foster a supportive
school environment conducive to teacher wellness.
To recap, the research questions for this study are:
1. What do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike District believe to be the
job-related factors that influence their mental health and wellness?
2. How do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike District describe their mental
health and wellness?
3. What do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike District believe are
important leadership practices their site leaders must exhibit to authentically support
teachers with their mental health and wellness?

37
Each of these research questions aligns with a key concept from the framework introduced in
Chapter Two. Research Question 1 relates to the school environment, Research Question 2
focuses on mental health and wellness, and Research Question 3 examines leadership.
Qualitative Research Design
In determining the appropriate methodology to answer my research questions, I
concluded that a qualitative approach was the most suitable choice. My research questions were
deliberately constructed to explore the lived experiences and meaning-making processes of
teachers, a fundamental aspect of qualitative research (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017; Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). The study emphasized participants’ perceptions and allowed me to understand
how they made sense of their school environments, mental health and wellness, and views on
leadership (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Each participant had unique
experiences based on their school environments, roles, and positionality, and the goal was to
explore these experiences with depth and complexity rather than generalizing them as
representative of the entire teacher population (Agee, 2009; Lochmiller & Lester, 2017).
As the primary instrument for data collection, I conducted interviews with participants.
Then, as Lochmiller and Lester (2017) suggest, I used rich descriptions to paint a detailed picture
of participants’ lived experiences. This study aligned with narrative research, a qualitative
method that constructs the meaning of teachers’ lived experiences to offer insights into the
factors that affect their mental health and wellness and how site leaders in the ‘Ike District can
authentically support their teachers (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017).
Sample and Population
A purposeful sampling technique was most appropriate for this study because it allowed
me to deliberately select participants who could offer unique perspectives to answer my research

38
questions. Because I did not want the study to be biased by including participants I regularly
speak with who may have shared similar thoughts about their mental health and wellness, I
avoided convenience sampling. Using convenience sampling would have limited the study by
restricting interviews to those who were more accessible and in closer proximity, reducing the
richness of information gathered (Johnson & Christensen, 2017; Lochmiller & Lester, 2017;
Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). As Lochmiller and Lester (2017) describe, purposeful sampling
involves specific criteria in the selection process.
Therefore, the two main criteria I considered were:
1. Participants must be K–12 public school teachers who, at the time of the study, were
currently teaching in or have taught in the ‘Ike District.
2. Participants must represent a range of teaching experiences.
To be eligible for the study, participants needed to have taught in the ‘Ike District for at
least one year, with “teaching” defined as having a classroom with their own students. Nonclassroom support staff, even if classified as teachers by the HIDOE, were not included.
I aimed to ensure my sample included a wide range of perspectives to explore whether
differing themes would emerge across various participant groups. For example, I included early
career teachers with less than 5 years of teaching experience as well as veteran teachers with
more than 5 years of teaching experience to explore whether there would be different types of
factors that would affect their wellness across these two groups. I also welcomed both
traditionally and alternatively certified teachers to see whether factors in how they were prepared
would affect their wellness. Traditionally certified teachers complete a 4-year undergraduate
degree in education, and a period of supervised student teaching under a mentor (Walsh &
Jacobs, 2007). On the other hand, alternatively certified teachers allow aspiring educators to

39
become teachers without completing a university program, aiming to provide quick entry into the
teaching profession, particularly in high-need areas (Walsh & Jacobs, 2007). I included both
elementary and secondary educators from the district, as well as core (English, math, science,
and social studies) and elective subject teachers to capture distinct experiences. While core
subject teachers face responsibilities such as preparing their students for high-stakes testing,
elective teachers teach subjects that students enroll in by choice and do not usually have the
accountability of a high-stakes test at the end of their course as they only provide credits for
promotion (Denham, 2002). Lastly, I included kama‘āina—participants who were born and
raised in Hawai‘i as well as those from outside the state to investigate potential differences in
their experiences.
As someone who had recently transitioned to an independent school outside the HIDOE
at the time of the study, I conducted my sampling independently and separately from the district.
Instead of utilizing district resources such as contact lists or emails, I recruited participants by
sending invitations to personal emails and sharing study details on platforms like Facebook,
Instagram, and LinkedIn. To ensure a diverse range of participants, I created an interest screener
on Google Forms, which was distributed alongside my recruitment materials and provided basic
study information. The form, shared in Appendix B, asked potential participants to share key
details about their teaching background, including years of experience, certification type, and
teaching level, allowing me to select participants with varied experiences. While I developed the
interest screener to select a diverse group of participants from a larger pool of volunteers, I
realized during the process that I did not need to limit participants based on the screener, as the
10 volunteers who expressed interest already represented a variety of backgrounds, including the

40
full range of experiences described in my purposeful sampling criteria. I invited all 10 volunteers
who completed the interest screener to be participants in my study.
I also utilized snowball sampling, a strategy which allowed me to leverage connections
from participants who referred others willing to share their experiences, but did not necessarily
see my recruitment materials due to not being in my email or social media networks (Lochmiller
& Lester, 2017). Understanding that qualitative research is emergent and requires flexibility, the
study expanded throughout the data collection process to include two additional participants
through referrals. This ultimately resulted in a total of 12 participants in the study who
represented seven different schools within the ‘Ike District.
Data Collection
To answer my research questions, I determined that the most appropriate qualitative
method was using a semi-structured interview protocol, which allowed me to gather the
necessary information while also allowing flexibility for participants to share perspectives that
were not directly asked in my interview protocol, which led to additional insights (Lochmiller &
Lester, 2017). I chose to conduct these semi-structured interviews individually due to the
potential sensitivity of discussing personal experiences with mental health and wellness. I
wanted participants to feel comfortable feeling open, transparent, and honest in their responses,
and conducting the interviews individually was the best way to achieve that (Lochmiller &
Lester, 2017). Using Lochmiller and Lester’s (2017) framework, I designed my interview
protocol based on the three concepts in my conceptual framework introduced in Chapter Two:
school environment, mental health and wellness, and leadership. While the interview protocol
was semi-structured, which allowed for flexibility, the questions provided a guide to ensure I
gathered the information necessary to answer each of my research questions. Table 1 presents the

41
three concepts in the study along with the corresponding interview protocol questions that
aligned with each concept.
Table 1
Concepts in Interview Protocol
Concept Interview protocol questions
School environment Walk me through a typical day you experience at your school.
How would you describe the overall atmosphere or environment
at your school?
What are some positive aspects of your school environment?
What are some areas of improvement in your school
environment?
Mental health and wellness How would you personally define mental health and wellness?
How would you personally define mental health and wellness, as
it relates to teachers specifically?
What significance, if any, do you see in teachers prioritizing
their mental health and wellness?
How has your mental health and wellness been positively or
negatively impacted through being in your school
environment?
Leadership Tell me about the level of support you receive, if at all, from
your school leaders regarding your mental health and wellness.
Think about a specific experience you had in which your school
leaders attempted to support you and your colleagues’
wellness. What did that feel like?
Some may say that school-level leaders cannot change the
external factors that have a significant impact on teacher
wellness. What would you say to them?
Suppose your school leaders made a commitment to truly
prioritize your mental health and wellness. What would that
ideal environment look like?

42
Since I conducted this study independently from the HIDOE, following their guidelines
for researchers who are not employees, I scheduled all interviews outside HIDOE contract hours
and off of HIDOE campuses to ensure participants could engage without conflicting work
commitments. Participants located in Hawai‘i at the time of the study decided whether they
wanted to complete their interview in person or virtually, which some participants chose simply
out of convenience. Interviews with participants who had relocated to the mainland had to be
conducted virtually. All interviews were recorded with participants’ consent. In addition to
recording the interviews, I also took notes on key points participants mentioned, which helped
capture important details and nuances in their responses.
Positionality
As the primary research instrument in qualitative research, it was important for me to
consider my own researcher positionality as I constructed my interview protocol and before I
interviewed my participants (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). I am a
Taiwanese American educator who has experienced anxiety my entire life. Born in the majority
Asian American community of Monterey Park, California, and growing up in a Taiwanese
American household where wellness was never discussed, I navigated my anxiety without any
proper awareness. Despite growing up in a Chinese-speaking household, which heightened my
anxiety in a school setting where I was forced to assimilate to dominant cultural norms, I was
often treated like a model minority, conforming to cultural stereotypes of being obedient, hardworking, and academically successful (Blackburn, 2019). While I always worked hard in school,
the cultural norms my family taught me led me to view stress and anxiety as forms of weakness,
pushing me to put my head down and work harder in the face of challenges while ignoring my
own mental health and wellness.

43
As a former veteran public school teacher in the HIDOE ‘Ike District, I found myself
constantly prioritizing others before myself—working long hours, taking on numerous projects,
and managing conflicts—things that only escalated the stress and anxiety I was already facing. I
constantly felt like I was doing a lot, but the system (administrators, parents, students, etc.) made
me feel as though I was not doing enough. My positionality is also shaped by personal factors,
such as moving to Hawai‘i without any family or support systems and being an early career
teacher during the COVID-19 pandemic who entered teaching through an alternative
certification program. While teachers are expected to support students in their wellness and refer
them to support systems, similar systems for teachers were less apparent to me. This led me to
deny my own wellness issues over the years and simultaneously fueled my interest in learning
how to better support teachers’ wellness in any future leadership role I may assume.
While my positionality inherently guided my interest in this topic, it also introduced
potential biases I had to conscientiously acknowledge as I designed and conducted the study.
These biases were important to address to understand how my perspectives might expand or limit
the research (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). Having faced wellness issues myself, one bias I
wanted to prevent was essentialism, which Lochmiller and Lester (2017) describe as the
tendency to overgeneralize experiences, reducing the diversity and richness of participants’
experiences. Another bias I wanted to prevent was perpetuating damage-centered research,
which focuses solely on deficit and pain narratives (Tuck & Yang, 2014). Even though I had
personally experienced challenges with my wellness as a teacher in the HIDOE ‘Ike District, I
wanted to avoid assuming that all other teachers faced similar experiences, as this could
dehumanize my participants even before they were invited into the study. Finally, I wanted to be
cognizant that my positionality could have limited my openness to the inductive process of

44
qualitative research. Merriam and Tisdell (2016) argue that qualitative researchers must remain
open to the emergence of unexpected themes or perspectives, especially when existing theories
do not fully explain a particular experience. It was important for me to acknowledge that while
my positionality drove my research, I had to remain open to emergent themes that differed from
my own experiences, which could enrich the depth of my findings. To address these issues, I
structured my interview protocol so everything was participant-centered. By constructing
questions using neutral language and giving voice to my participants to discuss their identities
and how they define mental health and wellness, I avoided imposing any of my own biases on to
their experiences.
Power
In acknowledging power dynamics in my research design, it was important to consider
my transition into an administrative role outside the HIDOE, as that may have impacted my
participants’ willingness to share openly. To address this, I prioritized transparency in my
interactions, sought to build trust with participants, and worked to create an interview
environment that encouraged openness and honesty. Additionally, I committed to conduct
interviews off-campus, in private settings, or virtually to foster an atmosphere conducive to
candid conversations.
Ethics
Rubin and Rubin (2012) explain that ethical research involves showing respect to
participants and sustaining a culture of mutual trust. In the sampling stage, I provided all
participants with informed consent, emphasizing transparency about the study’s purpose and the
voluntary nature of their participation (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). Due to the sensitive nature of
this study, participants could have been harmed, especially if their responses to interview

45
questions were stigmatizing. If participants disclosed struggles with job dissatisfaction, they may
have feared retaliation from their school leaders after the study was published. It was important
for me to communicate with participants that they had the right to withdraw at any point without
penalty during the study, and I took responsibility for being transparent, assuring them I would
do my best to protect their identities and any other identifiable factors as I disseminated my
findings.
Another potential risk my participants may have faced was retraumatization, particularly
when describing experiences in their school settings. Therefore, I ensured participants were
aware of and understood that risk. Seidman (2013) discusses entering interviews with a lens of
cultural humility. As I was conducting my interviews, it was important for me not to pressure
participants to answer a question, so a strategy I used to demonstrate my cultural humility was to
consistently observe how participants reacted to questions, ensuring they were not retraumatized
or harmed while sharing their experiences, and also giving them the right to pass on a question if
they did not feel comfortable.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
In maximizing the level of credibility and trustworthiness of my research, Merriam and
Tisdell (2016) discuss the importance of reflexivity, which involves the researcher continuously
reflecting on their biases, assumptions, and perspectives throughout the research process.
Maxwell (2013) argues that there is no way to eliminate researcher bias, and that the researcher
must be transparent about how these biases might affect their interpretation of the data.
As I mentioned in the positionality section, I approached this study with the lens of being
a teacher in the HIDOE ‘Ike District who struggled with my own mental health and wellness and
personally felt I was not adequately supported in my school. This led to several types of biases I

46
had to consider in the research design. To avoid confirmation bias, I invited all participants who
indicated interest into the study to ensure the data reflected a wide range of perspectives (Avelar
La Salle & Johnson, 2019). I also constructed my interview protocol so it would be free of any
leading questions that could reflect my own opinions about teacher wellness.
Merriam and Tisdell (2016) emphasize the importance of member checking to enhance
the credibility and trustworthiness of the research. Given that my personal biases may have been
unconscious, I invited my participants to engage in the research process by allowing them to
verify the accuracy of their contributions. I conducted member checking by transcribing audio
recordings, creating interview transcripts, matching the transcript with the recording to ensure I
transcribed correctly, and sharing them through email with each participant to confirm that the
transcript accurately captured what they intended to communicate before beginning the data
analysis process. Of the 12 participants, seven responded to verify their transcripts, while five
did not reply. The lack of response from several participants presents a limitation, as their
perspectives were not directly validated, potentially affecting the credibility of my
interpretations. However, to the greatest extent possible, I sought to maintain credibility and
trustworthiness by ensuring my transcription process was rigorous and accurately represented the
perspectives shared during the interviews.
Data Analysis
After transcribing all my interviews and giving my participants the opportunity to engage
in member checking, I began my data analysis process. It was important to me to wait until all
interviews were completed before analyzing the data to avoid premature conclusions that may
have influenced how I interpreted subsequent interviews. Lochmiller and Lester (2017) describe
qualitative data analysis as a process that involves coding—organizing, classifying, and

47
categorizing data—along with pattern recognition and synthesis. Following this framework, I
engaged in an abductive coding approach, incorporating both inductive and deductive (a priori)
coding methods.
To analyze data for Research Questions 1 and 3, I utilized inductive coding, allowing
codes to emerge organically from the data without predetermined categories (Lochmiller &
Lester, 2017; Maxwell, 2013; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). I systematically reviewed all interview
transcripts, identifying recurring words and phrases. To organize this process, I created an Excel
spreadsheet for each research question, listing participants in rows. As each code came up, I
added a new column header with the word or phrase. As I reviewed interview transcripts,
whenever a participant used the same code, such as “class size,” I marked their row accordingly.
This allowed me to quantify the frequency of specific codes across the 12 interviews and analyze
which codes appeared most frequently.
For Research Question 2, I used deductive (a priori) coding, which involves using preestablished codes and examining the data for alignment (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017; Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). Specifically, I applied Swarbrick’s (2006) eight dimensions of wellness,
introduced in Chapter Two, as my coding framework. Using the same method as I did with my
other two research questions, I listed each of the eight dimensions of wellness as column headers
in an Excel spreadsheet and carefully reviewed interview transcripts, noting participants that
used words or phrases in their interviews related to each dimension. This approach enabled me to
systematically assess which dimensions of wellness were most referenced across participants.
After completing the coding process, I synthesized the data by grouping the most
common codes into broader thematic categories using colors on my Excel spreadsheet. For
example, codes that mentioned “large class sizes,” “working after hours,” “no support in the

48
classroom” fell under a broader theme of unrealistic expectations. This thematic organization
allowed me to take my many individual codes and identify overarching patterns in the data,
which ultimately informed the findings of my study.
Research Timeline
My research process began with the design, submission, and presentation of the proposal,
which outlined the research purpose, methodology, and significance of the study. Following
approval of the proposal, I completed the IRB application process to ensure ethical
considerations with my participants would be met prior to data collection. Once I obtained the
IRB approval, I recruited participants by disseminating information about the study through
personal emails and social media platforms. Next, I conducted the data collection process,
scheduling and conducting interviews with participants, transcribing recordings, and organizing
data for analysis. I then coded the data and identified patterns, organizing them into broader
themes to report in my findings. Table 2 presents a timeline of the research process.
Table 2
Timeline of Research
Step Dates Number of days
Proposal design,
submission, and
presentation
10/16/2023 – 5/31/2024 228 days
IRB application process 6/1/2024 – 7/10/2024 31 days
Recruitment of participants 7/11/2024 – 9/3/2024 55 days
Data collection 9/4/2024 – 12/20/2024 108 days
Data analysis 12/21/2024 – 1/26/2025 37 days

49
Summary
This chapter outlined the research design and methodological choices guiding the study.
A qualitative approach was chosen to address the research questions, as it allows for an in-depth
exploration of teachers’ experiences with their mental health and wellness. Purposeful and
snowball sampling led to semi-structured interviews that gathered data on how teachers within
the HIDOE ‘Ike District experience wellness and describe the leadership practices necessary to
foster a supportive school environment. The study design considered researcher positionality,
power dynamics, ethical considerations, and strategies to ensure credibility and trustworthiness.
Data was analyzed using abductive coding to determine themes that provide valuable insights
into the aspects of teacher wellness and site leadership in the HIDOE ‘Ike District. Chapter Four
will report the findings for each of my research questions.

50
Chapter Four: Findings
This study aimed to understand the factors affecting the mental health and wellness of
K–12 classroom teachers in the ‘Ike District of the Hawai‘i State Department of Education
(HIDOE). Additionally, this study gathered insights into what teachers believe are the essential
leadership practices site leaders should adopt to better support their well-being and foster a more
positive and sustainable work environment optimal for increased student achievement.
The study and data collection process were guided by the following questions:
1. What do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike District believe to be the
job-related factors that influence their mental health and wellness?
2. How do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike District describe their mental
health and wellness?
3. What do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike District believe are
important leadership practices their site leaders must exhibit to authentically support
teachers with their mental health and wellness?
This chapter provides a detailed discussion of interview responses gathered during the
data collection process, allowing me to understand how participants experience the key concepts
of school environment, mental health and wellness, and leadership introduced in my conceptual
framework. The findings are organized by research question and further categorized into themes
and subthemes that emerged related to each question. Finally, a summary of the findings related
to each question is presented, along with a cumulative summary at the end of this chapter.
Participants
The participants in this study were 12 elementary and secondary teachers who had
experience teaching in the HIDOE ‘Ike District for at least 1 school year. To ensure participants

51
had similar job responsibilities, only teachers with their own classrooms who worked directly
with students were eligible to participate. Participants included Native Hawaiians born and raised
in Hawai‘i, kama‘āina who do not identify as Native Hawaiian, as well as individuals who
moved to Hawai‘i. Most participants were veteran teachers with 5 or more years of experience,
while some were early career teachers who had less than 5 years of experience. Some were
certified through traditional teacher preparation programs, while others began teaching through
alternative certification programs. The participants taught a variety of different subjects,
reflecting diverse perspectives that could come from having different roles in their school
settings. Participants came from seven different schools within the district, and while some
shared schools but experienced them differently, the inclusion of participants from different
school settings provided valuable insights into varying structures and practices across the district.
Given the high mobility in the HIDOE, some participants had transferred to other regions of the
state, while others had transitioned to the mainland and participated in the study through virtual
interviews. Four participants left teaching all together and worked in different industries as they
voluntarily participated in this study. However, all participants reflected specifically on their
experiences in the ‘Ike District in their semi-structured interviews, even if they had worked in
schools outside the district throughout their careers. Table 3 provides further background
information to offer a fuller understanding of the participants, with identifying details redacted to
protect their anonymity. As a few of the participants taught very specific courses that would risk
their confidentiality if revealed, the table only lists if they taught in an elementary or secondary
setting. Similarly, the names of the specific traditional or alternative certification programs have
been left out.

52
Table 3
Summary of Interview Participants
Teacher
pseudonym
Gender Yrs.
teaching
in
HIDOE
Secondary/
elementary
Traditional/
alternative
certification
Born/
raised in
Hawai‘i?
Primary
ethnicity
Participant A M 2 Secondary A N White
Participant B M 2 Secondary A N Asian
Participant C F 5 Elementary A Y White
Participant D F 17 Secondary T Y Asian
Participant E F 7 Elementary T N White
Participant F F 7 Secondary A Y Native
Hawaiian
Participant G F 20 Secondary T Y Asian
Participant H M 6 Secondary A N Hispanic
Participant I F 7 Secondary A N Asian
Participant J M 9 Secondary A Y Multi-racial
Participant K M 5 Secondary A N White
Participant L F 4 Elementary A N White
The themes in this chapter are presented holistically to capture the collective experiences
of all participants. However, when notable distinctions emerged in the data analysis process—
such as differences based on career stage (early career or veteran), school level (elementary or
secondary), type of preparation program (traditional or alternative), or whether participants were
born and raised in Hawai‘i—the results were described accordingly. In most instances though,
the findings are presented as a unified case study.
Findings for Research Question 1
The first research question asks, “What do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE
‘Ike District believe to be the job-related factors that influence their mental health and wellness?”
This inquiry is rooted in the understanding, as highlighted by the literature, that the school

53
environment for teachers has evolved significantly over time. Teachers are now increasingly
tasked with addressing wide disparities in students’ academic levels, increasing scores on state
testing, responding to heightened social-emotional needs, implementing culturally relevant
curriculum, and managing responsibilities that extend beyond instruction (Cosenza, 2015;
Davidson et al., 2015; DeMartino & Fetman, 2023; Donnelly & Patrinos, 2022; Dorn et al.,
2020; Institute of Education Sciences, 2022; Ladson-Billings, 1995). These demands have been
further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which broadened existing academic and social
gaps (Pierce, 2021; Soland et al., 2023). This context establishes a foundation for understanding
participants’ insights.
Responses to Research Question 1 revealed participants’ self-reported experiences in
their school environments. The key themes that emerged were professional motivation and
purpose, unrealistic expectations, lack of transparency and accountability, and challenges with
organizational structures. Table 4 provides an overview of these salient themes, along with their
corresponding subthemes and descriptions, which are further discussed in this section.

54
Table 4
Research Question 1 Themes
Themes Subthemes Description
Professional
motivation and
purpose
Diminished
satisfaction; lack of
acknowledgement
This theme reflects the motivations that led
participants to become K–12 public school
teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike District. Their
sense of diminished satisfaction and lack of
acknowledgement influenced their selfperceptions of wellness.
Unrealistic
expectations
Workload and time
commitment; lack
of resources;
emotional burden
This theme highlights some of the most
significant job-related demands that
influenced teacher wellness.
Lack of
transparency
and
accountability
Decision-making;
implementation of
school policies;
This theme discusses how a lack of collaborative
decision-making, clear expectations, and
accountability structures influenced
participants’ sense of wellness.
Challenges within
organizational
structures
Job responsibilities;
leadership
gatekeeping
This theme describes how participants’
experiences in their organizational structures
affected their teacher wellness.
Professional Motivation and Purpose
Of the 12 participants in the study, all shared an intrinsic motivation to teach in the
HIDOE ‘Ike District. Despite the district’s reputation for having some of the lowest-performing
schools in the state, participants were driven by a deep connection to their community in Hawai‘i
or a mission-driven purpose to create meaningful change in the education profession. This
motivation held true whether they were born and raised in Hawai‘i or moved from the mainland,
and whether they entered teaching through a traditional preparation program or an alternative
certification pathway. Participant J, for example, who identifies as a kama‘āina and had
previously worked in the region served by the ‘Ike District, shared that because of these local

55
ties, he “felt it was a privilege to go there, build relationships with the kids, and make an
impact.”
Participants from outside Hawai‘i also emphasized their intentionality in choosing to
teach in the ‘Ike District, driven by a strong sense of purpose rather than the novelty of being in
Hawai‘i. Participant I, for instance, shared that her motivation to become a teacher was shaped
by her experiences as a woman in a very traditionally male-dominated engineering and computer
science field, where she often felt uncertain and hesitant to ask for help. “Teaching young
generations of females to feel a sense of belonging and advocacy in these types of fields is why I
became a teacher,” Participant I stated. Participant A described how education had always been a
core value in his family, dating back to his grandfather, who left the coal mines at 9 years old to
continue his schooling—a decision that “allowed him to become the first in the family to provide
for others and instill the belief that education is the pathway out of poverty.” This family legacy
deeply influenced Participant A’s decision to enter an alternative certification program and
become a teacher in a high-needs school, as he wanted to help his students recognize the
importance of a strong education. While all participants shared a strong sense of intrinsic
motivation and purpose in choosing to teach in the ‘Ike District, their mental health and wellness
were significantly influenced by the realities of their school environments and whether these
environments allowed them to fulfill their purposes.
Diminished Satisfaction
The majority of participants felt their school environments hindered their ability to feel
satisfied or fulfilled in their teaching careers. This was especially true for elementary teachers
and secondary teachers of core subjects, who felt constrained by the heavy emphasis on state
testing. Participant L, an elementary teacher who had been inspired by her mother to enter the

56
profession, shared that “teaching was not what I thought it would be.” While Participant L had
imagined teaching to be filled with creativity and engagement, she noted that “it was all about
the tests, worksheets, and scores, and I hated it.” Over time, this misalignment between her
expectations and reality left her feeling unfulfilled and negatively impacted her mental health.
While testing pressures primarily affected core subject teachers, elective teachers were
not immune to similar challenges. Participant D, an elective teacher with 17 years of experience,
noted that post-COVID was the first time in her career she was required by administration to
implement instructional programs simulating high-stakes testing in her elective classroom.
Participant H, also an elective teacher, reflected on the post-pandemic state of education: “Every
year became less and less focused on the culture built in the classroom and more about student
testing, meeting standards, and catching up. The students constantly described school feeling like
jail.”
While testing and accountability measures are important, none of the participants in this
study discussed improving test scores as their top motivation for entering the teaching
profession. Participants F, H, and J all noted that their greatest source of satisfaction is
developing strong relationships with the kids and being able to relate to them—in their culture or
with their hobbies. Therefore, in the ‘Ike District, where high turnover and consistently low test
scores drive a strong emphasis on catching up, participants felt disconnected from their original
reasons for entering the profession. This led to a deteriorated belief that they are making the
meaningful change that initially brought them to this profession, diminishing their satisfaction
with themselves and negatively impacting their mental health and wellness. As Participant A
expressed:
In some circumstances, pressure can make diamonds. In other cases, pressure can make

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cracks, and the overabundance of accountability pressures that came from teaching
definitely cracked me and drained my passion when I felt like I was not able to instill a
love of learning in my students.
Lack of Acknowledgement
Acknowledgement also emerged as a significant factor in participants’ motivation and
purpose. Regardless of the school they worked at, nearly all participants discussed feeling
unacknowledged and overlooked in their school environments, particularly in their interactions
with school leadership. While veteran teachers had more examples of feeling unacknowledged,
early career teachers shared similar experiences, despite having fewer years in the profession.
Participant L, an early career teacher, recalled spending her first 4 years thinking she was an
ineffective teacher. “Then one day, I overheard my principal telling someone else to observe my
teaching because I was good,” Participant L described, “But I never felt happy with myself since
my principal never directly said it to me.” Participant D, a veteran teacher, expressed frustration
with teacher evaluations, noting that she felt she does things well, but has never received an
“exceeds” on her evaluation in the past 17 years. She felt the criteria to “exceed”
administration’s expectations felt too much to expect of teachers, especially given that
“administrators only observe teachers once a year without acknowledging their daily efforts.”
Similarly, Participant K, a veteran teacher, conveyed:
I felt like I was very effective, but I was never recognized. I do not need to get recognized
every day, but it was a lack of recognition that made me feel invisible. We had moraleboosting things, but it was always focused on recognizing certain teachers and putting
them on pedestals while the rest of us felt like we were not doing enough.
Participant F, another veteran teacher, explained that when her administration would make

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comments such as, “The kids come to school for the electives,” she felt all her work as a core
subject teacher went unacknowledged.
Moments of acknowledgement that were significant to participants often came not from
their school leadership, but from their students and colleagues. Participant J reflected, “So many
kids at school were so eager to hug me every day,” and he described this as the primary way he
felt acknowledged and, therefore, motivated in the profession. Participants A and B both
highlighted that the primary acknowledgement they received was from their team teachers, and
that support played a key role in sustaining their wellness. These interactions were deeply
impactful, as they allowed participants to build confidence in themselves—to see that their work
was making a positive impact. The absence of acknowledgement from school leadership
challenged mental health across all levels of experience, while the recognition—whether
explicitly stated or demonstrated through actions—from students and colleagues fostered
confidence, bolstered motivation, and contributed to greater well-being.
Unrealistic Expectations
Another theme that emerged was the imposition of unrealistic expectations on teachers.
All 12 participants referred to specific aspects of their role they felt were unattainable within the
constraints of their time, energy, and available resources. Many described feeling certain aspects
of their responsibilities were not just challenging, but impossible to achieve. This theme is
organized into specific aspects of the school environment that contributed to these unrealistic
demands, offering a deeper look into the challenges that shaped participants’ experiences.
Workload and Time Commitment
When describing a typical day in their lives, participants of all levels of experience

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shared their routine of consistently working beyond contract hours. For example, both Participant
A, a 2nd-year teacher, and Participant D, a veteran teacher with 17 years of experience,
explained arriving to school each day by 6:30 a.m. to plan for the day before the students arrive,
grade papers they did not complete the day before, use the copy machine, and tidy up their
classrooms. On the other hand, Participant B, a 2nd-year teacher who prefers to do these same
responsibilities after the school day ends, explained that leaving “early” means leaving by 5 p.m.,
which is already two hours beyond his paid workday. Several teachers mentioned they have to
leave work on time due to personal commitments, such as picking up their own children from
school. However, they acknowledged they would spend their time late in the evenings working
on unfinished tasks.
Participant G, a veteran teacher with 20 years of experience, explained:
It was my daughter who asked me why I was spending so many hours working at night,
especially when she knew I was not being paid for it. At the time, she was not even old
enough to have her own job, yet she was the one that noticed something was off and
encouraged me to set better work boundaries. It still shocks me that this message did not
come from my administration, but rather, from my daughter.
Some participants who attempted to establish firm boundaries around their work hours struggled
due to the assumption from their school leadership that they would remain available outside of
school hours. Participant C, a veteran teacher, described frequently receiving emails late at night,
sometimes at 10 or 11 p.m. While Participant C reminded herself that most messages could wait
until the next day, she would often “feel reprimanded” when arriving to school the next day to
find her administrators treating the missed email as something urgent. These experiences show
how teachers’ workloads often exceeds what can realistically be accomplished in a workday.

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While participants shared the belief that teachers should go above and beyond for their
students—often requiring extra hours—consistently spending significant time outside of school
and normalizing the expectation that teachers must prioritize work over their well-being had a
negative impact on their mental health and wellness.
Participants also expressed frustration with how their time was managed during the
school day. Veteran teachers like Participant G noted that “administrators would always just try
to keep us busy,” often assigning additional professional development (PD) work that was
irrelevant to her actual needs. Participant G described that these PDs were often “done for show”
rather than to help teachers grow, which was revealed when there was always a lack of follow
through on the PD work she was doing. In contrast, Participant D appreciated when her school
leaders allowed flexibility in how time was used. Participant D recalled being granted permission
on a PD day to go to the craft store and shop for materials with grant money she had won,
enabling her to create an innovative learning experience for her students. “As a mother of three, I
valued this support from my administrators, as it is difficult to do these kinds of things during my
personal time,” Participant D explained.
While veteran teachers believed misaligned PDs added to their workload and time
commitment, early career teachers and those who were alternatively certified felt additional PD
opportunities and mentorship, when relevant and effective, provided long-term benefits that
helped them manage their workload. However, early career teachers also noted they were often
assigned the most challenging roles in their schools, particularly those who had entered the
profession through alternative certification programs. Participant C, who entered teaching
through an alternative certification program, described that in her first several years, she was
placed in a fully self contained (FSC) special education classroom, where she undertook the

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challenge of teaching students with both drastic learning and medical needs, despite having no
prior experience. Although she was promised assistance and a transition team, the support never
materialized. Despite dedicating extra time to learn, she constantly felt like she was “failing her
students, who were already traditionally underserved.” Participant H, who also completed an
alternative certification program and who was assigned to teach a specialized elective course
despite having no prior experience in the subject, described the added stress of having to teach
himself the content while simultaneously learning how to teach, and then relearning how to teach
virtually during the pandemic. Participant A, who was completing an alternative certification
program at the time of this study, explained that he entered a role where there was no curriculum,
and he had to create a science curriculum and an advisory curriculum from scratch in his 1st
year. These experiences show that early career and alternatively certified teachers in particular
face additional workloads and time commitments that they are often not prepared to do.
While early career teachers mentioned they benefited from trainings and mentorship, this
support often became the responsibility of veteran teachers who consistently had to dedicate
additional time outside of work to support both early career and alternatively certified teachers.
Participant E, who taught at her school for 7 years, described how many new teachers came in
with good intentions, but lacked formal training and needed significant help, especially with
lesson planning. Participant E often spent evenings on video calls to help them plan, but
described that “it was frustrating since they would leave the very next year. I was always helping
new people instead of building on the progress we made to help them grow stronger and
stronger.” These experiences show that, all teachers in this study, regardless of experience levels,
expressed that the workload and time commitment required in the profession was an unrealistic
expectation.

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Lack of Resources
Participants shared the overwhelming feeling of being unable to address the diverse needs
they encountered in their classrooms due to insufficient resources. Large class sizes were
common among all participants, who described having classes over 30 students. Participant A
captured the challenge of having 32 students in a class, which made “teaching feel like speed
dating” as it was impossible to provide meaningful, individualized attention to all his students,
leading to superficial relationships. Similarly, Participant F noted that at her school, teachers are
expected to foster a sense of belonging amongst all students, but “factors like class sizes work
against us.” Participant F also emphasized that building belonging should be a collective effort
across the school, not solely the responsibility of teachers as that adds to the unachievable
expectations teachers have to meet.
Beyond class sizes, participants also highlighted the lack of resources for students with
differentiated needs. Even veteran teachers, like Participant D, who had 17 years of experience,
expressed frustration and felt inadequate due to insufficient resources:
Currently, I have more students than desks in my classroom. I have a blind student and an
autistic student with an Educational Assistant, several students receiving 504 services—
one who cannot use the right side of her body, and several students with extreme
behaviors. All in the same class, and all with no support.
The burden of managing such diverse and complex classroom dynamics without adequate
resources was a recurring source of stress and frustration for participants. When teachers are left
to carry the weight of every need—academic, behavioral, and emotional—completely on their
own, the cumulative strain inevitably led to a decline in their mental health and wellness.

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Emotional Burden
The emotional burden that participants described stemmed from the pervasive sense that
no matter how much they gave to their work, it was never enough. Many felt that statements like
“do it for the keiki [kids],” which is also the motto of the statewide teachers’ union, were not
offered as genuine encouragement, but rather to guilt teachers into accepting unreasonable
demands. What should have felt like a shared mission became a source of pressure, transforming
a calling into a weight teachers were expected to carry.
Participant L shared her experience of being expected to plan events such as science
nights, carnivals, and fundraisers for field trips as her school never had community members and
volunteers to do these things. She explained, “When we had to work all these extra hours, there
was this general feeling that if we did not fulfill these expectations, we did not care about the
kids.” Participant K described a similar dynamic when his administrators added all the newly
enrolled students to his class, saying “You are the most capable of doing it.” Participant D
recounted how she was scared to even attempt to advocate for her needs, because she felt her
administration would guilt her into feeling like a complainer. Participant F highlighted the
emotional toll of attending faculty meetings at her school, where the narrative often reinforced
feelings of inadequacy. She described, “I hated going to the faculty meetings every week because
in an indirect way, we were always told we were not doing enough. I always walked away
feeling guilty.” While participants already expressed feeling unacknowledged, the added
emotional burden of being made to feel they were not doing enough—despite their
overwhelming workload and time commitment—further reinforces the unrealistic expectations
within the school environment.

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Lack of Transparency and Accountability
Participants expressed frustration with the lack of transparency and accountability in their
schools, which often left them feeling excluded, undervalued, and uncertain about their roles and
responsibilities. This lack of transparency and accountability contributed to mistrust and
dissatisfaction within the school environment. Participants described how this theme was
recurrent in decision-making processes and implementation of school policies.
Decision-Making
A persistent source of frustration for participants was the lack of transparency in how
decisions were made within their schools. Decisions made without teacher input or collaboration
often led to increased workloads and negatively impacted their mental health and wellness.
Participant E, for example, shared frustration about being excluded from the budget decisions,
noting that teachers would have advocated for reallocating funds to hire additional counselors or
social workers to “support teachers in addressing the traumas our students face outside of
school.” Instead, funds were spent on ineffective instructional programs that did not meet
students’ needs and were implemented by teachers like Participant A just to “check a box.”
Participant B shared an example of poor transparency in teaching assignments. Despite years of
advocacy to create a new English learner (EL) teacher position, the school leadership assigned it
to someone to blind side them and get them to leave. As a result, “all the EL students were
reassigned back to us, still without any dedicated support, and I felt that decision ended up
wasting more of mine and everybody else’s time and efforts.”
While these examples illustrate how a lack of teacher voice in the decision-making
process can be harmful to morale, participants also noted that having too many voices was
equally ineffective. This lack of transparency in decision-making contributed to a confusion and

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a negative workplace culture that detracted their sense of wellness. Participant A described
faculty meetings at his school as lacking structure, with many “loose ideas” coming from “too
many chefs in the kitchen.” As a result, there is indecision and confusion about what needed to
be done at a schoolwide level versus what was simply an idea teachers could implement.
Implementation of School Policies
Participants highlighted that they felt additional frustration when school policies were
inconsistently implemented. This stemmed from a lack of transparency in expectations and
accountability, which left several teachers feeling the burden of implementing policies without
support. Participant B, for example, recounted an experience with his school’s dress code policy,
describing it as a “fiasco.” He explained that while teachers were expected to enforce this policy,
school leadership allowed students to violate the dress code without any consequences, making
the policy feel so pointless that he “gave up on enforcing it.” Participant F described the
frustration she had with her school’s tardy policy, noting there was no system in place to hold
students accountable. While some staff members addressed the issue, the lack of administrative
support to hold everyone accountable to implementing the policy led to most avoiding the issue.
“Teaching is already stressful enough,” Participant F explained, “and tardiness constantly
disrupted my class and added an extra thing I always had to think about.” These experiences
show that when policies are inconsistently enforced, teachers are faced with
navigating ambiguous situations and adding extra tasks to their workloads, which further
elevates their already high stress levels and negatively affects their mental health and wellness.
Challenges with Organizational Structures
Participants described several challenges with how systems in their schools operated,
noting that organizational design and the opportunities it provides—or fails to provide—

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significantly shapes its culture, ultimately influencing teachers’ sense of wellness. Two
subthemes emerged in this category: inequitable job responsibilities and leadership gatekeeping.
Inequitable Job Responsibilities
When participants experienced a lack of clear systems or perceived unfairness in job
responsibilities within their school environment, those inequities negatively affected teacher
morale and wellness. Participant B criticized the roles of non-classroom positions within his
school environment, explaining that he has “never had a non-classroom teacher walk the walk
and authentically help and support in the classroom.” While non-classroom roles are intended to
provide additional support to teachers, Participant B described his perceptions that those roles are
“completely counterproductive, attracting individuals who were unhelpful and disconnected with
the realities of the classroom.”
Participant G shared an experience where she was told to find coverage for a class when
she had a family emergency. Even when there were staff in the school who could support in such
situations, Participant G felt “all the burden always being placed back on the classroom teacher.”
These experiences illustrate how inequitable job responsibilities and ineffective resource
allocation, coupled with a failure to ensure that roles are being fulfilled, and support is directed
to where it is most needed, can harm teachers’ perceptions of their school environment and
undermine their well-being.
Leadership Gatekeeping
A recurring concern related to the organizational structure, particularly amongst veteran
teachers, was the lack of opportunities to challenge the status quo or contribute to meaningful
change. At some schools, leadership was dominated by specific individuals, leaving little room
for other voices or perspectives to be heard. Despite years of experience, Participant K expressed

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frustration at being unable to propose new initiatives for students because there were leaders at
the school with louder voices who were resistant to change that made him feel his voice was
“dishonored” and that he was “not allowed to lead,” with decisions always coming from the loud
voices rather than fostering collaboration or hearing others’ ideas. Similarly, Participant H
described feeling “trapped” in his role, unable to make meaningful contributions to the school
outside his own classroom.
These experiences point to an organizational structure designed to maintain a complacent
status quo rather than fostering learning, innovation, or growth. This complacent slumber not
only hinders progress but also diminishes the sense of purpose and fulfillment for teachers,
particularly those who want to take on greater leadership roles. Such structures create an
environment where experienced teachers feel undervalued and disengaged, negatively impacting
their job satisfaction and wellness.
Discussion for Research Question 1
The findings for Research Question 1 indicate that multiple job-related factors in
participants’school environments significantly hindered their mental health and wellness. While
participants entered the profession with a strong sense of purpose, they found significant
misalignments between their intrinsic motivations for teaching in the ‘Ike District and the
realities of their school environments, which often prioritized compliance with testing and other
bureaucratic demands and negatively affected their overall satisfaction. The lack of
acknowledgement from school leadership and reliance on validation from students, families, and
peers highlights a gap in leadership practices that could build a stronger sense of belonging and
efficacy. Unrealistic expectations, such as excessive workloads and insufficient resources, not
only strain teachers’ abilities to deliver quality education, but also normalize a culture of burnout.

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Excluding teachers from key decisions limits their input and lowers morale. Additionally,
inconsistent enforcement of school policies due to a lack of accountability adds to teachers’
stress by creating unclear expectations. Lastly, challenges with organizational structures, such as
inequitable job responsibilities and leadership gatekeeping, harm the school culture, leading to
frustration with the school environment.
This trend of poor mental health and wellness among participants highlights the
conditions contributing to high teacher turnover in the ‘Ike District and low student achievement
outcomes, as teachers described feeling unsupported in their school environments and unable to
sustain their roles under such challenging circumstances. Research Question 2 will explore in
greater detail how teachers describe the impact of their jobs on their mental health and wellness.
Findings for Research Question 2
Up to this point, the findings have shown that, for most participants, the school
environment has had a negative impact on their mental health and wellness. The second research
question builds on that understanding by exploring how the themes and subthemes emerging
from Research Question 1 specifically affect participants’ mental health and wellness, asking,
“How do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike District describe their mental health
and wellness?” This question was designed to gain insight into teachers’ experiences with their
mental health and wellness. The findings underscore the urgency of addressing challenges in the
school environment that were highlighted in Research Question 1.
As discussed in Chapter Two, wellness has had many conceptualizations over the years
and is multifaceted and holistic (Ardell, 1977; Hetler, 1977; Dunn, 1959; Swarbrick, 2006). In
their semi-structured interviews, participants described what mental health and wellness means
to them, revealing the aspects of wellness they prioritize most. Additionally, they were asked to

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describe how their wellness was positively or negatively impacted as a result of working in their
school environments. To provide a cohesive analysis, I have organized the data using
Swarbrick’s eight dimensions of wellness, introduced in Chapter Two of this study, as it is one of
the recent conceptualizations of wellness. This framework offers a structured approach to
understanding specific aspects of wellness participants discussed in their interviews. While
participants’ interviews aligned with all eight dimensions of wellness, Table 5 presents the most
common dimensions worth mentioning—the themes—that are further explored in this section.
Additionally, a brief description of each dimension of wellness, as outlined by Swarbrick (2006),
is provided in the table. Given that these dimensions are highly interconnected, many of the
participants’ experiences had implications across multiple areas of wellness. However, to
maintain analytic clarity, I used a keyword-based approach and categorized each experience
under the dimension that most directly aligned with the participant’s interview response. While
these experiences may have had a cascading effect on other dimensions, I focused on the most
salient theme while acknowledging these interconnections in the analysis.

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Table 5
Research Question 2 Themes
Themes Description
Physical wellness Recognizing the need for physical activity, diet, sleep, and nutrition
Social wellness Developing a sense of connection, belonging, and a well-developed
support system
Emotional
wellness
Having the ability adjust to emotional challenges
Intellectual
wellness
Recognizing creative abilities and finding ways to expand knowledge
and skills
Occupational
wellness
Personal satisfaction and enrichment derived from one’s work
Financial wellness Satisfaction with current and future financial situations
Physical Wellness
Several participants described physical health as a crucial aspect of their overall wellness.
Physical wellness involves maintaining a healthy body through good physical health habits,
appropriate nutrition, regular exercise, and appropriate health care (Swarbrick, 2006). However,
the overwhelming workload and time commitment to the school environment led participants to
neglect their physical health, even when they recognized its importance.
Participant D, for example, stated that she put her physical health on the back burner,
saying, “When I had to schedule doctor’s appointments, it was more work to find a substitute and
write substitute plans than to just skip seeing the doctor and show up to school myself.”
Similarly, Participant K described how his eating habits deteriorated after becoming a teacher
due to a lack of time. “I had to work additional jobs to financially sustain myself in Hawai‘i,
which left me with no spare time to meal prep. I would even use my lunch breaks as additional

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planning time,” Participant K explained. Participants working in elementary school settings
noted their responsibilities contributed to their lack of physical care. Participant L, an elementary
teacher shared: “For our 30-minute lunch break, I had to sit with my students the whole time.
Even though I had that time, I spent so much of it supervising that I never ate lunch or used the
bathroom.”
Outside of school, even when participants had the time to prioritize their physical health,
they often lacked the energy to do so. Participants A and B, who both relied on exercise to
support their physical wellness, noted that after their workday, they often lacked the motivation
to go running even if they had an extra hour to spare. “Spending time outside is so important,”
Participant A explained, “If you lock a dog in a cage and prevent it from running around outside,
it will negatively impact its wellness, and not having the motivation to go outside negatively
impacted my wellness.” These experiences show that the demands in the school environment
overshadow teachers’ personal needs and contribute to the neglect of physical health.
Social Wellness
Several participants highlighted aspects of social wellness when describing their mental
health, reflecting on their relationships with friends, family, and the broader community, which
foster a sense of connection and belonging (Swarbrick, 2006). Participants’ sense of social
wellness was closely tied to their personal circumstances, such as their cultural background,
family connections, and ability to engage with the local community. Kama‘āina participants
generally reported experiencing stronger social wellness, as they often found they had a lot in
common with their students and the community. Growing up in Hawai‘i provided these
individuals not only with established family support systems, but also a familiarity with
Hawai‘i’s history, culture, and social issues. This understanding served as a foundation for

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developing meaningful relationships amongst the community. For instance, Participant J
described the importance of pilina—the Hawaiian concept of building relationships and
connections—and stated, “My mental health and wellness is based on pilina, which is about
finding ways to relate to my community, passing on culture and mo‘olelo [stories and narratives]
to my students. I am very proud I get to do that.” Participant F, who identifies as a Native
Hawaiian and kama‘āina, described how being surrounded by her relatives provided her with a
stronger foundation for social wellness, saying that: “Having family in Hawai‘i definitely helps
me as I have people to talk to for support.” Even though Participant F grew up in Hawai‘i and
has family as a support system, she also acknowledged she does not always have the energy to be
around family due to feeling drained after each day in the school setting. Similarly, Participant
D, another kama‘āina participant, noted, “I felt like I do not have time for my own three kids
since I spend much more time with others’ kids,” showing that the amount of time her workload
required negatively impacted her ability to fully engage with her family and maintain a strong
sense of social wellness.
In contrast, participants who were not originally from Hawai‘i described additional
challenges with their social wellness, as it was a more deliberate and difficult process to develop
connections with community members. These participants noted that of all the expectations their
schools made them fulfill, they were not provided with many opportunities to learn about the
broader community, which made it more difficult to integrate. Additionally, participants who
came to Hawai‘i through alternative certification programs, who all moved to Hawai‘i alone,
noted the challenge of choosing to live close to their schools in the more isolated ‘Ike District.
Even though participants were able to connect with colleagues in their alternative certification
programs, the short-term commitment of alternative certification programs made it difficult for

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those who chose to stay longer to establish a strong sense of community. Participant L, who
completed an alternative certification program and chose to stay in her community longer,
explained how living in a remote area within the ‘Ike District limited her social interactions.
With long work hours, Participant L’s life “revolved solely around school and home,” making it
difficult to access social opportunities. Over time, that cycle led to feelings of “loneliness and
depression.” Participant L also noted that the restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic,
though necessary for community safety, further limited her ability to engage socially. Unlike
kama‘āina participants, who often had family or friends in Hawai‘i and shared cultural
touchpoints with their communities, newcomers to Hawai‘i had to navigate cultural adjustment
and isolation on their own, especially if they lived in the more remote areas close to their schools
in the ‘Ike District. In the ‘Ike District, where most new teachers are hired from the mainland,
this challenge in their social wellness may make it more difficult for teachers to feel a sense of
belonging and have the support system to remain teaching in their communities long-term.
Emotional Wellness
Emotional wellness is having the ability to cope with challenging situations (Swarbrick,
2006). Participants described their emotional wellness was significantly impacted by their
tendency to carry the challenges they faced in their school environments into their personal lives.
Participant H noted, “Teachers are like sponges. I had to absorb so much in a day, and even
when the school day ended, I could not stop thinking about all the things I had to manage.”
Participant F reflected on how managing classroom behaviors and enforcing inconsistently
applied school policies weighed heavily on her, particularly with hurtful student interactions,
which took an emotional toll. Over time, the stress changed her demeanor, and she recalled, “My
husband would constantly ask me why I had turned into such a negative person.” Participant F’s

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experience illustrates how her work environment significantly impacted her emotional wellness,
as her loved ones noticed a change in her behavior.
Participant D shared how deeply her students’ home situations affected her emotional
wellness. She described, “I found out a student was experiencing homelessness, and ever since, I
would buy food for her and her family every weekend and drop it off at the shelter even after she
graduated. Those kids became my own kids.” Perhaps the most harrowing experience came from
Participant L, who described that the emotional toll of teaching led her to not sleep for almost an
entire week, which ultimately led to her admission to the psychiatric ward to seek professional
help. “Ironically, I met several other teachers when I was in the psych ward,” Participant L
noted, “and after all that happened, it seemed I could not take time off, and it was back to
survival mode.” These experiences highlight a common pattern amongst participants—that the
challenges teachers encounter in their school environments weigh heavily on their emotions and
often blend into their personal lives. For many participants, this emotional investment had
negative impacts on themselves and their relationships with others.
Intellectual Wellness
Swarbrick (2006) explains that to foster positive mental health and wellness, one needs to
pursue new skills and engage in activities beyond one’s professional life. Participants described
how, especially as early career teachers, their intellectual wellness was entirely centered around
their careers as they spent most of their free time learning how to excel in the classroom rather
than exploring personal interests unrelated to teaching. This challenge was recurrent particularly
amongst teachers who entered the profession through alternative certification programs as their
lack of prior teaching experience required them to spend all their time outside of work learning
about teaching rather than engaging in activities or learning other skills that could support their

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wellness. Participant L, an alternatively certified early career teacher, explained that she was so
exhausted each day that she had no energy to do anything for enjoyment outside of school for
years, which led to her experiencing depression. Participant H, who in his early years was
completing an alternative certification program and assigned to teach a specialized elective
course with no experience in that subject area, described how the time commitment he spent to
learn the content he was teaching took away space for anything else in his life. While Participant
I is currently a veteran teacher, she described that in her early years of teaching whilst
completing an alternative certification program:
My whole life was learning how to be an excellent teacher. All my mental space and free
time revolved around the school and my job. Even when I read for pleasure, I found
myself reading books about how to become a better teacher.
These experiences illustrate a shared theme among participants: the lack of time or energy to
develop interests or skills unrelated to teaching was a significant challenge, especially for those
who entered the profession with little to no experience and were placed in the most challenging
roles, preventing them from attaining intellectual wellness.
Occupational Wellness
Finding meaning and enrichment in one’s role is essential for maintaining positive mental
health and wellness (Swarbrick, 2006). As highlighted in Research Question 1, many participants
expressed frustration with the lack of satisfaction in their roles and the lack of acknowledgement
from their administrators, both of which negatively affected their occupational wellness. Six out
of the 12 participants ultimately chose to either leave the teaching profession or transfer to a
different district in search of work environments that better supported their occupational
wellness. These participants described aspects of occupational wellness that were absent during

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their time in the ‘Ike District but were present in their new positions. Participant G, who
transferred to a different district within the HIDOE, described how her new work environment
provided a greater sense of acknowledgement and personal growth, contributing to her
occupational wellness. Unlike at her previous school, her new site leaders regularly visited
classrooms, which made her feel valued. Additionally, her new site leaders allowed her
autonomy to choose novels for her curriculum, which contributed to her professional
development and digressed greatly from her previous school where she was “told what to teach.”
Participant L, who left the ‘Ike District for a different career in Hawai‘i, shared, “In my new role,
I am praised for what I am good at. They know I am a hard worker, and my manager is good at
building a team that honors everyone’s strengths.”
These participants only described occupational wellness positively when they discussed
their new environments after leaving the ‘Ike District. Their experiences illustrate how their lack
of personal fulfillment led them to seek out new positions, showing that a lack of occupational
wellness could drive teachers to leave the profession.
Financial Wellness
Five out of the 12 participants described how anxiety around finances was a significant
aspect in their mental health and wellness. Swarbrick (2006) emphasizes that in order to maintain
a positive sense of wellness, individuals should not constantly worry about scraping by. As
Participant B expressed, “If you are constantly worried about your financial stability, that is not
healthy.”
Participants in the study often noted that financial strain created barriers to finding
wellness in other aspects of their lives. While this pattern was evident amongst all participants,
challenges to financial wellness were particularly difficult among early career teachers, who

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were often still navigating the limited pay for new teachers. This was particularly prevalent
among teachers who relocated to Hawai‘i from the mainland, especially from states with
significantly lower costs of living, and who did not have family in Hawai‘i to rely on for
housing. Participant C, an early career teacher, described, “On the teacher pay, I could not afford
to live anywhere else but a remote community, since it was cheaper. That affected my social life
since it was far from everything, and I could not build community.” Participant B echoed similar
struggles, stating, “Living in Hawai‘i is hard. I could not afford a place to myself on a teacher
salary, so I had several roommates. It is hard to disconnect when you go home and live in a
house full of teachers.” These comments highlight how challenges with financial wellness can
exacerbate challenges with social and emotional wellness.
Participant K explained how financial stress extends beyond housing by adding, “I had to
work multiple jobs to afford the cost of living in Hawai‘i, and that affected the amount of time I
had to get proper rest to be prepared for the next day.” Similarly, Participant A noted, “My coteacher leaves school each day to go to her other job at Walmart. Teaching is one of the most
important jobs in the whole world, yet we must work additional jobs just to afford to keep doing
it?” Participant I reflected on systemic challenges within the HIDOE by noting that the lack of
paid family or maternity leave negatively impacted both her and her husband’s mental health
after having a child as they struggled to balance the financial demands of living in Hawai‘i with
raising a family. For many participants, the stress related to financial insecurity became a major
barrier to achieving the wellness they needed to thrive both personally and professionally.
Discussion for Research Question 2
The findings emerging from Research Question 2 highlighted how the conditions of
participants’ school environments affected their mental health and wellness across multiple

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dimensions. Teachers described a decline in physical wellness due to long hours, lack of rest, and
insufficient energy to maintain personal health. Participants reported significant challenges to
social wellness, particularly for teachers who moved to Hawai‘i from the mainland, as they noted
the difficulty in developing a sense of belonging. Emotional wellness was impacted, with
teachers preoccupied with student and work-related concerns outside of school hours. Early
career and alternatively certified teachers highlighted challenges with intellectual wellness, as
they often lacked the time to explore opportunities outside their teaching responsibilities.
Occupational wellness was affected by the lack of satisfaction, acknowledgement from
administrators, and opportunities for professional growth. Financial wellness emerged as a major
source of stress, particularly for early career teachers and those who relocated from the mainland.
These findings support the holistic and interconnected nature of wellness. When one
dimension of wellness is compromised, it can impact other aspects, ultimately leading to a state
of being unwell. These issues in mental health and wellness are very often the factors driving
teachers to leave the profession. Participant C described, “I left mid-school year because my
wellness was so negatively impacted. All my friends and family would tell me that they were
concerned, and I realized that my health is so much more important than this job.” Participant
C’s experience shows the importance of addressing wellness to prevent adverse outcomes for
both teachers and students. As Participant D articulated, “Teachers are the front line. If teachers
are not happy, and wellness is not a top priority for them, they cannot do their jobs, and the entire
community will have a problem with the whole school system.” Research Question 3 will
explore practices school leaders must implement to address wellness and better support teachers.
Findings for Research Question 3
This study has revealed the ways in which school environments affect teachers’ mental

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health and wellness and how these challenges manifest across various dimensions of wellness.
While some of the issues that were mentioned—such as teacher compensation—are systemic,
many of the factors influencing teachers’ mental health and the school environment are shaped
by leadership practices at the school level. As discussed in the literature, school-level leadership
is the second most significant factor influencing student achievement as site leaders’ actions
shape the culture of the school (Day et al., 2020; Leithwood et al., 2004). If leaders fail to
authentically address teacher wellness, the ongoing high rates of teacher attrition in the ‘Ike
District will continue to negatively affect student outcomes.
To explore this, the third research question asks, “What do K–12 public school teachers
in the HIDOE ‘Ike District believe are important leadership practices their site leaders must
exhibit to authentically support teachers with their mental health and wellness?” While
participants’ responses are not meant to be exhaustive, they provide insights into the leadership
practices teachers find crucial for supporting some of the factors identified in the findings from
Research Question 1 that negatively impact their mental health and wellness. Table 6 shows the
themes and subthemes that emerged, which are further discussed in this section.

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Table 6
Research Question 3 Themes
Themes Subthemes Description
Site leader to
teacher
relationships
Presence and proactivity;
support and advocacy;
fostering belonging
This theme highlights the importance of site
leader to teacher relationships in creating an
environment where teachers feel supported
and valued.
Purposeful
leadership
Rationale and expectations
collaboration;
mentorship; professional
development
This theme discusses different areas where
participants noted their site leaders could be
more intentional with their decisions.
Systemic
reform
None This theme emphasizes how participants want
their wellness to be addressed with a
systemic approach, rather than with quick
solutions.
Site Leader to Teacher Relationships
A consistent theme that emerged from 10 out of the 12 participants was the way site
leaders build relationships with their teachers. Although the idea of these relationships varied
among participants, these 10 participants viewed site leader to teacher relationships as a critical
factor in supporting their mental health and wellness. The following subthemes reflect the
various ways participants envision these relationships, offering insights into their expectations
for effective leadership.
Presence and Proactivity
Most participants described that their site leaders could be more present and proactive in
their school settings. This was consistent regardless of participants’ experience levels. Participant
A, an early career teacher, expressed that his site leaders seemed to better like teachers who did
not interact with them, making it feel like asking for help was seen as a sign that one “cannot
handle their classroom” rather than a legitimate need. Similarly, Participant G, a veteran teacher,

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noted that over 8 years, her site leaders only interacted with her twice—when she had formal
observations.
Even when site leaders were present, they were not always proactive. Participant B
recalled that in his 1st year teaching, his site leader would briefly check in by popping their head
into the classroom, but would leave within seconds, making the interaction seem “performative
rather than supportive.” Participant B realized that if he needed help, he had to seek out that help
on his own, as his site leaders rarely had the proactivity to check in meaningfully.
The lack of presence also seemed to be compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Participant H described that “being present makes such a difference, and during and after the
pandemic, I noticed leaders using the circumstances as an excuse to be less present. Even things
like observation debriefs became all virtual.”
These experiences show that a passive leadership approach may lead to teachers feeling
forced to navigate difficult challenges on their own or unable to express their concerns to their
leadership, making the already unrealistic expectations of teaching even more difficult to
manage. Participant G described the positive impact of a more involved leadership approach at
her school site in the ‘Ike District when it was led by a former site leader:
Our site leader was really involved with everything. He was in the trenches with us and
doing the work with us rather than just telling us to do the work. That really created a
sense of unity and support amongst our entire staff—that we were all in it together.
These findings suggest that present and proactive leadership is crucial for strengthening teacher
morale and efficacy, creating a supportive school environment where teachers feel valued.
Support and Advocacy
Participants reflected on the various amounts of support and advocacy their site leaders

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provided. Some participants felt strongly supported by their site leaders, while others
experienced a lack of advocacy. Participant G recounted a troubling experience in which her
principal pressured her to change a student’s grade to align with the administration’s preferences
for valedictorian selection. This experience left Participant G feeling “unrecognized and doubtful
of her own professional judgement.” Participant F also described a frustrating instance of
undermined authority. After sending students to the office for dress code violations, their site
leader immediately sent them back, making the teacher feel embarrassed in front of their
students.
On the other hand, Participant I had a positive experience when her site leader went out
of his way to advocate for her when she needed a private space to pump breast milk. “My
principal found a space for me and took over my class whenever I had to step away. That little
action made a huge impact in the way I felt supported,” Participant I explained.
A site leader to teacher relationship that is centered on supporting teachers’ decisions and
advocating for their needs plays a significant role in building trust and creating a positive school
environment. Conversely, a lack of support or advocacy can negatively impact teachers’
emotional and occupational wellness, leading to diminished motivation and engagement in their
work.
Fostering Belonging
One of the HIDOE’s top priorities is creating a sense of belonging for students statewide.
However, participants highlighted that fostering the same sense of belonging often does not
extend to teachers. Participant K emphasized that building belonging amongst staff “should be a
leadership-driven initiative,” yet he found himself to earn the title “Party Planning Committee of
One” when he took on the responsibility of organizing all the activities to connect teachers. As

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many educators move to Hawai‘i without an established community, Participant K felt that site
leaders should have taken the lead in creating opportunities to build relationships rather than
leaving it entirely to the teachers. In Participant K’s experience, the absence of leadership in
creating a strong team culture hurt the relationships teachers had with each other and with their
site leaders.
For Participant L, fostering belonging meant recognizing teachers’ strengths and treating
them as professionals. Participant L described being “treated more like a babysitter” than a
respected educator, particularly with the way her site leaders communicated to teachers.
Participant L believed that PD sessions should showcase teachers’ talents, as they had little
awareness of what their colleagues were doing in their classrooms, and that negatively affected
the overall sense of belonging at her school. Similarly, Participant G described that a sense of
belonging stems from site leaders taking the time to get to know their teachers and valuing them
as contributors rather than subordinates. “My site leaders did not even know how to pronounce
some teachers’ names,” Participant G noted, “If teachers have to know all of our students in and
out of the classroom, leaders should be expected to do the same.” Participant H described that
belonging can also be fostered through site leaders’ awareness of strengths and giving them
leadership opportunities and other options to expand themselves. “That would make me feel like
I am welcomed, and that I belong at the school, and I am sure that if other teachers felt that way,
it would lead to more retention,” Participant H concluded.
Purposeful Leadership
Participants emphasized the importance of leadership practices that go beyond surfacelevel actions, advocating instead for approaches that genuinely support teachers and enhance
their professional experiences. This section explores how purposeful leadership can be

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demonstrated through four subthemes: rationale and expectations, collaboration, mentorship, and
learning opportunities. These subthemes reveal how purposeful leadership practices can
positively impact workload, job satisfaction, and overall teacher wellness.
Rationale and Expectations
Clear rationale and meaningful expectations behind leadership decisions are essential,
especially when these decisions directly impact teachers’ time and workload. Participants
described their desire to feel their time is used effectively to support their work rather than to
increase their own burden without tangible benefits. Participant L described her frustration with
how articulation days—a designated day without students—were used at her school. She felt that
spending the entire day tracking data, while important, was not a productive use of eight hours
and wished for a more meaningful approach. Similarly, Participant E noted, “Our school had
about 20 programs, and we were told to stick kids on iReady or Achieve3000 because we had
purchased the program, but that was not helpful for teachers or students when not done
purposefully.” Participant L and Participant E’s experiences show that leadership decisions
rooted with thoughtful planning and purpose can better ensure their time is valued and utilized
meaningfully. This would address some of the negative experiences participants described in
Research Question 1, where many tasks in their workload seemed performative rather than
helpful.
Along with understanding the rationale of initiatives, participants emphasized the
importance of setting clear and reasonable expectations that are designed with purpose.
Participant B highlighted the benefits of having clarity, explaining that when expectations are
well-defined, they help create alignment within the school community. This clarity allows
teachers to handle classroom challenges with support rather than blame, ultimately fostering a

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more positive work environment. When leaders provide a clear rationale for their decisions and
establish clear expectations, they create a school environment where tasks feel more manageable
for teachers.
Collaboration
Participants described the importance of effective collaboration to foster open dialogue,
shared decision-making, and collective problem solving. Participants emphasized that these
systems are essential in addressing the lack of transparency and teacher voice identified in earlier
findings. Participant K stressed the need for structured opportunities that allow all teachers to
contribute, noting that “no one wanted to speak out loud at a faculty meeting, resulting in a few
loud voices making all the decisions.” Without having protocols in place to encourage
participation, many teachers remained silent. Participant K suggested that providing structured
time for teachers to process and write down their thoughts before discussing solutions would
help create a more inclusive environment for dialogue and problem solving.
Participant F noted that the COVID-19 pandemic took away opportunities for teachers to
collaborate in the same ways they had before. “COVID-19 dismantled systems that were already
in place, such as meeting norms, or even having an agenda that was sent out beforehand, and
those protocols were never brought back.” Participant K and Participant F’s experiences show
that creating a collaborative environment requires site leaders to be purposeful beyond just
giving teachers a platform, but encouraging dialogue and fostering trust. When site leaders
actively involve teachers in the decision-making process, it demonstrates respect for teachers’
expertise and perspectives, leading teachers to feel greater acknowledgement.
Mentorship
Participants emphasized that effective mentorship helped them navigate the workload and

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challenges while building their confidence in the classroom. Early career participants who were
alternatively certified described having to face steep learning curves with limited prior training,
which often increased their workloads and levels of stress. While participants acknowledged that
the HIDOE requires every new teacher in Hawai‘i to engage in a mentorship program for at least
3 years, and that principals are provided with funds to implement it, they also noted that the
mentorship program was not run with fidelity, which limited its effectiveness. Participants’
experiences show that meaningful mentorship does not occur by chance; rather, it requires
purposeful planning and commitment from their site leaders who need to see value in having
strong mentors. Participant B, an early career teacher completing an alternative certification
program at the time of this study, described his mixed experiences with mentorship. In his 1st
year, Participant B was assigned a mentor who was also a classroom teacher, making it difficult
for the mentor to provide meaningful support due to their own teaching responsibilities. In
contrast, Participant B described being eventually assigned a mentor who was much more
engaged and supportive due to not having additional responsibilities beyond providing
mentorship, and concluded that “classroom teachers need to be supported by mentors who can
actually mentor.” Participant A, another early career teacher completing an alternative
certification program noted that his mentor was helpful when offering relevant guidance rather
than extra tasks, and that his current mentor was “always watching Netflix in her office” despite
having a full-time mentorship role.
Both these experiences demonstrate that the success of mentorship in a school setting
depends on site leaders making purposeful decisions to assign mentors thoughtfully and
establishing accountability structures to ensure effectiveness. It should be noted that mentors are
typically non-classroom teachers dedicated solely to mentoring, but high attrition rates and

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growing number of new teachers in the ‘Ike District often shift these responsibilities to
classroom teachers. Schools must foster a supportive environment that retain teachers to ensure
that new teachers who wish to remain in the system receive effective mentorship from people
that have the capacity and time to support their growth and success.
Professional Development
Participants of all levels of experience described that their site leaders could be more
purposeful with the way they design and implement learning opportunities for teachers.
Participant E, for example, described, “My principal would bring in so many consultants who
would come for one day and tell us what we are doing wrong after observing for 10 minutes, and
I did not find anything they taught us to be helpful.” Participant J, a kama‘āina, discussed the
importance of culturally relevant and ‘āina-based (place-based) PDs, particularly for teachers
from the mainland. According to Participant J, PDs should help teachers develop a deeper
appreciation for the local community, yet the opportunities presented to them failed to do so.
Given that many teachers in the ‘Ike District work in Native communities, Participant J stressed
the need to “incorporate indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing,” and suggested
involving community members in the learning process.
Participant G explained, “Instead of PDs that are so technical, why don’t we do PDs
where we ‘talk story’ (a Hawaiian Pidgin phrase meaning casual conversation) with our coworkers and find strategies that work for us? My principal would never allow that since
everything is to look good on paper.” Participant D, a veteran teacher who mentioned she has
been offered many of the same PDs over the years, stated, “Principals should give teachers
choices, which could improve my engagement. If things could be differentiated for us, just like
we must differentiate for our students, that would make me less frustrated.”

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These insights reveal that for PDs to be effective, site leaders must be purposeful when
designing and implementing them, prioritizing opportunities that are meaningful, culturally
relevant, and teacher centered. If these PDs are designed solely to look good on paper, they risk
increasing teacher frustration while decreasing overall job satisfaction.
Systemic Reform
While many of the earlier findings allude to how participants believe current leadership
practices to support teacher mental health and wellness are insufficient, four of the 12
participants specifically emphasized the need for systemic level reform, noting their site leaders
often focus on small, surface level gestures to support teacher wellness rather than addressing
the systemic issues emerging from Research Question 1.
Participant E shared an example, saying “My site leaders would put on little events where
we would get shave ice, but there were no substantial efforts to support teacher mental health.”
While small gestures can have a positive impact, they often feel insufficient. Participant A
explained that while he will never forget the day his principal went around giving everyone ice
cream at the end of the day, he ultimately felt unsupported in his career. He likened his
principal’s efforts to “giving Band-Aids rather than stitches,” highlighting how minor acts of
kindness do not address larger systemic challenges negatively impacting teacher mental health.
Similarly, Participant I emphasized the need for a radical shift in how schools approach teacher
wellness, arguing that it should be embedded into the frameworks guiding decision-making.
Participant I pointed out that “conversations about organizational culture and decision-making
processes rarely prioritize teacher well-being, despite its critical role in sustaining a healthy work
environment.”

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Participant A provided an example of how systemic reform can lead to more positive
teacher morale and better student outcomes:
My friend works at a high-needs school in a different district, and their principal also
went around giving teachers smoothies and treats. But their principal also made it a point
to reallocate resources to reduce class sizes, and their test scores went up to 80%
proficiency. Their test scores were not a result of the teachers getting smoothies, but
rather systemic changes that addressed what was negatively affecting teacher mental
health.
These participants’ insights highlight the need for site leaders to move beyond symbolic gestures
and instead embed teacher wellness into the core values, policies, and culture of the school.
Without this shift, efforts to support teachers risk remaining superficial and inauthentic.
Discussion for Research Question 3
The findings for Research Question 3 identify several key leadership practices teachers in
the HIDOE ‘Ike District believe are important to supporting their mental health and wellness.
These practices include developing strong and authentic relationships between site leaders and
teachers, being present and proactive in addressing teachers’ needs, and providing consistent
support and advocacy. Participants also expressed a desire for purposeful leadership, where
decisions are made with clear rationale, transparency, collaboration, and well-defined
expectations. Additionally, they emphasized the importance of providing mentorship and PD
opportunities that are meaningful, culturally relevant, and teacher centered. Lastly, participants
suggested that site leaders need to take a more systemic approach to addressing teacher mental
health and wellness, focusing on long-term rather than simplistic solutions, and aligning their
actions to teachers’ realistic needs.

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Summary
This chapter’s findings focus on three areas of research within my conceptual framework:
the factors in the school environment that impact teacher mental health and wellness, teachers’
experiences of their own mental health and wellness, and the leadership practices that effectively
address these concerns. In response to Research Question 1, I found that participants generally
described that most job-related factors in their school environments negatively impacted their
mental health and wellness, largely due to misalignments between their motivations to teach and
the bureaucratic demands of their school settings. A lack of support and acknowledgement from
their school leadership, unrealistic expectations, excessive workloads, and exclusion from
decision-making further contributed to a diminished sense of wellness.
Research Question 2 focused on how teachers describe their individual mental health and
wellness. The majority of participants reported negative experiences related to their wellness.
Teachers cited declines in physical wellness due to the long hours and lack of rest; social
wellness challenges, especially for those who moved to Hawai‘i; and emotional wellness arising
from work-related stress. Additionally, intellectual, occupational, and financial wellness were
also negatively affected. Participants emphasized the interconnectedness of these dimensions of
wellness, noting that when one area suffers, it often exacerbates the decline in other areas,
leading to an overall decline in wellness.
Research Question 3 aimed to address ways site leaders can mitigate negative teacher
experiences related to wellness. Participants emphasized the importance of developing strong,
authentic relationships with teachers, being present and proactive in addressing their needs, and
providing consistent support. Participants also highlighted the need for purposeful leadership in
decision-making processes, mentorship, and PD opportunities. Furthermore, participants stressed

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that site leaders should adopt a systemic, long-term approach to addressing mental health and
wellness, ensuring their actions align with teachers’ actual needs. Chapter Five will further
discuss these findings and provide additional recommendations for practice to better support
teacher mental health and wellness.

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Chapter Five: Discussion
This chapter provides a discussion of the study’s findings, highlighting their implications
for educational practice and leadership. Key research findings about teacher mental health and
wellness are discussed with the goal of informing current and future site leaders about teachers’
lived experiences and effective leadership practices that could provide meaningful support.
Additionally, recommendations for future research are presented, identifying areas for further
exploration that can deepen the understanding of teacher mental health and wellness and
strategies to support educators.
This study examined teacher mental health and wellness in the HIDOE ‘Ike District.
Persistent attrition in the district, which has risen after the COVID-19 pandemic and is
increasingly linked to dissatisfaction with the workplace environment, has been shown to
negatively impact student performance compared to in other regions of the state, underscoring
the urgent need for site leaders to take a more active role in fostering positive teacher well-being
in the school environment to support teacher performance and retention (HIDOE, 2023).
Addressing this issue requires a deeper understanding of the factors that impact teacher mental
health and the responsibilities of site leaders in supporting teacher wellness, which can enhance
job satisfaction and create a more positive school environment (Day et al., 2020). The purpose of
this study was to examine the job-related factors influencing teacher well-being, explore how
educators in HIDOE’s ‘Ike District experience their mental health and wellness, and identify
leadership practices necessary for site leaders to implement for their teachers to have meaningful
and sustained support. To recap, the following questions guided this research:
1. What do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike District believe to be the
job-related factors that influence their mental health and wellness?

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2. How do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike District describe their mental
health and wellness?
3. What do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike District believe are
important leadership practices their site leaders must exhibit to authentically support
teachers with their mental health and wellness?
Utilizing a qualitative research design, this study incorporated semi-structured interviews
with 12 participants from seven different schools within the ‘Ike District. This method provided
rich, in-depth insights into how participants experience their school environments, describe their
mental health and wellness, and identify the leadership practices they believe are necessary for
authentic support. Data analysis of the interview findings revealed themes in three key areas: the
school environment, teacher mental health and wellness, and leadership.
Findings
The study’s data demonstrated that the school environment, teacher mental health and
wellness, and leadership are all dependent, each one influencing the others. Participants reported
that job-related factors within their school environment generally had a negative impact on their
mental health and wellness. While the specific challenges in wellness varied among individuals,
many described how different aspects of their well-being—whether physical, social, or
emotional—were interconnected, with struggles in one area often affecting others. The findings
also show that school leadership could play a crucial role in fostering more positive teacher
wellness if site leaders reimagine norms in the school environment that can mitigate the negative
personal impacts of status quo practices. The following section presents a summary and
discussion of these findings in relation to existing literature and current educational practices.

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Research Question 1
Research Question 1 asked, “What do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike
District believe to be the job-related factors that influence their mental health and wellness?”
This research question, along with the corresponding interview protocol, was intentionally
designed to be as neutral as possible, avoiding any assumptions about whether the identified
factors would have a positive or negative impact on teacher wellness. Nevertheless, the findings
for Research Question 1 indicate that for most participants, job-related factors in their school
environments significantly hindered their mental health and wellness.
Interview responses found that many participants felt their mental health and wellness
was negatively affected by their school environments that prioritized compliance with
standardized testing and political mandates over teachers’ expectations for meaningful teaching
and learning. This finding reinforces existing literature, which emphasizes how accountability
policies have become one of the most defining job-related factors in the teaching profession
(Davidson et al., 2015). While participants did not oppose testing and accountability practices,
their mental health was negatively impacted by how these policies were implemented within
their school environments, which shaped their entire professional identity around their
performance outcomes, while also not providing enough support to help students meet these
expectations and diminishing recognition of their other contributions to students.
Besides testing and accountability, most participants described additional factors in their
school environments that predated the COVID-19 pandemic. While recent literature discusses
how the pandemic intensified workload challenges for teachers, with additional responsibilities
to support learning loss, culturally responsive and social justice-oriented teaching, SEL, and so
forth (CASEL, 2022; Donnelly & Patrinos, 2022; Dorn et al., 2020; Mealy & Bennett, 2023),

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these were not the main factors participants identified to influence their mental health and
wellness. Rather, participants highlighted long-standing systemic issues, including large class
sizes, ineffective PD, being assigned the most challenging teaching roles with little preparation,
as the factors that affected their mental health and wellness. These challenges, which are rooted
in leadership practices and entrenched systemic expectations, show that even though attrition in
the ‘Ike District rose after the COVID-19 pandemic, many factors that negatively affect teacher
mental health and wellness have long defined the teaching profession, regardless of the
pandemic.
While existing literature and lived experiences often highlight teacher workload or
student behavior as factors that negatively affect teacher mental health (Cooper & Travers,
2012), the findings suggest that the structural protocols and culture of schools—including
decision-making processes, communication of expectations, and workplace norms—plays an
equally significant role in shaping teacher wellness. Interview responses found that when
participants were excluded from key decisions affecting their work, they felt disempowered and
disconnected from their school communities, which negatively affected their wellness.
Inconsistent enforcement of school policies due to unclear expectations also added to
participants’ stress, making it difficult for them to navigate their roles with confidence.
Organizational norms, such as inequitable job responsibilities and leadership gatekeeping also
emerged as key frustrations. These findings show that teacher mental health and wellness is
deeply tied to institutional structures and culture rather than on individual circumstances.
A key finding from the data is that many of the factors participants described were not
unique to the ‘Ike District or the HIDOE system, but rather reflect national trends in what causes
teacher dissatisfaction, burnout, and attrition. This suggests that factors influencing teacher

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mental health and wellness are influenced by overarching trends in education policy, leadership
practices, and school culture that affect educators across various contexts. These findings raise
important questions about the sustainability of the current system and show the need for systemic
and cultural changes in the school environment that prioritize teacher agency to genuinely
support teacher wellness.
Research Question 2
Research Question 2 asked, “How do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike
District describe their mental health and wellness?” Data revealed that they described their
mental health and wellness in multiple dimensions aligning with Swarbrick’s (2006) model,
emphasizing that wellness is experienced in interconnected ways. While researchers such as
Steiner and Woo (2021) have noted a national decline in teachers’ mental health and wellness,
they primarily focus on describing teachers experiencing stress. Data from this study expands on
existing research by illustrating how multiple dimensions of wellness are affected by the school
environment. It also highlights how different positionalities—such as being an early career or
veteran teacher, traditionally or alternatively certified, born and raised in Hawai‘i or from the
mainland—shape how teachers describe their mental health and wellness. The findings show
these factors contributed to varying experiences and perceptions of wellness among participants.
Data shows that participants, regardless of background, experienced declines in their
physical wellness due to extended work hours, inadequate rest, and a lack of energy to maintain
their physical health. Participants also felt teaching negatively affected their emotional wellness,
as they were often preoccupied with student-related and work concerns beyond school hours.
Occupational wellness was impacted by feelings of dissatisfaction, a lack of recognition from
administrators, and misaligned opportunities for PD. Participants from the mainland highlighted

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difficulties in social wellness, noting challenges in establishing a sense of community and
belonging. Early career and alternatively certified teachers struggled with intellectual wellness,
as they often lacked time to engage in activities beyond their teaching responsibilities. Financial
wellness was also a challenge for early career and alternatively certified teachers and those from
the mainland, as they had to consistently worry about the high cost of living in Hawai‘i.
These findings are aligned with the concept that wellness is holistic (Ardell, 1977; Dunn,
1959; Hetler, 1977; Swarbrick, 2006). The data shows the interconnectedness of wellness—that
a negative experience with one dimension negatively impacts other aspects of well-being. This
interconnectedness reinforces the idea that efforts to support teacher wellness must be multidimensional. Simply adding financial compensation, for instance, may improve financial
wellness, but fails to address other critical areas like social and emotional wellness. Based on the
findings from Research Question 2, it is clear that teacher wellness requires a comprehensive
approach that encompasses all aspects of well-being. Furthermore, addressing these dimensions
requires not just financial, but cultural shifts within the organizations participants are part of—
shifts that would promote a supportive environment optimal for improved teacher wellness.
Research Question 3
Research Question 3 asked, “What do K–12 public school teachers in the HIDOE ‘Ike
District believe are important leadership practices their site leaders must exhibit to authentically
support teachers with their mental health and wellness?” Qualitative data related to Research
Question 3 revealed three findings. The first finding related to Research Question 3 is
participants’ beliefs that a site leader’s ability to develop relationships with teachers—by being
proactive, advocating for their needs, and leading opportunities for teachers to connect with each
other—positively influences teacher mental health and wellness. This finding aligns with how

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Borko et al. (2007) and Taylor and Wasiksko (2000) describe leadership, emphasizing that it
depends on the personal qualities and characteristics of the leaders themselves. Interview
responses reveal that a leader’s inner desire to get to know their staff and prioritize relationshipbuilding plays a crucial role in cultivating a school environment where teachers feel valued,
which is vital for supporting their wellness.
Another finding that emerged from Research Question 3 was participants’ strong desire
for purposeful leadership characterized by transparency, clear decision-making rationale, and
well-defined expectations. This aligns with another quality Borko et al. (2007) and Taylor and
Waskiksko (2000) describe, which goes beyond personal qualities to include the actions leaders
take. By being purposeful in designing systems for teacher collaboration, providing meaningful
mentorship opportunities, and offering relevant PD choices, leaders can amplify teachers’ voices
and help them feel more confident in their roles, which contributes to their wellness.
Finally, participants called for a more systemic, long-term approach to addressing teacher
wellness. Rather than focusing on simplistic solutions, participants expressed a need for
sustainable solutions that align with their realistic needs and challenge the status quo. This aligns
with de Oliveira Andreotti’s (2016) idea that short-term, simplistic solutions do not effectively
address teachers’ mental health and wellness over time and there must be systemic reforms rather
than offering temporary solutions that fail to address the root causes of stress and burnout.
Limitations
Every qualitative research study has its inherent design imperfections and limitations, and
this study is no different. While this study provided valuable findings, several limitations must be
acknowledged. Generalizability is a primary limitation due to the contextual specificity of the
sample. Due to limitations in the sampling technique as a researcher outside the HIDOE, most

99
participants shared my positionality as an alternatively certified teacher from the mainland,
which may have limited the study’s findings. Although this study included 12 participants
representing a variety of teaching backgrounds, they were not fully representative of the broader
teaching population in the HIDOE ‘Ike District. There were fewer elementary educators
compared to secondary educators, which may have made the experiences related to elementary
educators less generalizable. Additionally, more than half of the participants were alternatively
certified rather than traditionally certified, which does not align with the demographics of most
schools in the HIDOE ‘Ike District. The majority of participants were from the mainland, with
only one identifying as Native Hawaiian, which may have limited the way wellness was
conceptualized and discussed in the study. Had the sample included more Native Hawaiian
educators, the findings may have reflected more Native and indigenous conceptualizations of
wellness. While all backgrounds of participants were represented in the study, it is important to
note that the findings were shaped by the amplified perspectives of participants who were early
in their careers, who completed an alternative certification program, and are not from Hawai‘i.
Lastly, four participants in the study chose to leave the teaching profession altogether. While
they still met the criteria to participate in the study, their experiences may have contributed to
more negative overall findings, which may not fully represent all teachers’ perspectives.
However, the purpose of the research was not to generalize findings to all teachers, but to
provide a rich and descriptive account of participants’ lived experiences. While these findings
may not be generalizable across all educational contexts, the depth of description allows for
contextual inference and applicability to similar school environments and teacher populations.
Another limitation is related to credibility, as the study relied on self-reported personal
narratives concerning teacher wellness. There was no standard calibration of definitions

100
regarding mental health and wellness between the participants. As a result, participants’
perceptions of their experiences may have been shaped by their preconceived notions of what
mental health and wellness is, potentially leading them to focus on more negative aspects rather
than positive experiences. Member checking also posed an additional limitation to credibility.
While participants were invited to review their interview transcripts, not all participants
responded. The absence of participant verification may have led to minor gaps in data analysis.
Despite these limitations, the study offers meaningful insights into the complexities of teacher
mental health and wellness and leadership practices that would provide meaningful support.
Recommendations for Practice
The findings of this study highlight the central role of school leadership in addressing
teacher mental health and wellness. Site leaders are uniquely positioned to shape the culture,
structures, and daily experiences that influence teacher well-being. Therefore, each
recommendation ultimately points back to the need for intentional, empathetic, and purposeful
leadership. To foster a sustainable and positive school environment, leaders must implement
practices that prioritize strong relationships, a culture of care, strategic use of resources, and
meaningful opportunities for professional growth. These targeted leadership practices will not
only enhance teacher wellness, but also contribute to long-term improvements in teacher
retention and improved student outcomes.
Recommendation 1: Developing Pilina (Relationships)
Five of the 12 participants reported having no relationship with their site leaders,
emphasizing that when leaders are distant or disengaged, they create a barrier and lack of
acknowledgement that negatively impacts teacher wellness and job satisfaction. This finding
shows the importance of proactive leadership behaviors that prioritize pilina (relationships) as a

101
means to support teacher well-being. To support teacher mental health and wellness, site leaders
must implement intentional strategies to develop pilina with their teachers.
Pilina is an important Hawaiian value that does not just exist; it must be actively and
intentionally developed to foster connections between people, and is even considered essential
for survival (Kapono, 2021). In a school setting, this includes incorporating informal, nonevaluative check-ins into their daily routines, actively seeking to understand teachers’ needs, and
acknowledging teachers’ contributions in meaningful ways—that they are more than the test
scores their students produce. When leaders cultivate pilina, they gain a better understanding of
teachers’ needs and can be proactive about addressing concerns, contributing to a more
supportive, empathetic, and trusting school culture (Tschannen-Moran, 2014). By prioritizing
pilina, site leaders can work towards creating a school environment that fosters more positive
teacher well-being.
Recommendation 2: Transparent and Collaborative Decision-Making
Data from the findings indicate that teachers’ mental health and wellness was negatively
impacted when there was a lack of transparency and collaboration in decision-making, which led
to inconsistencies in implementing school policies and frustration over schoolwide initiatives.
This lack of clarity negatively affected teachers’ emotional wellness and heightened their
perception of unrealistic demands. To address these findings, site leaders must adopt a datadriven, collaborative approach to decision-making that prioritizes transparency.
Transparent decision-making, particularly when teachers’ voices are included, fosters
trust and reduces feelings of uncertainty (Tschannen-Moran, 2014). Budgetary decisions, for
example, should be informed by teacher input to ensure that resources are allocated effectively
and align with teachers’ needs. This could lead to opportunities to support teachers with their

102
large class sizes. Teaching placements and school policies should also be shaped with teacher
voice. By actively seeking feedback from teachers, site leaders can avoid adding to workload
burdens and inefficiencies, and teachers are simultaneously more likely to feel a sense of
ownership and commitment to the initiatives being implemented (Baker, 2021l; Bryk &
Schneider, 2002).
Recommendation 3: Differentiation in Teacher Growth Opportunities
Farah and Bonnett (2021) found that site leaders spend an average of $18,000 per teacher
annually on PDs, yet the Gates Foundation (2016) found that only 29% of teachers feel PDs are
effective to their instructional practice. Data from this study’s findings showed that ineffective
PDs also negatively affected teacher mental health and wellness by adding to participants’
perceived sense of unrealistic demands that did not add value to their development as teachers.
To support teachers with their mental health and wellness, site leaders must provide their
teachers with access to PD opportunities that are not only varied and accessible, but also aligned
with their personal and professional development goals. Site leaders must also offer pathways for
teachers to take on leadership roles and deepen expertise in specific areas. Furthermore, PD
should be culturally relevant to Hawai‘i and grounded in teachers’ day-to-day realities to equip
them with the skills necessary to navigate challenges they encounter in the school environment.
Darling-Hammond et al. (2017) discuss the importance of teachers having a sense of
ownership and purpose in things like PDs and understand their purpose to improve their efficacy
and retention. To ensure PDs are a source of learning rather than anxiety, principals should
gather and prioritize feedback from all PD opportunities, and cut ineffective, one-size-fits-all
PDs, offering more flexibility for differentiated PD tailored to individual and departmental
needs. Novice teachers should receive comprehensive training to build foundational skills, while

103
veteran teachers benefit from growth-oriented opportunities that deepen expertise.
Differentiating PDs and making them meaningful will ultimately foster teachers’ sense of
ownership, which is critical for sustaining their motivation in the profession and developing
their ability to deliver high-quality instruction, directly benefiting students.
Recommendation 4: Targeted Support and Mentorship for Alternatively Certified
Teachers
All of the alternatively certified teachers in this study reported that their initial years of
teaching were particularly challenging. While alternative certification programs must be
reimagined to recruit participants who are actually interested in teaching, site leaders must also
recognize them as teachers who are new to the profession altogether. Nevertheless, participants
in the study explained they were often assigned the most challenging roles, including content
areas with which they were unfamiliar. In addition to the demands of their teaching roles,
alternatively certified participants also faced the added challenge of doing additional work on the
weekends for their certification program, which further exacerbated the negative impact on their
mental health and wellness. Site leaders must take the time to understand the unique challenges
faced by alternatively certified teachers, especially with regard to the responsibilities and the
expectations placed upon them and provide targeted support and mentorship for teachers with no
prior classroom experience.
Mentorship plays a vital role in the success and retention of early career teachers,
particularly those entering the profession through alternative certification programs (Kamper,
2023). This includes placing alternative certified teachers in positions where they will have
strong support systems, such as teaming them with experienced colleagues or offering
specialized training. Assigning smaller class sizes can help reduce stress and provide a more

104
manageable workload, allowing new teachers to focus on their development without being
overwhelmed. Site leaders should also provide more frequent feedback through informal, nonevaluative interactions, which could help build confidence, identify areas for improvement, and
create a positive feedback loop. By providing these types of support, site leaders can foster a
more nurturing environment that authentically supports alternatively certified teachers.
Recommendations for Future Research
The findings of this study provide valuable insights, yet there remain several areas of
further exploration that could deepen understanding of teacher mental health and wellness.
Future research should examine how teachers’ experiences in the ‘Ike District compare with
those in other districts within the HIDOE. Participant G, for example, transferred districts within
the HIDOE and mentioned that her experience in her new district more positively supported her
mental health and wellness. While Participant G’s experience may not be generalizable to all
teachers who moved districts, understanding variations within the culture of different schools
and districts could help identify additional practices that could contribute to teacher wellness.
Future research should also aim to recruit a greater number of participants who are still
actively teaching to provide a more balanced perspective on teacher mental health and wellness.
In this study, four participants left the profession, which may have influenced the findings
towards more negative experiences. A different approach could also include teachers who have
had different career experiences within and outside of teaching. Those who have only
experienced one school setting may lack a comparative perspective on how their mental health
and wellness may have been influenced. Expanding the participant pool in these ways could
provide a more comprehensive understanding of the factors that could contribute to their
wellness.

105
Additional research could also expand the sample to be more representative of Hawai‘i’s
population, particularly Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander teachers. Given that many
conceptualizations of wellness in this study stem from a Westernized lens of wellness through
the positionalities of participants, it is important to explore whether Native and indigenous
educators in Hawai‘i face distinct challenges that are based on different ideas of wellness. Using
a more culturally responsive approach to understand mental health and wellness could lead to
more context-specific possibilities that honor the teacher workforce in Hawai‘i.
Future studies should also investigate schools, if any, that have specific practices in place
to support teacher wellness. For example, Participant A described his experience hearing about
other schools on the island that have specific practices site leaders invested in to better support
their teachers. Evaluating which interventions schools have used to support teacher mental health
and wellness and looking at the outcomes could help schools design evidence-based strategies to
support their teachers.
In addition, future research should explore teacher preparation programs, particularly
alternative certification programs, to evaluate how they prepare educators for the realities of the
profession. Given the significant role these programs play in addressing the teacher shortage in
the HIDOE, it is crucial to examine how they are marketed, the training they provide, and
whether they adequately prepare teachers for the mental, emotional, and cultural demands of the
classroom. Investigating these programs could provide insight into whether they equip teachers
with the necessary tools for long-term success or inadvertently set them up for challenges that
negatively affect their mental health and wellness, which could ultimately inform improvements
in teacher preparation.

106
Finally, future studies should examine the mental health and wellness of school
administrators, as their capacity to lead and support teachers depends on their own well-being.
This study has shown the importance of the administrator’s role in cultivating a positive school
climate, leading teachers to better support student outcomes. Understanding this interdependent
dynamic could guide systemic efforts that promote mental health and wellness at every level of
the school community.
Conclusions
This study confirmed that teacher mental health and wellness in the HIDOE ‘Ike District
is significantly influenced by job-related factors and site leadership practices. Teachers reported
that factors such as unrealistic expectations, excessive workload, lack of administrative support,
and exclusion from decision-making processes negatively impacted their well-being. These
findings show that teacher wellness is not simply an individual concern but an adaptive challenge
that must be addressed at all levels of educational leadership.
The interconnected nature of teacher mental health and wellness highlights the urgent
need for holistic support structures. While the HIDOE and state teachers union often advocate
for financial solutions—such as increased teacher pay, hard-to-staff bonuses, and other monetary
incentives—as key strategies for teacher retention, the findings from this study demonstrate that
financial reparations alone are insufficient. A fundamental shift in school culture is critical.
Teachers need to feel valued, heard, and supported—not just compensated. Schools that fail to
foster a positive environment risk perpetuating a cycle of burnout and attrition, ultimately
harming students. When teachers leave year after year, students lose trusted mentors, and schools
struggle to maintain continuity in learning. A system that continually replaces teachers rather
than sustaining them is failing not just its educators, but its students.

107
Beyond the immediate challenges within schools, the teaching profession also suffers
from a broader societal narrative—one that depicts teaching as a thankless job in which teachers
must make many sacrifices. Shifting this paradigm requires a fundamental change in how
teachers are supported at the school level. When site leaders cultivate an environment where
teachers feel respected, empowered, and supported, they challenge the negative societal
narratives about teaching and position it as a fulfilling and respected career.
No educational reform aimed at improving student outcomes can be truly effective
without first prioritizing the well-being of the teachers who guide and support students every
day. This study affirms that site leaders play a pivotal role in shaping teachers’ experiences.
Relationships between site leaders and teachers must be built on trust, transparency, and mutual
collaboration. Leaders must go beyond simplistic solutions and embed teacher wellness into their
organizational design. Supporting teachers in this way should not be an afterthought, but rather, a
core expectation of every educational leader’s role.
Ultimately, the sustainability of the teaching profession—both in Hawai‘i and
nationally—depends on whether schools support their teachers in meaningful and lasting ways.
If the goal is to improve student achievement and equity, then schools must first ensure that the
adults working with students are equipped, empowered, and well-supported. Future research
should continue to explore teacher mental health and wellness across different school districts
and teacher populations, refining strategies that create systemic and lasting change. The
conversation on teacher retention must shift away from merely keeping teachers in classrooms to
ensuring their mental health and wellness is adequately supported so they can thrive in those
classrooms—for the benefit of both educators and the students they serve.

108
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Appendix A: Participant Screener

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Appendix B: Interview Protocol
Thank you for taking the time to participate in this research interview. Your experiences
and insights are very valuable to my study. As I mentioned before, this interview will take
around an hour of your time. Does that still work for you?
Before we get started, I wanted to remind you about this study, and about your rights,
which were explained in the Signed Consent Form I provided you. I am a doctoral student at
USC and I am conducting a study on K–12 teachers in the ‘Ike District of the Hawai‘i State
Department of Education and their perceptions of mental health and wellness in their school
settings. I am also going to use a pseudonym as I discuss the name of the district where you
work, and will do the same when I disseminate my findings to protect your identity. I am talking
to multiple teachers in the ‘Ike District to get their perspectives on this. We will be discussing
topics such as your job demands, your thoughts about wellness, and your perspectives on the
leadership at your school. Your thoughts are meant to support me in my research, and I will not
be using your perspectives to make any judgements about you as an individual. As stated in the
Signed Consent Form, I also want to reassure you that all the thoughts you share with me today
will remain confidential. I will use a pseudonym to protect your confidentiality, and I will try my
best to remove any of the identifying information you may share. Before submitting the final
version of my research, I will also invite you to participate in a member checking process to
ensure that what I write in the study is true to your experience. Do you have any questions before
we continue?
I am going to take a few notes during our interview so I can accurately capture your
experiences and refer to them if I need to. I have also brought a recorder with me today so I can
accurately capture what you share with me. The purpose of the recording is just to ensure I

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accurately capture your perspectives and will not be shared with anyone else. Would that be okay
with you if I record our conversation?
Background Information
First, I would like to start by asking you some background questions about you so I can
develop a clearer picture of your experiences that led you to where you are today.
1. Tell me about your background in teaching.
• What are the primary factors that influenced your decision to become a
teacher?
• How long have you been a teacher?
• Tell me about your role in the school.
Concepts
Thank you for sharing a bit about your professional background with me. Now, I would
like to ask you about your experience in your school environment. When I talk about your
environment, I am specifically referring to how you feel about your job demands that you have
and the way you shape your everyday work based on school and state initiatives.
2. Walk me through a typical day you experience at your school.
3. How would you describe the overall atmosphere or environment at your school?
• What are some positive aspects of your school environment?
• What are some areas of improvement in your school environment?
Thank you for sharing your insights. Now, I would like to transition into several
questions that will allow me to understand your thoughts on teacher mental health and wellness. I
understand that as an educational practitioner, you may not have the scientific language to talk

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about and wellness, but your descriptions are important to allow me to process your internal
thoughts.
4. How would you personally define mental health and wellness?
5. How would you personally define mental health and wellness, as it relates to teachers
specifically?
6. What significance, if any, do you see in teachers prioritizing their mental health and
wellness?
7. How has your mental health and wellness been positively or negatively impacted
through being in your school environment?
Thank you for sharing your insights. As we move onto the final part of the interview, I
would like to ask you some questions about your school leaders.
8. Tell me about the level of support you receive, if at all, from your school leaders
regarding your mental health and wellness.
9. Think about a specific experience you had in which your school leaders attempted to
support you and your colleagues’ wellness. What did that feel like?
10. Some may say that school-level leaders cannot change the external factors, (like state
policies, salaries) that have a significant impact on teacher wellness. What would you
say to them?
11. Suppose your school leaders made a commitment to truly prioritize your mental
health and wellness. What would that ideal environment look like?
Final Question
Thank you for sharing your insights. As we close out this interview, I would like to give
you the opportunity to have the final say. What other insight, if any, would you like to share

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about your school environment, teacher mental health and wellness, and/or school leadership that
I did not think to ask?
Closing
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts. Everything you have
shared is really helpful, and gives me a lot to think about for my study. As I mentioned at the
beginning of the interview, I will be in touch with you so that you can review how I write up the
part of the study that will contain this interview so you can provide me with feedback on whether
it is true and accurate to what you shared today. I may also be reaching out to you via email with
some follow up questions if I have any that may come up. Is that okay with you? Again, thank
you for participating in this study.

Asset Metadata

Creator Su, Jonathan Timothy (author)

Core Title An exploration of teacher wellness and leadership practices for support in Hawai'i public schools

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Educational Leadership (On Line)

Degree Conferral Date 2025-05

Publication Date 04/08/2025

Defense Date 03/18/2025

Publisher University of Southern California (original), Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Hawai‘i public schools,leadership,OAI-PMH Harvest,school environment,teacher attrition,teacher mental health,teacher retention,teacher turnover,teacher wellness

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Advisor Ott, Maria (committee chair), Franklin, Gregory (committee member), Summers, Elisabeth (committee member)

Creator Email sujt@usc.edu,jonathantimothysu@gmail.com

Unique identifier UC11399KA0W

Identifier etd-SuJonathan-13907.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-SuJonathan-13907

Document Type Dissertation

Format theses (aat)

Rights Su, Jonathan Timothy

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Type texts

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Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright.

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Abstract (if available)

Abstract The Hawai‘i State Department of Education (HIDOE) has the highest teacher turnover in the nation, exacerbating disparities in student achievement and highlighting the need for sustainable support systems for educators (HIDOE, 2023; Walker, 2020). This study examines the factors affecting teacher mental health and wellness in a high-attrition, underperforming district within the HIDOE and explores leadership practices that foster a supportive school environment. Using a qualitative research design, this study draws from semi-structured interviews with 12 participants from seven schools within the district. Findings reveal that bureaucratic demands, excessive workload expectations, lack of transparency and accountability, and challenges within organizational structures negatively affect nearly all aspects of teachers’ wellness. Participants emphasized the need for purposeful leadership practices that prioritize relationships, collaboration, and meaningful professional growth. The study offers recommendations for site leaders to drive deeper cultural and structural support systems within their school settings rather than rely on simplistic solutions that fail to address teacher wellness. These recommendations aim to support site leaders in creating school environments that authentically prioritize teacher well-being, ultimately improving job satisfaction, teacher retention, and student achievement.