PROMEHS Teachers’ Training: The effect of PROMEHS Curriculum on Teachers’ Mental Health in Croatia and Romania

Abstract

Basic aim of newly created PROMEHS curriculum is to strengthen socio-emotional well-being, resilience and mental health of students aged from 3 to 18 years. Starting from the whole-school approach, its task was also to have positive impact on teachers’ mental health what was explored in this study regarding PROMEHS implementation in Croatia and Romania. Based on the quasi-experimental design, data was collected during pre-and post-test phases of the PROMEHS curriculum implementation in experimental and control group, for both countries. The experimental group was engaged in PROMEHS education, i.e. 16 hours training, and control group was not. In-service teachers from preschool to secondary education from Croatia and Romania (N=97 in pre-test and N=97 in post-test; N=83 control and N=97 experimental group), completed the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy (short form), the Connor Davidson Resilience (CD 10), and the Social and Emotional Competence of Teachers (SECTRS). No significant differences were determined between those two groups in pre-test. However, after teachers’ training, experimental group of teachers showed statistically higher levels of their self-efficacy, resilience and socio-emotional competencies than control group. Since these significant differences have been found only in experimental and not control group between pre- and post-test, the determined differences could be attributed only to the PROMEHS training effect. Even though the burnout level was lower in experimental group than in control after teachers’ training, it was not determined as significant difference in the analysis. The findings are discussed within the frame of PROMEHS teachers’ training contribution and the need for its sustainability.