Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Walker, Linda

Committee Member

Hare, R. Dwight

Committee Member

Watson, Joshua

Committee Member

Riley, Monica

Committee Member

Launius, Sallie

Date of Degree

8-5-2006

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Major

Curriculum and Instruction

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

College

College of Education

Department

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Abstract

Wellness literature reported that the current focus on academic achievement and high-stakes testing has sacrificed wellness in students, and ?there is a strong need and a public outcry to promote wellness in public schools? (Myers & Sweeney, 2005a, p. 228). Also, ?the promotion of schoolwide well-being will enrich the academic experience of students and families. In addition, school staff members who are aware and knowledgeable of wellness concepts may be more likely to apply healthy strategies in the curriculum and throughout the school? (Myers & Sweeney, p. 232). Effective teacher research supported the Student Teacher Assessment Instrument as a viable measure of teacher effectiveness. The purpose of this research was to determine whether holistic wellness as defined by creative self, coping self, social self, essential self, and physical self as measured by the 5F-Wel can be used to predict teacher effectiveness as measured by the STAI. The research question proposed for this study was: Is there a relationship between wellness as measured by the Five Factor Wellness Inventory and effective teaching as measured by the STAI? The research design was correlational. A convenience sample of voluntary participants among the 54 teacher interns during the spring 2006 semester from Mississippi State University-Meridian campus was used. The predictor variables were the second order factor scores on the 5F-Wel. These factors are creative self, coping self, social self, essential self, and physical self. The dependent variable was the overall formative score on the STAI. The results obtained show the predictor variables included in the multiple linear regression analysis did not predict teacher effectiveness as measured by the STAI at an accuracy greater than chance. A statistically significant relationship between the predictor variables and dependent variable was not found. Specifically, wellness as measured by the second order factors on the 5F-Wel did not predict teacher effectiveness as measured by the STAI in this study. Recommendations included: (a) using similar methodology in other studies and (b) replicating the study with future cohorts of student interns from Mississippi State University-Meridian Campus.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/20043

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