Resilient Agricultural Educators: Taking Stress to the Next Level

The goal for this research synthesis was to introduce the concept of resilience to agricultural education and determine if further research is warranted on resilience and positive psychology as they relate to the agricultural educator. The current environment of public schools coupled with the ever-burgeoning responsibilities placed upon the shoulders of educators makes resilience an increasingly vital characteristic to the classroom teacher. Teachers who are resilient are able to persevere through adversity and overcome stress to find success. The study of resilience has a theoretical base in positive psychology (Snyder & Lopez, 2009). Effective coping behaviors used to manage daily stress are essential to teacher retention and job satisfaction for teachers (Carmona, Buunk, Peiro, Rodriguez, & Bravo, 2006). Based on this synthesis of research, a conceptual framework visualizing the relationship between teacher resilience and agricultural educator stress and burnout was developed as well as a list of recommendations for further research. (Contains 3 figures.)