FoResT: Fostering Resilience in Teacher Education

Duration: May 2022 – December 2023
Status: Completed
Educational Level: Tertiary Level
Topic: Digital Tools
Keywords: Learning Platforms

Initial Situation

Teaching is a socially significant profession but is increasingly characterised by high workloads, staff shortages, and above-average attrition rates. Alongside professional expertise, social-emotional skills such as resilience are becoming ever more important. Resilience is defined as the ability to activate psychological, social, cultural, and physical resources in the face of adversity to maintain individual and collective well-being (Clarà, 2017; Ungar, 2012). It functions as a protective factor for teacher well-being (e.g. Burić et al., 2019; Hascher et al., 2021) and can be developed as a competence (e.g. Beltman et al., 2018; Mansfield & Gu, 2019). In Switzerland, there is currently a lack of systematic programmes in this area. This cooperative project between the University of Bern and PHBern addresses this gap by developing an interactive learning platform to promote resilience among (future) teachers.

Objectives

The aim of the project was to design, evaluate, and implement a digital learning platform that fosters resilience in students of teacher education. The platform is intended to bridge research and practice, support individualised learning, and strengthen both health and media education competencies in the long term.

Method

Development of the FoResT platform followed a design thinking approach. An alpha version was first evaluated for content and pedagogy by experts from schools, healthcare, and academia. Based on this, a technically and visually improved beta version was created. Alongside this, an intervention study was conducted, collecting both quantitative (pre/post/follow-up) and qualitative (interviews) data to assess the platform’s effectiveness. The platform was implemented in the autumn semester 2023 within the PHBern module “Professional Biographical Development and Personal Resources”. Feedback from both lecturers and students was systematically gathered.

Results

Initial responses from teaching and the intervention research are available, though not yet fully analysed. The platform was well accepted, and its integration into the curriculum was seen as pedagogically appropriate. There is room for improvement in coordinating synchronous and asynchronous learning phases. Even in the pilot phase, the platform proved to be a valuable tool for reflection and personal resource development.

Implemented Translation

The platform has been fully integrated into PHBern’s newly designed degree programme and is also being used in continuing education (e.g. CAS Mental Health). By combining a digital tool with guided learning, the platform connects research, higher education, and school practice. It enables adaptive, individualised skills development and contributes to more flexible study models. It supports both resilience training and the development of media didactics competencies for future teachers. The project strengthens intervention research at the University of Bern and provides PHBern with concrete insights and an applicable digital tool for resilience promotion. Through curricular integration, students benefit directly through skills development. In the long term, the project supports health promotion in the teaching profession, which can positively impact teaching quality and student achievement. Schools benefit when early-career teachers possess high levels of resilience.

Participating Institutions