Researcher Network for sustainable teachership (RNST)

Schools are Sweden´s largest workplace and have long been described as one of Sweden´s worst work environments.

Teachers have a very demanding work situation and high levels of work- and stress-related mental ill health, even compared to other occupational groups. Up to 50% of teachers are considering leaving their job. The situation threatens schools as a socially sustainable workplace.

The problem is multifaceted and complex, and collaboration is required between different disciplines to achieve a good understanding of the problem, which in turn is a prerequisite for effective change measures.

The grant aim is to develop and establish a Research Network for Sustainable Teachership (RNST) including a group of female and male researchers from four different disciplines, three different universities (Gothenburg, Linköping and Umeå University) and at different career ages (master´s degree to professor level) who have a common research interest in teachers´ mental health.

The network has four goals: (1) to create conditions for more effective and coordinated efforts to address the complex problem of teachers´ high rates of ill-health by allowing different disciplinary perspectives from researchers with different backgrounds and experiences to meet in a respectful spirit, (2) to be a platform for generating new ideas and solutions to teacher ill-health by bringing together people from different backgrounds which can form the basis for writing competitive research proposals, (3) to provide a collaborative interface with external collaborators from the world of schools and other researchers, and (4) to contribute to peer learning for network members through the exchange of experiences.The main project activities  will consist of two meetings per year, the establishment of a website for the network and two bigger seminars to which more stakeholders (external partners from the school world and other researchers from Sweden and Finland) are invited.