Degree
Master of Arts
Program
Education
Supervisor
Dr. Claire Crooks
Abstract
This study examines Ontario teachers’ experiences of mental issues (MHI) and identity management in the workplace. Although numerous local and national initiatives exist to help raise awareness, decrease stigma, and assist teachers in supporting students with MHI, there appears to be an absence of literature that focuses on teachers' personal experiences with MHI and stigma in their professional environment. Two theoretical frameworks, Framework Integrating Normative Influences on Stigma (FINIS) (Pescosolido, Martin, Lang, & Olafsdottir, 2008), and Jones and King’s (2014) Managing stigmatized identities in the workplace, provide a lens for making meaning of the experiences of the participants. A qualitative inquiry approach captures the experience of teachers living with MHAI in their own words to foster a better understanding of the ways in which stigma operates within the education system, and to expand understandings of the multiple ways in which MHAI impact on teachers’ working lives in schools.
Recommended Citation
Kassen, Jenny, "Beyond Burnout: Educators' Experiences of Mental Health Issues, and Stigma in the Workplace" (2016). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 4107.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/4107