How Teachers Thrive: Building Resilience in Education

Pat (PK) Kearney
Sep 9
5 min read

By Aaron Nydam

The teaching profession is and has always been demanding, but recent years have been particularly intense. Between the challenges of the pandemic, political pressures, and staffing shortages, many teachers face levels of stress that make staying in the classroom feel impossible. Across the U.S., surveys revealed rising burnout and record numbers of teachers leaving.

While the majority of teacher attrition research focuses on highly populated urban centers (Ingersoll et al., 2018), rural communities in the United States have not escaped the challenges. Instead, rural-serving schools have been hit especially hard, with fewer applicants and persistent vacancies. I still remember sitting at the coffee shop reading that 65% of public school teachers in Wyoming, a primarily rural state, would quit if they could. The statistics were sobering.

In the midst of these realities and the efforts to problem solve, I chose to focus my doctoral research on a different set of questions:

Who was thriving?
How were they doing it?
Why were they able to sustain purpose and energy when others couldn’t—especially in rural contexts like Wyoming?

About the study

How Teachers Thrive: Enabling Factors of Teacher Resilience in Rural-Serving Wyoming explores the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual ingredients that enable teacher resilience. I describe teacher resilience as a dynamic, multidimensional process amid adversity leading to positive outcomes—teachers and their environments interacting over time to produce engagement, growth, commitment, enthusiasm, satisfaction, and wellbeing.

Over the past year, I interviewed inspiring educators from the Wyoming Teacher Mentor Corps. Together we explored how they navigate challenges while staying committed and well.

Five enabling factors of teacher resilience

Using a socio-ecological lens (think: self ↔ relationships ↔ community ↔ systems), five interrelated factors stood out. None of these stand alone; they braid together.

1) Professional Purpose

Resilient teachers regularly reconnect with why they teach. They hold a strong commitment to students, align their daily practice with core values, and take pride in long-term impact.

“I think the core of teacher resilience is seeing teaching as a higher calling… If they don’t know they’re called to reach out and help kids in this way, they won’t withstand the pressures.”

“When you see students blooming—building confidence—That, right there, amazing! Yeah, that keeps me going.”

Purpose is fuel. When external pressures grow, alignment with values promotes deep pride.

2) Professional Relationships

No one does this alone. Thriving teachers are embedded in supportive communities of colleagues, mentors, and administrators.

“The most resilient teachers are the ones who can walk into a partner’s room and have an honest conversation.”

“Admin support and trust are the biggest factors in resilience.”

Psychological safety, approachable mentors, and real collegial support matter as much as any program or curriculum.

3) Contextual Understanding

Resilience grows when teachers develop understanding of the systems and communities they serve—and adjust accordingly.

“Education has changed markedly in the last ten years… resilience involves adapting your skill set and withstanding change.”

“Our teacher of the year understands the ranching community—she tailors education for those five to ten kids, and she’ll be there until her husband retires…But (she) understands. She does, and so she goes with the flow in education.”

Cultural humility, systems thinking, and community connection turn friction into flow.

4) Productive Adaptability

Adaptability isn’t reacting; it’s responding with perspective and choice. Resilient teachers sustain effectiveness and purpose in the face of ongoing change and challenge. They re frame challenges, focus on what’s controllable, avoid taking setbacks personally, regulate emotions, and deliberately find moments of joy.

“I can’t control how a student acts, so I’m not tying my self-esteem to that. That’s something I’ve learned.”

“Finding the humor helps me stay resilient and keep pushing forward.”

Adaptability keeps purpose intact when conditions shift.

5) Competency Development

Resilient teachers see themselves as capable and evolving. They iterate, reflect, try again, and build self-efficacy over time.

“Not just to keep going, but to get better. Look at why a lesson flopped, try again, change it, and find what works for these students.”

“A lot comes down to the moment you don’t feel capable, and you decide to engage anyway.”

This is the developmental arc—growth mindset plus lived wins that reinforce, “I can do this.”

For our sense-making, I attempted to visually conceptualize teacher resilience based upon interview data:

The first four findings are represented by a colored circle; each operating as an enabling factor of teacher resilience. The circuitous line weaving between and blending colors encapsulates the dynamic interplay between the categories. The fifth category, competency development, is represented by an arrow explicitly illustrating the developmental dimension of teacher resilience, evolving over time through self-efficacy and growth mindset. Overall, this visual model of teacher resilience conceptualizes resilience as a dynamic, multi-dimensional process shaped by reciprocal interactions across different socio-ecological systems.

What this means for teacher education & professional learning

To move from theory to practice, below are concrete shifts that embed resilience into teacher preparation, induction, and ongoing development—especially in rural-serving contexts.

Implications for Teacher Education

Factor	What it Means	Move We Can Make
Professional Purpose	Purpose fuels staying power and joy.	Make purpose formation part of teacher identity development; reinforce purpose through reflection, storytelling, and recognition of impact. Help teachers align practice with core beliefs and navigate constraints without burning out.
Professional Relationships	Mentors, peers, and admin support are protective.	Explicitly teach relational competence; build reciprocal mentorship systems; create peer communities (in-person/virtual); connect teachers to statewide and online networks.
Contextual Understanding	Culture, geography, and systems shape daily reality.	Teach systems thinking and place-based practice; integrate culturally responsive/sustaining pedagogy; tailor PD to rural challenges.
Productive Adaptability	Regulation + reframing + values-based decisions.	Build adaptive mindsets and emotional competence (regulation, stress management skills); practice value-based decision-making; create regular structures for collaborative reflection; differentiate support by career stage.
Competency Development	Confidence grows through cycles of practice.	Shift from static skills to iterative, growth-oriented frameworks; prioritize early-career mentorship; keep PD context-relevant and celebrate evolving identities.

Conclusion

The teachers I spoke with are not immune to adversity—they’ve lived through the same pressures and challenges as their peers. What sets them apart is the set of habits, mindsets, and support systems that allow them to stay grounded, keep perspective, and continue to grow in their profession. Their experiences remind us that resilience isn’t a trait you either have or don’t. It’s something that can be cultivated, supported, and strengthened over time.

For school leaders, policymakers, and communities, the takeaway is clear: resilience doesn’t happen by accident. It grows when teachers are anchored in purpose, supported by relationships, connected to context, adaptive in their practice, and believe in their ability to learn and improve. That’s the work worth investing in—because resilient teachers mean resilient schools, and resilient schools mean better outcomes for students.

About the author

Aaron Nydam is an educator and researcher based in Wyoming. His dissertation, How Teachers Thrive: Enabling Factors of Teacher Resilience in Rural-Serving Wyoming, explores practical ways teachers and leaders can build resilience in schools—especially across rural communities. You can contact him at anydam@uwyo.edu or find him on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-nydam-edd