Date of Conferral

7-30-2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Leslie Barnes-Young

Abstract

Teachers have experienced increasing burnout and high attrition rates, alongside a parallel decline in student well-being and academic success. Prior research has linked teacher well-being to student outcomes; however, little is known about whether teachers and students perceive this relationship similarly. This phenomenological qualitative study explored the shared perceptions of teacher well-being’s impact on student well-being and academic success among 10 high school teachers and 10 students from public schools in the southwestern United States. Grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and Bowlby’s secure base theory, the study employed semistructured interviews and Saldana’s two-cycle coding to identify themes across both groups. Key findings included seven shared themes, including (a) subjective understandings of well-being, (b) emotional contagion, (c) impact of well-being on students’ academics, (d) relationships, (e) instructional quality affected by well-being, (f) student awareness of teacher well-being, and (g) external stressors impacting teacher well-being. Divergent themes, including (a) institutional and administrative stressors, (b) impact of teacher well-being on student sense of support, and (c) student perceptions of classroom atmosphere and environment also emerged from the research. The results highlight the reciprocal nature of the teacher-student relationship and emphasize the importance of addressing teacher well-being as a pathway to improving student outcomes. These findings contribute to the limited U.S.-based literature and have implications for educational policy and practice, supporting social change through the promotion of emotionally supportive, relationship-centered school environments.

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