What is this research about?

Educators, including teachers and other school staff, have a higher risk for experiencing workplace stress and burnout due to the challenging nature of their work. Burnout is a state of emotional exhaustion linked to reductions in work satisfaction.

This project aims to evaluate a two-hour self-paced online training workshop developed to support the wellbeing and resilience of educators. The workshop explores the latest research on burnout and provides simple and practical self-care skills drawn from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and compassion-focused therapy (CFT). This research is being conducted through the University of Queensland.

Thank you for your interest in participating in this research project. Please read the following information about the project so that you can decide whether you would like to take part in this research. Please feel free to ask any questions you might have about your involvement in the project.

If you decide to participate in this research, please keep in mind that your participation is voluntary. If you do not wish to take part, you do not have to. If you decide to take part and later change your mind, you are free to stop at any time, and you would not need to give any explanation for your decision to stop participating.

What will I need to do?

To participate you need to be a teacher or a staff member of a school where you have direct contact with children (e.g. guidance officer, teacher aide). Participation in this study involves:

• Completing three online surveys each taking approximately 20-30 minutes. These ask about experiences of stress, burnout, and professional quality of life as well as how individual differences in emotional intelligence and executive functioning (ability to plan and organise), may relate to teacher wellbeing.
• After consenting to participate, you will complete the first survey immediately. You will be emailed a link to the second survey in 4 weeks time and then again in 12 weeks time.
• After completing the first survey, you have a 50/50 chance of being given immediate access to the self-paced online wellbeing workshop. This will allow us to compare the workshop to something else and determine whether or not the workshop leads to better outcomes.
• If you are allocated to receive the workshop straight away, you will immediately receive the workshop link. We encourage you to complete it within 4 weeks, before we send you the second survey.
• If you are not allocated to receive the workshop straight away, then you will be provided with an access link once you have completed the final survey (in 12 weeks time).

What are the possible benefits of taking part?

If you choose to participate, you will be given access to the online wellbeing workshop free of charge. It is anticipated that your participation will help to further research about the efficacy of wellbeing interventions for educators.

What are the possible risks and disadvantages of taking part?

You will be asked to complete surveys at three time points, which will each take approximately 20-30 minutes. There are no foreseeable risks associated with your participation in this project beyond those of everyday living. If, however, you should find any question or procedure to be invasive or offensive, you are free to omit answering or participating in that aspect of the study. If you experience an emotional response to completing the surveys, support can be sought through your local GP or health clinic, Lifeline (13 11 14), BeyondBlue (1300 22 4636).

What will happen to the information about me?

All information collected about you will remain confidential and will be strictly related to the aims of the study outlined above. All research data, including any details de-identifying data, will be stored securely on a specific research drive that only the members of the research team have access to. Participants’ email addresses will be stored separately from the other collected data and will only be used to contact participants about participating in the surveys and the online workshop. None of the information provided by participants will be published in an identifiable manner. All survey data will be deidentified and stored on a secure research drive that only the research team have access to. Data will be stored for 15 years after the final publication.

It is anticipated that the results of this research project will be published and/or presented in a variety of forms. In any publication and/or presentation, information will be provided in such a way that you cannot be identified.

What will happen if I decide to withdraw?

Your participation in this research is voluntary and you are free to withdraw from the research anytime without needing to provide any explanation, and you would not receive any penalty or bias as a result of your withdrawal. Should you decide to withdraw, you can email any member of the research team. Should you decide to withdraw, you can request that your collected data be destroyed; this will involve recoding and removing your previously de-identified data from the study.

Can I hear about the results of this research?

Yes, these are available on request. If you would like to be informed of the outcomes of this research, please contact Dr Grace Kirby (g.kirby@uq.edu.au) after December 2026.

Who can I contact if I have any concerns about the project?

This study adheres to the Guidelines of the ethical review process of The University of Queensland and the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. Whilst you are free to discuss your participation in this study with Dr Grace Kirby on g.kirby@uq.edu.au. If you would like to speak to an officer of the University not involved in the study, you may contact the Ethics Coordinator on +617 3365 3924 / +617 3443 1656 or email humanethics@research.uq.edu.au

This research Ethics ID number: 2024/HE002516.

For more information, contact:

Dr Grace Kirby (Project Coordinator)
Child Health Research Centre,
The University of Queensland
Email: g.kirby@uq.edu.au

Researchers:

Thank you for your participation in this study.