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This causal comparative study explored K-12 educators' and school staff's self-reported levels of well-being, perceived stress, and use of coping strategies. An online survey was administered to 686 educators consisting of teachers, school administrators, professional support staff, administrative support staff and other school staff in a medium-sized schoolboard in Southern Ontario, Canada. The results show that educators reported overall low scores of wellbeing and higher levels of perceived stress as compared to the general population. Female educators reported significantly higher perceived stress than their male colleagues. A "k-means" cluster analysis of the educators' coping strategies identified four unique clusters which were significantly different from each other. It was shown that participants in two of the clusters, consisting of approximately 32% of the participants in this study, used maladaptive coping strategies more frequent and that the participants in these two clusters exhibited significantly poorer wellbeing and significantly more perceived stress than their colleagues in the other two clusters. The limitations and practical implications of this study are discussed.

This study explored the nature of teacher candidates' mental health narratives in the context of completing an elective course in mental health and wellness. How students deconstructed their narratives and the narratives of their peers over time was also explored. Participants included 67 fourth-year students completing a five-year concurrent teacher education program. Data was collected over two academic years and consisted of students' beginning-of-course and end-of-course narratives. The narratives were analyzed using content and thematic analysis. The findings are discussed in the context of using shared narratives as case study to promote self-reflection, discussion, problem-solving and mental health literacy within undergraduate courses.

Wildfires have the potential to result in significant loss of life and property damage. Mountain wave flow events (Berg winds) are integrally linked to periods of enhanced fire danger. The basis for enhanced fire danger during periods of mountain winds has long been established, supported by evidence from a number of case studies. A fuzzy logic model, applied to hourly meteorological data from four different sites varying in elevation, allowed for an in-depth study of the effects of Berg winds on the microclimate and fire danger. Results indicate that night-time Berg wind events occur less frequently than daytime events, also having a significantly reduced influence on the microclimate. Daytime Berg wind events were shown to result in a significant change in the microclimate and fire danger across all sites. Night-time Berg wind events did not result in significant change to air temperature and relative humidity but when combined with significant changes to wind speed did result in significant increases in fire danger. The sensitivity of the Lowveld Fire Danger Index was also tested. The study emphasizes the need for boundary layer processes such as Berg winds to be taken into account when forecasting and monitoring fire danger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrated curriculum that is transdisciplinary in nature seems to be a good fit for 21st Century learning. There are, however, few examples of transdisciplinary curriculum at the K to 12 level. One exception is the International Baccalaureate's Primary Years Programme (PYP) which features transdisciplinary curriculum for students from ages 3 to 12 around the world. This phenomenological study explored the lived experience of 24 PYP educators to deepen understanding of what such a curriculum looks like in practice. Three main themes were identified. The first, "It's a framework" outlines participants' understandings of transdisciplinary teaching and learning and the freedom a transdisciplinary framework can bring. The second theme, "Get on board", examines participants' thoughts around what is required to successfully implement a transdisciplinary curriculum. The final theme, "Their learning journey", discusses participants' beliefs around the success of a transdisciplinary curriculum. In general, participants appreciated the transdisciplinarity of the program. Concerns revolved around implementation issues. Suggestions on how to implement transdisciplinary teaching and learning in other contexts are provided.

The maladaptive personality and neuropsychological features of highly relationally aggressive females were examined in a group of 30 grade 6, 7, and 8 girls and group-matched controls. Employing a multistage cluster sampling procedure, a group of highly, yet almost exclusively, relationally aggressive females were identified and matched on a number of variables to a group of nonaggressive females. Parents of the students in both groups completed the Coolidge Personality and Neuropsychological Inventory, a 200-item DSM-IV-TR aligned, parent-as-respondent, standardized measure of children's psychological functioning. It was found that high levels of relational aggression, in the absence of physical and verbal aggression, were associated with symptoms of DSM-IV-TR Axis I oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder. The highly relationally aggressive group also exhibited a wide variety of personality traits associated with DSM-IV-TR Axis II paranoid, borderline, narcissistic, histrionic, schizotypal, and passive aggressive personality disorders that were not exhibited by the matched controls. Implications of these findings are discussed.

An upper-year elective undergraduate course on mental health and wellness is explored as a method of increasing concurrent teacher education students' mental health literacy and strategies for coping with stress. This paper describes the experiences of seven concurrent education undergraduate students in the semester-long mental health and wellness course. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews conducted at the end of the course with each participant. Participants identified sharing and personal reflection as critical elements of the course which helped them acquire a deeper understanding of mental health and wellness and strategies for coping with stressful situations. Participants also discussed their future roles in promoting and sustaining mental health and wellness in themselves, their students and their colleagues. The findings are discussed in terms of increasing teacher candidates' mental health literacy.

This interdisciplinary cross-cultural research project surveyed teachers in elementary schools in five countries: South Africa, Australia, Jamaica, England, and the United States. This study attempted to define and identify best practices used in teaching children considered to be "at-risk" in these five countries: Three research questions guided this study 1). How do classroom teachers define children "at-risk" in their culture and country? 2). How do classroom teachers identify children "at-risk" in their classrooms? 3). What educational strategies do teachers implement to make learning meaningful for children "at-risk" for academic failure in their classrooms. An extensive cross-cultural literature review was conducted by the research team and a summary of the most frequently cited best practices for teaching children considered to be "at-risk" from the five countries was presented. In addition, detailed responses by classroom teacher study participants that addressed the three key research questions were also included.