Today, society is facing a collective onslaught of mental and social challenges which include increased instances of depression, anxiety, bullying, and suicide. An interconnected approach to wellbeing, as this paper presents, reimagines these problems not as separate issues that are effectively addressable through band aid solutions and isolated initiatives, but rather as the manifestation of interrelated root causes. This multiphase, mixed methods study, which included 154 students and 12 educators, explored the effectiveness of an integrative approach to wellbeing called 1-2-3 Wellness™ and helped identify themes and propellants of wellbeing.

Four fundamental findings rose to the surface within this study. First, the 1-2-3 Wellness™ program is effective in propelling wellbeing among students and educators with mindfulness outcomes realized and specific increases in social and emotional learning (SEL). More broadly, the program serves as an illustration of the power and potential of integrative approaches to wellbeing and has application for families, schools, organizations, and communities. Secondly, five essential elements of school wellbeing were identified: safety, connection, routines, purpose, and choice. Thirdly, the paper introduces the concept of collective limbic regulation to refer to the dynamic which occurs when healthy micro interactions between a group of people helps group members cultivate and sustain a state of wellbeing. The paper suggests that collective limbic dysregulation, rather than regulation, is at the root of many of society’s growing problems, and that intentional efforts to cultivate collective limbic regulation hold promise for initiating solutions. Lastly, based on the findings, along with other cutting-edge research, wellbeing is reimagined with a new definition: the expression of interdependent systems of connection working in harmony. Along with the aforementioned findings, this new conceptualization offers a new lens to view societal problems and potential solutions related to wellbeing. Such a reimagined lens leads to the conception that selfless-actualization, rather than self-actualization, is the epitome of human flourishing and wellbeing.

The paper concludes by discussing implications of the study and by offering ideas to support policy makers, researchers, and educators in navigating future efforts to promote wellbeing in communities. Ultimately, we reimagine wellbeing through a lens of human flourishing and connection, and discuss paradigm shifting implications of this new lens for society moving forward.

Keywords: Wellbeing, Wellness, Schools, Communities, Families, Social and Emotional Learning, Mindfulness, Behavior, Neurobiology, Essential Elements of School Wellbeing, Integration, 1-2-3 Wellness™, Collective Limbic Regulation, Human Flourishing

The role of the leader in any organization is critical, but there has never been a more pivotal time than now as 21st century leaders prepare students for the future. The intersection of school culture and change leadership has been studied extensively in the change reform model, however, a small but growing body of research is now focused on cultures of innovation in schools and districts. This dissertation presents research on the vital role of the central office which has been previously understudied. This dissertation synthesizes the literature surrounding cultures of innovation as well as the role of the central office leaders. This qualitative case study presents findings underscoring and explaining the role of culture and climate in an innovative district as well as the supporting and constraining conditions and their effects. Study findings confirmed the central office is strongly poised to support cultures of innovation by 1) supporting a flatter more networked central office, 2) creating and enacting a shared vision of innovation including systems for organizational learning and efficacy and 3) most importantly, establishing a climate of trust. The findings revealed specific leadership skills for supporting the culture and climate which include building trusting relationships, enacting the vision and mission of innovation and building the capacity of other leaders. Implications for central office leaders are discussed.

In the past few decades teacher identity has received increased attention in the research literature. Teacher identity is the foundation on which teachers build their practice and how they interact in the classroom. Moreover, it is a potential avenue to an increased sense of agency, professionalism, and resilience. Despite the growing breadth of literature there are gaps in the literature, specifically that identity formation is an inherently relational process; yet little scholarship has explored this idea using a framework that privileges relationships. Moreover, few scholars have used identity theory to explore teacher identity. In this dissertation I explored the how novice teachers develop their teacher identity from credential to classroom using social network theory and identity theory. Some salient findings across the chapters were that participants set social boundaries between themselves and others to define their teacher identity; participants’ teacher identity both shaped and was shaped by their social networks; social justice teacher identity was strongly influenced by the teacher education program, but seemed to be less salient once participants entered the classroom; participants’ acknowledged feeling their teacher identity constrained by being a novice teacher, but they were optimistic about becoming the teacher they wanted to become; and lastly, sense of belonging and value consonance played a role in teacher identity formation for participants.

Preparing more students for success in college, career, and civic life is of critical importance, particularly for traditionally underserved students. Improvement science represents promising ideas and practices for how to achieve greater outcomes for students, particularly at scale. In this dissertation, two projects were undertaken related to college, career, and civic readiness, one to reduce chronic absenteeism and the other to increase Cal Grant award rates. Using improvement science methodology, chronic absenteeism was reduced by up to 85% across three schools and Cal Grant award rates increased from 35% to 46% across five high schools. These projects were written up according to guidelines for reporting on improvement projects taken from healthcare.

With an increasingly diverse student body, the retention of Teachers of Color continues to be an area of high interest within education research. In the context of in-service experiences, existing literature identified relationships as a key sustaining factor for teachers and source of social capital, although many Teachers of Color look outside the school to find these relationships (Achinstein et al., 2010; Dingus, 2008; Flores, 2011; Kohli, 2019; Pour-Khorshid, 2018; Ritchie, 2012). Social capital scholars have posited that resource exchange occurs within these relationships or social networks (Lin, 2001). For teachers, these networks and the capital held within can impact job satisfaction, teacher learning and reform, and educational leaders can play a pivotal role in fostering network formation (Bridwell-Mitchell & Cooc, 2016; Daly et al, 2010; Daly et al., 2011; Liou & Daly, 2014; Moolenaar et al., 2012; Penuel et al, 2009; Pil & Leana, 2009). Yet, for all the stated benefits of relationships in the teaching profession, very little research exists examining the social networks of Teachers of Color specifically, who must work in a racialized K-12 education system. This mixed methods study aimed to critically examine the social networks of secondary Teachers of Color at their school site. By drawing upon critical race and social capital theories, the study used critical social network analysis to mix semi structured interviews and social network methods and explore how these teachers form, maintain, and make meaning of their school networks. Findings revealed that participants engaged with the concept of network formation as a journey, were sensitive to the school culture and the value the school placed on emotional connection, and additionally noted the role of key mentors and individual actors within their networks. Implications are provided for schools and districts serving to increase teacher support at their schools.

Immigrants and their descendants are vital to the fabric of the U.S. and Switzerland. Schools’ importance in fostering immigrant-origin students’ learning while considering their rich cultures, languages, and knowledge is well established. Therefore, this mixed-methods, cross-national, multiple-case dissertation study explores U.S. and Swiss students’ perspectives on their experiences and opportunities in school, social capital, the development of their vocational aspirations, and how the former shapes the latter two. Centering student voice, I draw on social network data and interview data with 22 immigrant-origin middle school students (interviewed 3-4 times each, resulting in 41 hours of interview data), 13 teachers (10.5 hours), and two principals (1.5 hours). Surveys were conducted with 259 students. Findings are presented in three articles focused on (a) immigrant-origin middle school students’ personal support networks and the mobilization of peer social capital, (b) the changes in peer interactions and friendships during the Covid-19 pandemic, and (c) the role of networks and contexts of reception on vocational aspirations. Paper 1 suggests that peers constituted more than half of participants’ personal support networks, whereas schools were critical contexts for adolescents to interact with peers and build friendships. Networks in the U.S. were more dynamic than networks in Switzerland. Shared social background, perceived integrity, and trustworthiness cultivated friendships, whereas those perceptions were shaped by the school contexts. Findings from Paper 2 describes U.S. students’ experienced changes in their peer interactions and friendships. Paper 3 shows how social networks and contexts of reception, including institutional, economic, political, and sociocultural factors, shaped vocational aspirations. However, the degree of different factors’ importance differed across the U.S. and Swiss contexts. The dissertation concludes by discussing implications for practice, policy, and research.

Race, income and education have a significant impact on health outcomes, and these social factors influence a person’s health-related behaviors. A physician’s counsel has been found to have a positive impact on these behaviors, but the more sophisticated skills needed to engage in effective preventive health practices are not routinely addressed in medical school curricula. This dissertation study provides an examination of the existing values and structures which underpin curricular decision-making at one medical school, and how they impact the inclusion of preventive medicine practices in the curriculum. Specifically, this case study utilizes an organizational learning framework to explore ways in which curricular decisions are made regarding the implementation of preventive medicine training at Western School of Medicine (WSM), using breastfeeding as an exemplar case.

The WSM is a highly ranked school of medicine in the western United States, which has an expressed interest in the practice of breastfeeding. This mixed-method design sought to identify the norms and values driving curricular decisions at WSM, and how they impacted the incorporation of breastfeeding material within the curriculum. The researcher found that the underlying norms and values guiding curricular decision-making as WSM were similar to those found in the literature. Faculty did not deviate from these norms when making curricular decisions, nor did they critically examine how these norms guided their behavior, leading to a narrow definition of roles and problems, a focus on technical elements, and a system which was misaligned with stated goals and objectives. The quantitative results of this study further showed that the current curriculum had a limited impact on student’s general knowledge of breastfeeding. Implications for social justice and leadership in higher education institutions are also discussed.