The Health Promoting School: A Positive Work Environment for Teachers

The Health Promoting School (HPS) is internationally recognised as a ¿best practice¿ model for promoting children¿s health but has not been evaluated for its impact on work environment variables, or teachers¿ wellbeing and job satisfaction. This study investigated the HPS approach in relation to school organisational & social capital, teachers¿ physical & mental wellbeing, health risk behaviours, job stress, & job commitment in primary schools in Queensland, Australia. Teachers in two samples of schools differing in their adoption of the HPS approach completed a mail-out survey & we compared teachers¿ ratings on 11 school organisational health variables and 4 dimensions of school social capital. Organisational health variables were higher in High HPS, and along with stronger job commitment teachers reported less job strain and higher skill discretion despite higher job demands, & lower psychological distress with better mental and physical health. Implications of these results for human resource management within the schools are discussed. In addition, we consider the implications of HPS as a healthier ¿learning environment¿ for children¿s psychosocial and educational outcomes.