An implementation to develop middle school teachers' psychological capital

The purpose of the present study was to empirically test whether psychological capital is malleable and reveal middle school teachers' perceptions and experiences regarding the Psychological Capital Development Training Intervention (PCDTI). First of all, an 8-week Psychological Capital Development Training Intervention (PCDTI) was designed, and the training intervention was administered to middle school teachers included in the experimental group. Secondly, the participants' evaluations regarding the training intervention were examined. In addition, all the sessions were recorded via a camera. Embedded mixed methods research design which comprises quantitative and qualitative research approaches was used in the study. The sample of the research consisted of middle school teachers working at schools located in Şahinbey and Şehitkâmil districts of Gaziantep province in the academic year of 2014-2015. A total of 44 teachers were assigned to the experimental (N=22) and control groups (N=22). Qualitative interviews were conducted with 12 teachers participating in the experimental group. In order to examine the effectiveness of the PCDTI, Psychological Capital Questionnaire, which was developed by Luthans, Avolio, Avey and Norman (2007), was used as a data collection tool. Furthermore, a form including 20 items about the PCDTI was employed to investigate participants' views. Lastly, the recorded videos were examined to observe participating teachers' attitudes and perceptions towards the training intervention. The findings indicated that the PCDTI was effective in developing teachers' psychological capital. In the control group, however, no statistically significant differences were detected in terms of psychological capital post-test scores. It was revealed that participants were satisfied with "Purpose", "Content", "Methods-Techniques-Materials" and "Evaluation" dimensions of the PCDTI at high levels. Qualitative findings demonstrated that the PCDTI made positive contributions to the teachers both individually and professionally. They believed that similar positive effects/contributions would emerge at schools if the PCDTI were implemented there. The study concludes by offering some suggestions for researchers and practitioners based on the findings.