Sponsorship of extracurricular activities and the happiness of educators

Abstract

Academic scholarship had not extensively investigated whether sponsoring, coaching, or leading (sponsoring) school based extracurricular activities (ECAs) influenced the sense of happiness experienced by educators. The present author hypothesized that extracurricular activity (ECA) sponsorship would lead to an increase in an educator’s sense of emotional happiness with their school community. The existing thesis’ author proposed the following research question: To what degree, if any, does sponsoring ECAs in an elementary school setting increase an educator’s sense of happiness? Within the current thesis, a thematic literature review examined influences on educator wellness, barriers to sponsoring, and the benefits of extracurricular activities for educators. Hills and Argyle’s (2002) Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) provided measures of happiness to test the existing hypothesis. An anonymized, five-member sample, consisting of an unknown combination of teachers, vice principals, and principals (educators) from Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District 68 (SD68), completed the OHQ before, and after, a minimal six-week period of ECA sponsorship. The mean for the existing sample’s OHQ responses statistically verified that sponsoring ECAs had not increased the sample’s sense of happiness. Supplementary statistical data analyzed from the sample’s OHQ responses corroborated that the present study had resulted in a null hypothesis. Research errors made by present author have limited the existing study’s implications and contributions relating to academic scholarship.