Wellbeing

Effective teaching and learning go hand in hand with supporting the health and wellbeing needs of students and, just as importantly, staff and school leaders. In this Q&A we speak to high school teacher Sue Webb, whose book Teachers Cry Too shares her struggle with and recovery from mental illness.

As a primary school teacher, are you aware of how many students in your class are finishing their lunch each day? How many are taking food back home? New Australian research has found that most primary school students have just 10 minutes to eat their lunch during the school day. Find out more in today’s article.

The findings of Australia’s annual snapshot of principal health and wellbeing have just been released. And, if you’re an educator you won’t be surprised to hear that ‘extremely long hours and constant exposure to stress’ left school leaders exhausted in 2020, as first fires, then floods, then a pandemic pushed them to their limits.

What would happen if you listened to your staff and students about what their reality is like, and then wrote a school-wide wellbeing framework and curriculum that responded specifically to their needs? At Indie School Elizabeth in South Australia, a targeted approach to addressing the complex wellbeing needs of students led to a brave reimagining of staff wellbeing strategies and processes.

It is widely acknowledged that teaching is a stressful job, and the global events of this year have added an enormous amount of extra pressure on those working in education. In today’s article, we take a look at the research into the prevalence of stress and burnout for teachers and school leaders, and explore some of the protective factors.

‘In school communities we are indeed “all in this together” however, that does not mean one context fits all.’ In today’s article, Dr Helen Street discusses the importance of acknowledging students’ different experiences, the need for positive relationships, and providing opportunities for autonomy and agency.

‘Educators and parents are questioning the effect that technology can have on students' mental health and wellbeing, now more than ever,’ Julia Gillard writes in her new Teacher column.

New research from La Trobe University sheds light on teacher perspectives of being bullied and harassed by students and parents at schools in Australia. We take a look at the impact this is having on the wellbeing of educators across the country.

Welcome to the first episode of a new series. Teacher Staffroom is a chance for you to take some time out, on your own or with colleagues, to reflect on some of the content we’ve covered here at Teacher recently.

The Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey, released today, found one in three school principals was physically attacked and that almost half were threatened with violence in 2018.