‘While this crisis has exposed the many inadequacies and inequities in our education systems, this moment also holds the possibility that we won’t return to the status quo when things return to “normal”,’ Andreas Schleicher writes in his latest Teacher column.

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.

‘There are several cognitive strategies that support the development of resilience … these are the skills we want to encourage children to develop in the early years.’ In part two of her series on resilience, Dr Sarah Tillott discusses the adaptive and maladaptive traits of resilience.

Changing school practices means everyone working together – leaders, teachers, support staff, students, parents and the wider community – toward the goal of improving outcomes for students. In today’s podcast, we share some recent Teacher highlights on the topic of school improvement.

‘Being exposed to adversity is inevitable. How we manage and adapt as a response is what can make the difference between poor outcomes, or outcomes that signify growth from the experience.’ Dr Sarah Tillott explores resilience theory and the brain, and the importance of developing resilience skills from an early age.

Teachers are asked to respond to new and uncertain situations all the time – from keeping abreast of subject knowledge updates to making quick pivots when a lesson isn’t quite going to plan. Dr Rebecca Collie joins us in this podcast episode to discuss teacher adaptability.

Media coverage of the Californian wildfires has evoked reminders of Australia’s past bushfires and prompted discussion about the coming season. In today’s article Patrice O’Brien, Chief Community Officer at Beyond Blue, discusses why talking about bushfires with your students, no matter where your school is located, can help ease anxiety.

Since 2018, a Tasmanian primary school has been on a journey of school improvement which as seen significant progress in student engagement and achievement, as well as staff retention and teacher welfare. The Principal and Assistant Principal join us in this podcast to discuss how this was achieved.

It is important that teachers are empowered to develop strategies and resources to support the emotional, cognitive and psychological development of students experiencing trauma. In today’s article, we speak to a principal about why she participated in a trauma-informed workshop, and how it has helped her staff to better support students in their learning.

In this episode of Teacher Staffroom, we discuss the contributions we’ve published on Teacher this month, including a piece on collaborative reflective practice, and another on developmental rubrics improving student learning. We also share some highlights from our latest podcast episodes.