Staff welfare

R U OK? Day is a national day of action that reminds Australians to check in with others and ask ‘are you OK?’ In this special episode, Teacher editor Jo Earp is joined by Dr Hannah Brown to talk about some of the signs that it might be time to have the conversation, how to prepare and the 4 simple steps of ask, listen, encourage action and check in. They also discuss some of the support services and resources available.

The past few years have been a challenging time for school leaders around the world. In this episode of The Research Files, Dominique Russell is joined by Michelle Striepe to discuss her and her colleagues’ research into what school leaders have learned from leading during crises – including a 3-prong approach they utilised – and how they can be more resilient for future crises. 

New research published in the Australian Journal for Education examines the coping strategies teachers use to deal with stress and trauma. The study explores how this can impact a teacher’s ‘compassion satisfaction’, where they experience pleasure and fulfilment from helping others, or ‘compassion fatigue’.

In today’s Q&A, Teacher speaks with the National Excellence in Teaching Awards 2024 winner of the Founders’ Principal for Leadership Award, Angela Phillips from Westminster School in South Australia. She chats about her work to establish engaging professional learning opportunities, increase the number of Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers, and her latest initiative – a Micro Rewards scheme for staff.

Improving students’ academic achievement goes hand-in-hand with supporting their health and wellbeing. In Episode 56 of our School Improvement podcast series, we’re focusing on grief and loss education. We’ll be hearing about an evidence-based program that’s helping a high school in regional New South Wales support its students with these issues.

‘We weren’t looking at expanding (the program) but the demand from the education sector was strong.’ Researchers behind the trial of a meditation program for primary students have just launched a new study focusing on principals and teachers. In this article, we find out more from Dr Peta Stapleton.

As an educator, you may be aware that misogynistic thinking has increased among young boys recently. So, what can teachers do to tackle misogyny in their classrooms, and what can leaders do to create safer spaces? These are the questions a new 2-year research project hope to answer. Dominique Russell speaks with the lead researcher and co-chief investigator in this episode of The Research Files.

Research shows that high quality teaching and leadership teams learn from each other's practices. At Loreto Normanhurst, that philosophy has led to the development of their Open Learning Circles program, which sees professional development done in a collaborative, teacher-led format.

In this episode of The Research Files, we speak with Suzanne Rice from the University of Melbourne about her new research paper which explores the current diversity of Australia’s teacher workforce, the positive impact a diverse teacher workforce can have on student outcomes, and practical strategies for school leaders on retaining a diverse staff.

Over the past 7 weeks, we have been sharing the stories of each of the winners of the Teacher Awards 2023. In the final article we speak to Debbie Watts and Bronwyn Cole from Broadwater Public School, whose entire school community was named winner of the Special Contribution Award for 2023.