Staff welfare

Our annual Teacher reader survey has just concluded for another year. As your responses have been coming in, we have been making note of your suggestions and requests, and have been reading about your experiences with the challenges of this pandemic. You’ve also let us know how you’re taking care of your own wellbeing outside of work.

Most Australian teachers believe the advantages of being a teacher outweigh any disadvantages, but fewer than half feel that they are valued by society for the job they do, according to new data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018.

Staff at Ringwood Secondary College in Victoria have learned a lot since students began learning from home. Here, we speak to principal Michael Phillips about the aspects of remote learning that have resulted in positive outcomes for staff collaboration and student engagement.

With the COVID-19 pandemic comes a dramatic change to education and a lot of questions about the continuation of learning. At Teacher magazine, we’ve published a lot of content looking at navigating this challenge. In this podcast, we take you through some of the highlights.

While COVID-19 is grinding much of society to a halt, schooling has entered uncharted territory. During this time, it is important that teachers look after themselves. Our latest reader submission shares several evidence-backed strategies that can help support teachers’ wellbeing.

Today’s article takes a look at some of the resources to help school communities and educators support students, parents and colleagues affected by the bushfire crisis, practical advice for the classroom and things to look out for.

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.

Our annual reader survey is open now and we’re asking educators: ‘If you could share one piece of advice with your peers, what would it be?’ One of the themes to emerge is ‘change’. Here are some of the responses we’ve received so far on the topic.

In an earlier Teacher article, Leanne Lester and Donna Cross discuss the need for schools to carry out regular reviews of pastoral care policies, program and practices. Here, they look in greater depth at Stage 2 – reviewing staff wellbeing.

A review into the effects of starting school later in the day has found some promising results for teenagers struggling to get to school on time. Here we look at the research findings and we speak to a school in Australia that commences lessons at 10 am.