Teacher welfare

Associate Professor Philip Riley discusses the latest results from the Principal Health and Wellbeing Survey, and the impact that long work hours are having on principals’ wellbeing, their family life and their ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

‘The reality is, teaching can be really tough, and teachers, more concerned with the health and wellbeing of their students, can often put their own wellbeing last,’ Julia Gillard writes in her latest Teacher column.

In today’s reader submission, Dr Kevin F. McGrath and Dr Penny Van Bergen discuss their new research which seeks to better understand how teachers build close relationships with disruptive students.

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.

Western Sydney University researcher Dr Jacqueline Ullman discusses her study of teachers and school leadership staff who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, asexual, or other diverse sexuality and gender identities, and their experiences of homophobic and transphobic discrimination in their schools.

The Cancer Council has launched a newly revised edition of its Cancer in the School Community resource aimed at teachers, principals and school counsellors. In today’s article we speak to a school-based psychologist about how she’s been using the resource to navigate cancer diagnoses in her school and provide support.

Headteacher of Brimsdown Primary School in the UK, Dani Lang joins Teacher for this School Improvement podcast to talk about her school’s focus on staff wellbeing. Establishing the staff wellbeing team has been one of the factors in helping the school achieve a vast improvement in its Ofsted grade, and it has created a new harmony in the staffroom.

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.

Dr Danny Steele, Principal of Thompson Sixth Grade Center in Alabama joins Teacher for this School Improvement podcast. He discusses the role of a principal in maintaining a positive school culture, and the importance of genuinely listening to parents.