Teacher welfare

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.

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.

School leadership is an increasingly complex role and research suggests the demands certainly take their toll on the health and wellbeing of principals. Associate Professor Philip Riley joins The Research Files to discuss the latest findings of the Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety & Wellbeing Survey.