Teacher Fan Club

Michelle Young - an inspiring educator, TV personality, speaker, and founder of The Michelle Young Foundation - shares her stories of teaching, television, and transitions in this special Back to School TFC episode! In this episode, Michelle joins Dana to discuss the importance of prioritizing wellbeing during major transitions (ranging from the classroom to TV, and from summer to school!), and pr...

In this enlightening episode of the Teacher Fan Club we welcome Dr. Dacher Keltner, one of the world’s foremost emotion scientists and the founding Director of the Greater Good Science Center . Dr. Keltner is a distinguished psychology professor at the University of California, Berkeley and has consulted for Google, Apple, and Pinterest on emotion and wellbeing. He was also the scientific advisor...

Christy Harrison is a journalist and registered dietitian specializing in intuitive eating and disordered-eating recovery. She is the author of bestselling books including Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating and of numerous publications featured in The New York Times, Shape, Refinery 29 and The Food Network. Christy produces and hosts two podcast...

This episode is for anyone seeking realistic approaches to resentment and gratitude in their personal and professional lives. We welcome Dr. Kerry Howells back to the Teacher Fan Club, a renowned researcher and author on a quest to bring deep, authentic, sustainable gratitude into our lives and workplaces. We may know the benefits of gratitude, but sometimes it may feel like an inauthentic, band-a...

Our inspiring guests in this episode are Dr. Yvonne Poitras Pratt, Métis Scholar, Research Excellence Chair, and award-winning teacher educator at the University of Calgary, and Veronica Doyle, an incredible Teacher and Assistant Principal at Rocky View School Division. In this special episode, Yvonne first joins Dana for a follow-up conversation to her first appearance on the Teacher Fan Club, Ep...

Have you ever felt your summer break fly by so quickly , you barely had time to enjoy it?! Then Episode 21 with Jodi Wellman is definitely for you! Jodi Wellman is a speaker, leadership coach, and facilitator on living lives worth living. She founded Four Thousand Mondays to help people make the most of their time while they’re alive! She promotes a healthy practice of memento mori and offers life...

Dr. Christian van Nieuwerburgh is a Professor of Coaching and Positive Psychology at the Centre for Positive Health Sciences at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), University of Medicine and Health Sciences. He is the Global Director for Growth Coaching International which offers coaching, courses and consultancy services to enhance the quality of conversations in educational communit...

Amy Shmyr and Elizabeth Fraser are both registered dietitians who work with Alberta Health Services. In their roles as public health dietitians, they both work in a variety of community settings including schools. In this conversation, Amy and Elizabeth share how parents can support their children in developing a positive and healthy relationship with food in partnership with schools. We cover why...

Benjamin Oswald is both a teacher and a talented artist. Benjamin received his master’s in education from the University of Alberta and a master’s of fine arts at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. His beautiful sculptures and ceramic pieces have won both provincial and international awards; he was a recipient of the Robert Weghsteen Memorial Award in ceramics. In this conversation, Dana and...

Susan Sawatzky is a fellow teacher, who now works as a consultant and adult educator specializing in fatigue management and psychological health and safety in the workplace. Her business, In-Scope Solutions, offers learning solutions and consultation to a variety of businesses, agencies, and certifying partners, from helping to create policy guidelines for the Canadian oil and gas industry to work...

Dr. Jane Dutton is a cofounder of the Center for Positive Organizations and leader in the field of Positive Organizational Scholarship. Jane has shared her passion and expertise in creating thriving organizations as a professor and researcher at Michigan Ross School of Business, and as a published author of over 100 articles and book chapters, 13 edited books, and two of her own books: Energize yo...

Christy Harrison is a journalist, a registered dietitian who practices from an anti-diet perspective, and a certified intuitive eating counselor. She is the author of Anti-Diet: Reclaim your Time, Money, Wellbeing and Happiness through Intuitive Eating and her new book, The Wellness Trap will be coming out in 2023. Her writing has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Time...

Julie Van Rosendaal is passionate about food and cooking. She has worked in the food industry and has published 12 amazing cookbooks, including Dirty Food. Julie writes and talks about food as a freelance journalist for the Globe and Mail and is featured weekly in the Calgary Eyeopener for CBC radio. She has been sharing delicious recipes for years on her blog, Dinner With Julie. In this episode,...

Dr. Piran is an award-winning author, researcher, teacher, and mentor. She is Professor Emerita at the University of Toronto, a clinical psychologist, and a school consultant. She is a prolific scholar, an author and co-editor of five books, and a frequent international speaker on embodiment, body image, and eating disorder prevention and treatment. In this episode, Dana and Elizabeth discuss the...

Dr. Angela Grace is a Registered Psychologist with a PhD focused on youth health and wellbeing in school settings, and is an instructor at the University of Calgary. She is a former teacher whose experiences inform her passion for holistic wellbeing and eating disorder prevention. In this episode, Dana and Elizabeth talk with Angela about how eating disorders can develop and how teachers can help...

Savala Nolan is a lawyer, writer, and professor at UC Berkeley School of Law. She is the author of Don't Let it Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender and the Body, and her writing has been featured in Vogue, Time, the Huffington Post, Shape, and Harper's Magazine. She is also the Executive Director for the Thelton E. Henderson Centre for Social Justice at UC Berkeley. In this episode, Dana and Eliz...

This episode is part of our mini-series on Weight-Neutral Wellbeing (WNW). Elizabeth and Dana speak with Aaron Flores, a registered dietitian nutritionist and co-host of the Dietitians Unplugged podcast. Aaron is an expert in multiple weight-neutral approaches to food, including Intuitive Eating, Health at Every Size, and Body Trust. He shares how his career and personal experiences evolved into h...

Elizabeth and Dana chat with Kelly Fullerton about how to approach food and nutrition in the school setting from a weight-neutral perspective. Based in Melbourne, Australia, Kelly is both an experienced physical education teacher and trained nutritionist. She regularly leads professional learning opportunities and in-school enrichment experiences focused on positive food education. Kelly is passio...

Kelly McGonigal is a health psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University who specializes in understanding the mind-body connection. As a pioneer in the field of "science-help," her mission is to translate insights from psychology and neuroscience into practical strategies that support personal well-being and strengthen communities. She is the best-selling author of The Willpower Instinct and T...

This episode is part of our mini-series on weight-neutral wellbeing (WNW). Dana and Elizabeth talk with Dr. Shelly Russell-Mayhew about how to apply a weight-neutral approach to health education and promotion. We discuss concerns with weight-centric health promotion and strategies on how to make a cultural shift towards more inclusive health messages. Dr. Shelly Russell-Mayhew is a Registered Psyc...

This episode is the first in our mini-series on weight-neutral wellbeing (WNW). Elizabeth and Dana discuss why weight-neutral approaches to health and wellbeing are ideal for every body in the school context. In this episode, we also talk with guest experts Dr. Sarah Nutter and Dr. Jessica Saunders about their respective research on weight bias and eating disorders. Dr. Nutter is an Assistant Prof...

Dr. Robert E. Quinn is one of the leaders in the field of Positive Organizational Scholarship, a cofounder of the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan, and a Professor at the Michigan Ross School of Business with research and writing focused on purpose, leadership, culture, and change. He has spent the last 40 years doing research, teaching, consulting, and speaking to m...

Dr. Yvonne Poitras-Pratt, a Métis Scholar and Director of Indigenous Education at the University of Calgary, discusses the key role education and learning play in the Calls to Action of Truth and Reconciliation. She shares numerous resources and actions people can take to become meaningfully engaged in this essential work. Listen to her gratitude story about her Grade 4 teacher who made a lasting...

Lisa Baylis, an experienced teacher, guidance counsellor, trained expert on self-compassion, and author of the new book Self-Compassion for Educators, joins Elizabeth and Dana to talk about the research behind self-compassion as well as everyday ways to practice. Listen in as Lisa thanks a colleague who has created an amazing gratitude practice in her high school as part of Graduation.

Dr. Kerry Howells joins Elizabeth and Dana to talk about why gratitude is an essential practice for our wellbeing even during difficult times. She offers both research and practical ideas on how to get started on developing this habit. Dr. Howells is the author of Gratitude in Education: A Radical View and the upcoming book Untangling You: How Can I Be Grateful When I Feel So Resentful? Her work c...