Teacher Wellbeing

Listen to part 1 of my interview with Gigi Langer, an author, speaker, teacher and educator of pre-service teachers. Gigi has a really powerful story about her journey with fear, worry and substance abuse, which she shares in her wonderful book 50 Ways to Worry Less Now: Reject Negative Thinking to Find Peace, Clarity and Connection. This is a 2-part episode because Gigi and I had so much to talk...

In this episode I share with you some of the results of the Self-Care for Teachers Annual Survey that I did in June 2018. The report is still forthcoming, but today I thought I would share with you a bit of an overview and what I’ve got so far. In the survey, I asked a whole bunch of questions, and I don’t go through all of them today, but I do cover a bit about physical and mental health, workloa...

I speak with Ben Weir about his journey from classroom teacher to clinical psychologist, and the power of self-compassion. This was a really interesting conversation that aligns with the ethos of Self-Care for Teachers. Having followed his love of learning into the primary school classroom and also into yoga, he now works at New River, an organisation that aims to build capacity for positive chang...

We're back with Season 4 and in this episode I'm talking all about self-care guilt. Teachers tell me all the time that they feel guilty when they practice self-care. It's extremely common and I have experienced it for myself. The good news is, there's quite a lot you can do about it! In this episode of the Teacher Wellbeing Podcast, I explore 7 ways you can stop the self-care guilt trip and get ba...

In this episode I share the top 5 things that have stood out to me as lessons or themes from the 3 seasons of the Teacher Wellbeing Podcast so far. Of course, you might have a different top 5 list and I'd love to hear it! I also revisit the Self-Care for Teachers mission and share some of my recent reflections on how I'm working to achieve that, including some ways listeners can be involved in sup...

In this episode of the Teacher Wellbeing Podcast, I interview Steve Waters from the Teach Well Alliance in the UK. Steve is a former high school English and Drama teacher, who worked for 30 years in high schools in the UK including as an Assistant Principal. After spending some time in a consultancy role for the district, he began noticing an increasing number of teachers were struggling under the...

In this episode of the Teacher Wellbeing podcast, I had a fascinating conversation with business growth coach Lena West about personal leadership and being the CEO of your own life. We talk about what it means to be the CEO of your life, and how you can use the CEO mindset to help support your health and wellbeing. Lena explains why sometimes we need to reevaluate our levels of self-care and shift...

In this episode, I interview Kelly Hine from Body and Soul Retreats. Kelly has a background as an early childhood educator and university lecturer. She now runs retreats, is a Reiki Master, mindfulness, meditation and self-love teacher. She has an online membership community, Soul Space, which delivers weekly soul-nurturing mini-retreats that blend the best of science and spirituality for a happy,...

Ever feel like a slave to your email inbox or to those little red notification numbers on your social media apps? I do, and it's something I've been working hard to improve over the last year and a half. In this episode, I share with you the digital boundaries I've been setting up and how they've made a difference in my life, helping improve my productivity, my relationships and my sleep. Social m...

In this episode I speak with Meg Durham from Open Mind Education (openmindeducation.com). Meg was a little girl who always wanted to be a teacher and she grew up to be a Science and PE secondary school teacher. However, despite being extremely excited to begin her teaching career, she describes her first year as an "avalanche". The only way she survived was by napping, and putting her personal lif...

Are you striving for balance or you do you think it's a dirty word? In this episode, I share what I've learned from my Exercise Physiologist husband about the importance of balance in preventing falls for older adults, and why I think it applies to teachers when preventing burnout. I personally feel that work-life balance is not a myth but that the way balance is often spoken about is unhelpful an...

In this episode, I interview Trudy from Teachers Thriving Magazine (www.teachersthriving.com). Trudy is a former Teacher and Principal who now works in a regional support role in Queensland, and has a lot of wisdom to share from her many years in the education system across a variety of roles. In this interview, Trudy shares her own wellbeing journey, including the juggling act of having a family...

One of the things a lot of teachers tell me is a challenge for them in their personal and workplace wellbeing is having to work with a difficult person. It might be a colleague, a parent of one of the students you teach, or one of the leadership team at your school. If you're feeling stressed, overwhelmed or burnt out, your ability to respond rather than react will be even more limited. So what ca...

This is the first Teacher Story episode of Season 3, where I interview early childhood and primary school teacher Katie, who shares her journey from health challenges to wellbeing. We talk about the occupational hazard for teachers around our voice, her experience of moving to a new place for school transfer and the impact that had on her personal and professional wellbeing. She shares some wonder...

In this episode of the Teacher Wellbeing Podcast, I interview Daniela from teacher-wellbeing.com.au about all things Teacher Wellbeing! Daniela works specifically with schools and teachers to improve both whole-school organisational wellbeing as well as personal wellbeing for individual teachers. I really enjoyed this conversation because Daniela and I are very aligned in our approaches. We both a...

The Teacher Wellbeing Podcast has just turned 1, and I'm celebrating! In this episode, I share with you what to expect for the podcast and Self-Care for Teachers this year, as well as a number of updates and announcements. First, a big shoutout to my Patreon supporter Kirsty! Second, an update on my book about teacher wellbeing, and how you can be a part of the process. Third, a bit about ways you...

Wow, it's the final episode of Season 2 and 2017 is almost over! How do you feel about New Year's Resolutions? I generally love them, but I know some people hate them. I get it, and this year I'm feeling rather tired of constant goal setting, so I'm not going to do as much intention setting this New Year as I have in the past. However, I have decided on a motto for 2018 and a theme word for the ye...

In this episode I talk to Melissa Smith about nourishing your body and mind to prevent burnout. Melissa is the creator of the Energy Mastery Method and she specialises in nutritional therapy for energy, fatigue and burnout. She has an experience of burnout herself, which she talks about this episode. We also cover the symptoms of physical burnout, and the way thyroid, adrenal and reproductive horm...

The guest today is Andrew McCormack, Senior Associate and Accredited Family Law Specialist at Best Wilson Buckley Family Law (https://bwbfamilylaw.com.au). We talk about legal considerations for teachers, like mandatory reporting obligations and the protocols that differ between schools, as well as some things you might need to know about teachers becoming involved in family law court proceedings....

In this episode, I interview Lisa Murray, author of the new book "Living Beyond Burnout." Lisa and I discuss the lessons she's learned from having burnout 3 times and the stories she told herself before she knew what burnout was. We also explore why it's vital that more people talk about burnout so it stops being a shameful secret and as a community we can notice the warning signs and focus on pre...

The guest today is Maria Doyle from mariadoyle.com and we have a fantastic conversation about burnout and the importance of self-care. Remember, to be eligible the Christmas prize draw, go to www.patreon.com/selfcareforteachers In this episode, I interview Maria about her experiences with burnout, the lessons she learned after suffering multiple organ failure and the power of personal growth. We d...

In this episode I share a snipper from the book I'm writing about teacher wellbeing. I also announce some updates to the Self-Care for Teachers Patreon Page. To be eligible the Christmas prize draw, go to www.patreon.com/selfcareforteachers "What got you here, won’t get you there. This is fitting for this conversation about teacher self-care on both an individual and collective level. What got us...

If you've ever experienced anxiety, then this episode is for you! I speak with Neurologic Music Therapist Allison Davis (www.allisondavies.com.au) about the way brains work, the causes of anxiety and how we can apply small, simple strategies consistently to help our brains work at their best. We also discuss the value of singing and reading out loud, not just for the kiddos in our lives but for us...

In this episode, I share dive a little deeper into some ways you can think about self-care, including the difference between resourceful and unresourceful self-care and the importance of being really honest and self-aware when working out what self-care activities you want to prioritise. I share an activity you can do to help identify the best self-care practices for you so that you can differenti...

I interview Vanessa, who teaches at a special school in Queensland. We have a great conversation about how things shift when returning to work post-maternity leave, why boundary setting is so important and the power of structure and routine (it's just as important for us grown ups as it is for the kids in our classes!). Vanessa's advice is relevant to all teachers, and her practical tips to preven...