Why Teacher Wellness Matters More Than Ever and How to Prioritise It

In the fast-paced and demanding world of education, prioritising teacher wellness has never been more important. Prioritising self-care activities, such as exercise, hobbies, or spending time with loved ones, can help recharge and rejuvenate teachers, enabling them to better cope with the demands of their profession. Taking time for self-reflection allows teachers to identify their strengths and areas for improvement, helping them develop a growth mindset. Continuous learning and skill-building can help teachers stay ahead of the curve and feel more confident in their abilities. Building resilience is a crucial skill for teachers to develop in order to overcome these challenges. From navigating changing curriculum standards to dealing with limited resources, teachers often find themselves in difficult situations that test their patience and resilience.

What affects teacher wellbeing?

Research demonstrates that teaching is a highly complex, stressful, and demanding occupation (Smak & Walczak, 2017). Teacher wellbeing is a multi-dimensional construct that encompasses physical, psychological, and spiritual health, as well as occupational attachment, stability, commitment, and satisfaction (Granziera et al., 2021). To develop their understanding and support future application of the Levels of Use, presenters role-played an informal interview and engaged participants in a discussion of how information obtained through such interviews could be https://www.wnit.org/educationcounts/e/march-30th-2022.html used to support improved professional practice and contribute to teacher well-being.

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Thus, this review analysed intervention content using the PERMA-H model from positive psychology to find similarities between intervention contents and the model. The field of research on teacher well-being interventions needs a unifying theoretical framework. These findings are consistent with several other reviews focused on teacher well-being (e.g., Emerson et al., 2017; Hagermoser Sanetti et al., 2021; Hwang et al., 2017; Klingbeil & Renshaw, 2018; Lomas et al., 2017; von der Embse et al., 2019; Zarate et al., 2019). However, it is difficult to determine which intervention activities would most effectively support teacher well-being. Additionally, the review aimed to identify a well-being theory that could unify the heterogeneous intervention studies.

Thus, to understand how teachers’ relationships with students influence their wellbeing, it is worthwhile to consider how teachers’ internalized relationship representations affect their emotions in everyday interactions with children. The notion of mental representations found in the attachment framework appears useful to understand how relationships with individual children affect teacher wellbeing. Importantly, teachers’ reports of relationship quality are unique predictors of children’s school functioning above their direct reports of student behavior, which supports the validity of such reports to capture the nature of dyadic relationships between teachers and children (Hamre and Pianta 2001). As such, relationships with individual students can bear a significant influence on teachers’ self-esteem and wellbeing.

“Teaching never stops,” says Samantha Twohig, a special education teacher in West Virginia. Number 1 is so important for teachers and often the hardest! By looking out for yourself, you will improve your own mental health, and reignite your passion for the profession. There’s no denying that teaching is a tough job. Making changes in individuals when the system is part of the problem leaves basic structures intact and is unlikely to affect the problem … therefore, policymakers should consider making changes for teachers rather than in teachers. The quality of teaching is a crucial global issue in determining the quality of our education systems.

• The TRI is a semi-structured interview based on interviews that are used to tap into adults’ mental models of attachment and parenting (Bretherton et al. 1989; Button et al. 2001; Main et al. 1985).
• They did not find linkages between teacher–student relationship quality and teacher-reported depression.
• In contrast, proactive co-regulation strategies involve intentionally building and adjusting social support systems, like seeking, offering, and accepting help from colleagues to manage potential stressors (Pietarinen et al., 2013; Tikkanen et al., 2017; Väisänen et al., 2018).
• Well teachers are able to contribute to the social, emotional, cognitive, spiritual, and physical wellbeing of their students (Darling-Hammond, 2012; Hattie, 2009, 2015; Rubie-Davies, 2014; Wyn, 2009).
• At The SPARK Initiative, we know very well that no one can pour from an empty cup, and burnout is real.