<p>With over 20 years of experience as a teacher, you don’t have to tell me that teachers are among those professionals with the highest levels of job stress and burnout across many countries (Stoeber &; Rennert, 2008). </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://www.school-news.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/HOW_TO_BUILD_TEACHER_WELLBEING-final-553x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-12488"/></figure>



<p>What we also know from the research is that ‘well
teachers’ equal ‘well students’ (Roffey, 2012). Yet, as the demands on teachers
increase; having to be involved in about 1000 interpersonal contacts every day
(Holmes 2005), the quality of these contacts can either jeopardise or enhance a
person’s wellbeing. In a nutshell, teachers can humiliate or humour, hurt or
heal, humanise or de-humanise students in their classrooms. Not because they
don’t care, but because they feel overwhelmed due to the pressure and
expectations that both themselves and society place on the role.</p>



<p>The bottom-line is that our teachers need
more support and better strategies to manage the cognitive and emotional
demands of the job. If teachers have evidence-based strategies to better understand
and support their own wellbeing, they will be better placed to not only survive
but flourish and become better role models for our students. If we truly want
to help young people flourish, we must begin with our teachers.</p>



<p>Thankfully, science is paving the way with
proven strategies and tools to enhance wellbeing both individually and across
organisations from the field of positive psychology. Wellbeing is a
multidimensional construct that typically differentiates between hedonic
wellbeing (feeling good) and eudaimonic well-being (functioning well). Positive
psychology aims to merge these two forms of thought through the study of
optimal human functioning and what makes life most worth living.</p>



<p>Martin Seligman, often considered the father
of positive psychology wanted to bridge the hedonic/eudaimonic divide by identifying
wellbeing as a construct that was not limited to life satisfaction alone but as
several contributing factors, which formed the mnemonic PERMA. </p>



<p><strong>P</strong><strong>ositive emotion, Engagement, Relationships,
Meaning and Accomplishment.</strong></p>



<p>The model is often described as ‘pillars’
and involves assisting individuals to explore the five domains that encompass
PERMA as a way of holding themselves up. While the model has not been designed
to be prescriptive, the evidence within each pillar tells us there are simple
things we can do support our own wellbeing. </p>



<p><strong>Perhaps you could consider these five questions:</strong></p>



<ol class="wp-block-list"><li>Positive emotion. When
are you happiest at work? What emotion are you experiencing?</li><li>Engagement. What do you
love most about your current role? What strength are you using?</li><li>Relationships. Who
supports you most at work? Who do you support?</li><li>Meaning. What is most
important to you about your role? Why do you do what you do?</li><li>Accomplishment.  ;What big or small achievements have you made
in the past week-month?</li></ol>



<p>Of course, answering these questions is not
going to help you tick off things on your to-do list, nor is it going to solve
systemic flaws that cause excessive admin. But what if, by reflecting on these
questions every so often, you are able to shift your focus to what <em>is working</em> instead of what isn’t
working. </p>



<p>Perhaps that could be the moment you have a
meaningful connection of conversation with a student and they remember it for
the rest of their life. Perhaps these small shifts in mindset lead to more
productive conversations in the staff room. Perhaps reflecting on how we
support our wellbeing is the first step to shifting habits and moving towards a
positive organisational culture.</p>



<p>If you want to learn more, you must read the
foundational book by Martin Seligman, <em>Flourish</em>.
You can find more specific tools that map PERMA to both classroom and staff
room strategies online. </p>

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) has announced that in 2025 Busking for Change is being…
About one quarter of Australian school students are learning English as an additional language or…
Spending time in green spaces reduces cortisol levels, lowers heart rate, and positively impacts mood…
Social isolation, loneliness, bullying, and family breakdowns are now key causes of distress among young…
Busy, high-use areas, washrooms can use some extra attention to make sure students feel comfortable…
A study investigating the realities of out-of-field teachers is seeking participants for groundbreaking research.
This website uses cookies.