In this episode, we explore the wellbeing of teachers and educators. Amy offers insights into her many years as a classroom teacher before her post-graduate studies in human behaviour, coaching, positive psychology, and wellbeing. We also chat about Amy’s new book, Teacher Wellbeing. We look beneath the surface of teaching including the job demands, habits, systems, structures, processes, and school culture. We chat about tiredness, occupational stress, emotions such as shame, expectations teachers often place on themselves, and burnout. Amy reflects on her writing and development process, drawing on her own experiences and stories, as well as additional psychology science and research. Amy outlines the potential trap of surface-level self-care activities and the pursuit of happiness which, as positive as they are, might involve a relatively superficial approach - simply ticking items off a list. This is in contrast to the more considered and long-term approach of psychological wellbeing, an approach that seeks to identify and tackle the root cause of the issues such as workload, workplace systems or workplace relationships. Amy explains how she works closely with teachers to find out what might be causing stress and overwhelm. For example, systems that aren’t working, or systems that don’t exist and need to. We explore Individual and collective responsibilities of teacher wellbeing and the significance of self-efficacy, that is, the belief that an individual can have an impact and can make a difference. We find out how this then relates to collective efficacy and the value of a positive and supportive school-wide culture. Amy’s clarifies her aim of creating happier and healthier school environments that teachers want to be a part of in the long term.
Links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amygreen/
https://www.thewellnessstrategy.com.au/
https://ambapress.com.au/products/teacher-wellbeing
https://twitter.com/amygreen_
