So I was talking to an educator today about the fact that it is impossible to have student well-being if we don’t first consider teacher-wellbeing. All too often in schools the focus is on supporting the students, but this can be at the expense of teacher well-being. In fact the two need to go hand in hand – with well-being being built into our relationships within the groups that we belong to (for example in the classroom, division of the school, or school as a whole). We need to consider what are the norms and rules (written and unwritten) of the groups to which we belong – it is connected with how we experience the culture of these groups and our place within them and how our needs are being supported.

First of all we need to consider a sense of belonging and engagement in the way we related to others – which is fostered by the authentic connections we make so that we feel safe and accepted for who we are, and it’s also to do with how competent we feel and whether we feel we can move forwards. Safety is also about whether people feel they can speak up and advocate for their own needs, whether they have autonomy, and whether they have peer support, or support from leadership. All too often, teachers can feel unsure or anxious about their performance, especially if they feel they are not keeping up with an overcrowded curriculum. It’s also to do with a sense of equity.

A good starting place for schools is to consider what they are doing well, and even to consider what an ideal school looks like. In most schools there are pockets of great things happening, but often they are not given priority or seen across the school as a whole. Rather than considering all the barriers or challenges there might be to well-being in terms of problems to be solved, it could be better to consider what is working to meet the needs of students and staff and how to broaden this.

One advocaate for well-being in schools is Dr. Helen Street, who has written extensively about positive schools. Helen describes wellbeing as “something to do with embracing life proactively, but we are aware too that it is also about the acceptance of things we can’t control.” In her book Contextual Wellbeing, Helen explains that no well-being programme can be implemented without healthy and engaged staff. She also discusses the importance of parents being “fellow educators”, collaborating in the students’ lives. The relationship with parents is an important one to consider.

Well-being should not rely on extrinsic motivation (rewards, praise). These are prevalent in many schools but it is more important to foster intrinsic motivation. Schools should not be promoting competition – which focuses on outcomes – as this simply breeds obedience and conformity. We cannot base our wellbeing on external rewards because at the other end of the spectrum is depression and anxiety that results from a never-ending pursuit of improvement and the feeling that you are never good enough. Celebration is important, but so is equality and inclusion.

There is an excellent TEDtalk about this by Dr. Helen Street, which I am linking to below (click on the image to go to the video)