Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
The Australian Educational Researcher
Publisher
Springer
School
School of Education
RAS ID
62638
Funders
Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions
Abstract
The declining wellbeing of Australian teachers is a longstanding problem, with much attention on retention, stress, burnout, and poor resourcing and conditions that impact wellbeing. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has further illuminated these challenges. This qualitative study aimed to explore Australian teachers’ perceptions of their wellbeing needs with a focus on asking the questions that are often not asked—what is working, what are we learning, and how can we move forward to support teacher wellbeing? The voices of teachers revealed findings that support a much-needed shift in teacher wellbeing rhetoric in Australia. We illuminate five key areas that influence teacher and sector perceptions of wellbeing: (1) school leadership, (2) professional development, (3) workload and work-life balance, (4) relationships, and (5) stress, positive emotions, and accomplishment. These findings contribute to the need for a change in how teacher wellbeing is approached and highlight the possible implications of what is working, needs, barriers, and insights for preservice teacher education and professional development of teachers.
DOI
10.1007/s13384-023-00687-9
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Lemon, N., & Turner, K. (2024). Unravelling the wellbeing needs of Australian teachers: A qualitative inquiry. The Australian Educational Researcher. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-023-00687-9