Educator Wellbeing: The Results Are In

Angela Lee Jenkins

At the ACA Qld conference in June, I was invited by Angie Cooper from Rostaboss – People in Play to spend the weekend discussing wellbeing with educators. To gain insight into Educator Wellbeing, we set up a Wellbeing Check-In on a Wellbeing Wall, and over 100 educators participated.

The check-in used questions from the Mental Health Continuum Short Form, an evidence-based questionnaire that assesses emotional, social, and psychological wellbeing. We also included measures of physical wellbeing.

One key finding stood out: educators are generally a happy group, despite not getting enough sleep. Emotional wellbeing scored the highest, followed by social and psychological wellbeing, while physical wellbeing came in last.

You are considered to have high wellbeing if most of your responses are “yes, most days of the week.” While this was only a snapshot (not a formal assessment), and there are various ways to interpret the results, there is a clear opportunity to support and nurture our educators to improve their overall wellbeing.

This is crucial, as the wellbeing of educators has a farreaching impact. Research shows:

Teachers’ and early childhood educators’ wellbeing is vital for their ability to support children’s learning and care. Higher educator wellbeing is positively associated with lower student psychological difficulties and higher academic achievement among students.

Boosting Educator Wellbeing

Let’s delve further into the results and explore some strategies to boost educator wellbeing.

The Importance of Sleep

Sleep is foundational to both physical and mental wellbeing and is directly linked to workplace health, safety, and performance. Sleep-deprived employees are more prone to accidents, reduced productivity, and impaired decision-making. Some important statistics about sleep include:

• Women are 40% more likely to suffer from insomnia than men.

• 39-47% of perimenopausal women report sleep disorders.

• 54% of adults say stress and anxiety are the top reasons they have trouble falling asleep.

There is a bidirectional relationship between sleep and mental health—poor sleep affects mental health, and poor mental health impacts sleep.

Many individuals across different sectors are stuck in this downward spiral, and I’ve developed workshops specifically designed to break this cycle.

Key Strategies for Supporting Sleep

Your bedtime routine matters. We’re great at creating environments to help children sleep, but what about ourselves? Consider:

• Limiting bright lights in the evening.

• Taking a warm bath.

• Setting up a cool, quiet room with no screens before or while in bed!

• Listening to relaxing music, practicing breathing exercises, and using relaxation techniques like CBT or a weighted blanket.

Research also supports that regular exercise promotes better sleep, while alcohol and excessive caffeine can make sleep (and hot flashes!) worse.

Managing Stress and Responsibilities

More than half of the educators surveyed didn’t feel they were good at managing responsibilities most days of the week. This ties into psychological wellbeing and stress management.

The Australian Government’s National Mental Health Commission offers guidance on managing competing priorities. Key strategies include:

• Identifying daily tasks.

• Prioritising effectively.

• Creating a detailed schedule.

• Focusing on one task at a time.

• Setting time limits for tasks.

Managing stress throughout the day is crucial to preventing cortisol (the stress hormone) from inhibiting melatonin (the sleep hormone) at night. On a larger scale, stress and burnout are among the leading reasons educators leave the profession.

Equipping educators with emotional and problemfocused coping strategies, alongside creating supportive environments, can help combat this. It was great to see that 54% of educators felt that they belonged to a community more often than not. This social wellbeing component is important and I’d encourage to continue community and connection within the organisation.

“Wellbeing in the Small Things”

Addressing educator wellbeing can feel overwhelming, which is why my approach is “Wellbeing in the Small Things.” Starting with small, achievable steps can help regain a sense of control and build positive habits over time.

Ask yourself, “What is one small thing I can do today to improve my wellbeing?” We often underestimate the power of small changes and the ripple effect they create. The same applies at an organisational level. What small changes can you implement to alleviate stress and support educator wellbeing?

If you’re looking for Leadership Wellbeing Programs or centre wide workshops and programs to improve the mental, physical, emotional, and social wellbeing of educators, with an innovative, evidence-based approach, please get in touch. I’d love to be involved. Every wellbeing journey begins with a single small step…..

Angela Lee Jenkins Organisational Wellbeing Consultant

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