Video for Suggested Activity 1

Professor Andrea Reupert

Monash were fortunate enough to be able to conduct the research for this space. And we did. We delivered five different projects. One was focus groups with educators from across Australia and different types of educators. We conducted a Delphi that asked national and international experts what they thought was important in this space. We conducted a systematic literature review to find out what the evidence was for different initiatives. We conducted in-house analytics to find out what was happening in Be You. And we also conducted a Google search to find out what educators would find if they went looking for wellbeing resources.

We found on the basis of all of that, of that data, we developed some guiding principles for future work in this space. Firstly, that it's really important to create a positive culture and environment. As in, we need to move past focusing just on the educator, individual educator, but also look at culture and environment. Another pillar or guiding principle was that educators' professionalism needs to be respected and celebrated. Educators' autonomy is also really important in this space so that we don't force individual wellbeing initiatives but that educators are provided the choice so that strategies developed match their interests, needs and preferences.

Another guiding principle was that of respectful relationships, where relationships amongst staff, community and students are respectful and collaborative. And that wellbeing initiatives are accessible and acknowledge and accommodate participants, culture and experiences and needs. Wellbeing initiatives are evidence informed from others' research and work, but also with the use of local data to inform decisions about what to offer and how. And finally, that wellbeing resources and approaches are adapted to the local context.

The other big factor that we found across our five different research projects were the different factors, if you like, or contributors to educator wellbeing. And I think again, the thing to emphasise here is that the impact on educator wellbeing is more than just the individual contributor. We also need to look at further factors.

So, we made the recommendation that we need to move past self-care and where an individual's responsible for their own wellbeing to include that but also encompass a broader framework, which you can see in this circle. So firstly, the individual educator is important in terms of a contributor to wellbeing through their own diet, lifestyle, the passion that they bring to their work, their mindset, help seeking behaviours and so on. But that's not the only factor.

The next level are collegial relationships, particularly between staff where many of our participants talked about, for example, your toxic staffrooms, that were a big factor against their wellbeing. So, you know, collegial relationships need to be respectful, collaborative, inclusive, and where wellbeing is an open topic. It's normalised. Workplace culture is another factor and where policies and expectations exist that promote wellbeing. So, for example, policies around emails and when educators are expected to respond to emails. Another part of that was also metrics of wellbeing are put into place. It's an expectation and something that educator workplaces are accountable for. Leadership contributes, obviously, through their own practices and how collaborative they are but also in terms of how they model their own self-care and respect their own wellbeing and that of others. I think I've got those two mixed up but anyway. Community is also another, a contributor in terms of how much they respect educators and have shared goals around learning and community.

And the final contributor is that broad issue around governance and policy, including the types of resources available to educators and their pay and professional development and so on. Part of our focus groups, we ran 13 focus groups with different types of educators and some of those focus group results I'll just go over now. But Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators for example, said that it was really important for workplaces to provide an Acknowledgement of Country and to celebrate the sorts of cultural artwork and artifacts often associated with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. LGBTQIA+ educators in the focus group talked about the importance of being able to be their authentic self. And that might've been through their hairstyle or clothes, being able to talk about their partner without fear or judgment. The educators who identified as culturally and linguistically diverse said that it was, likewise, important to be able to celebrate their background. But it was not enough just to focus on initiatives to promote belonging, such as Harmony Day for example, people bringing in different sorts of foods. But also, to actively address instances of discrimination or exclusion. And overall, our various groups said that it was not the responsibility of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or CALD or LGBTQIA+ people to educate others, that was the responsibility of everybody. Another specific group that was also highlighted was contract or relief teachers, substitute teachers, they're sometimes known as. And they identified their own needs, especially around belonging, when they work across different schools or places. And onboarding, and that was particularly in different schools that they worked in. So, I think the message to that is that there's not one approach to wellbeing and that we definitely have to listen to different voices and allow opportunities for that. And not just come up with blanket approaches but find out what the issues are and then work with specific groups to address those issues around wellbeing.

Rachel Jewell

Schools are doing some really wonderful, ingenious things in the inclusion space and are often really tuned into their young people and fostering a sense of belonging. I think that having that understanding and knowing your learning community and placing importance on recognising diversity helps children and young people, but also staff at the same time. I saw a really great example on social media last month, where a southwest Sydney school held an Eid-ster show, so like combining Eid and Easter festivals, enabling different cultures to be recognised and celebrated by the whole community. Being mindful around creating opportunities for staff connection as well. If you're thinking about getting this staff working as a team and connecting. But making sure that it appeals to different cultural, familial and personal situations is vital. That's something I've definitely learnt in my role. If you notice that some cohorts of staff are not showing up for connection opportunities provided, perhaps ask what might not be working for them about a Friday morning staff room morning tea, perhaps, or footy at the pub after work. And if they've got some ideas of things they might like to trial. And that's why we encourage schools to have an action team or wellbeing team. So, one person doesn't carry the burden for the load and the ideas for enabling these opportunities. So, think about getting a range of voices and perspectives in the team and the outcomes will be richer for it. One of the practical things a school can do to support inclusion is providing a psychologically safe working environment. Where educators feel comfortable having respectful, open and honest dialogue back and forth between colleagues, leaders, and educators. A no-blame culture where people are able to own and learn from mistakes and behaviours and make um behaviours that make others feel discriminated against are challenged, as Andrea mentioned, challenged early. This really makes a difference. This could require some training for staff around having difficult conversations but this will really benefit in the long run and also have a knock-on effect to support dealing with parents and the wider community as well.

Nikki Edwards

I think it's really important that we, and we've spoken about this from the start when Andrea opened the session, and she spoke about the fact that there is historically not been a recognition of leaders actually having wellbeing needs. They too in their leadership position have really strong wellbeing needs. And I think it's important that we normalise that, prioritise it and address it. So that it's something that's really on the table. I really love the term strength in vulnerability. And I think I've worked with so many leaders over the last couple of years who struggle with that, struggle with being vulnerable, struggle with showing that they are experiencing a challenge to their mental health and wellbeing. They feel this sense that they need to keep everything together and that they need to present a front. And we actually know that that's not true and that's because healthy people seek help. And healthy people are able to say like, "I'm actually feeling vulnerable or there's something I'm not sure about. I really need you to get on board and hold this for me for some time". I think that's really important. We need to actually have leaders who understand who the individuals in their team are, not who they think they are, but actually who they are. And that harks back to the point that we made before about hearing those voices, having channels, having ways that people can participate and share their whole selves and we can understand who they are when they come to the table. I really love the AIM model. I think it's a really great tool that leaders could be using to empower their teams. So, it's that idea of anticipating your challenge and your stressors and your wins as well. Identifying them, so naming the challenge, actually being really transparent. This is difficult, this is what is not working and really naming that. And then managing it, co-creating plans with your team to address that wellbeing need.

You're always able to be hopeful and helpful. I think it's really important for leaders to be transparent, which once again goes back to that idea of safe even if uncomfortable. And also knowing who your team is and strength in vulnerability. So, I think transparency is really important. We know in crisis people feel disempowered by a lack of, or misinformation. It's something that becomes really unsettling and children and young people are the same. Following crisis, they actually want to know what's going on. There's a lack of engagement with that process and the planning, so they have no agency. So, bring your team, as a leader, bring your team in, be a member yourself around the planning to address those wellbeing needs.

Rachel Jewell

If you ask me about the role of a leader in whole staff wellbeing it's huge. What a leader models and says is listened to, it influences how other staff act and the adjustments or changes of wellbeing culture has to be endorsed and led by the top. So really just attitude and understanding of the Mental Health Continuum, normalising and de-stigmatising of language and supporting staff who are struggling with their mental health can make such a difference. And I think not just to staff retention and engagement, but it must have a knock-on effect on student academic and wellbeing outcomes as well. So, I think interpersonal skills, communication skills and a compassionate style are more important than ever in leadership. And being a role model for relational expectations around things like respectful language, inclusive actions and constructive feedback are important.

Building an atmosphere of psychological safety and trust can take a lot of time and effort and maintenance as well, but it can have a huge impact, small things like maintaining an interest in the day-to-day teaching and learning experiences of staff or valuing the diverse range of contributions and achievements can make a massive difference. I think it's important to say as well, that leadership does not have to be carried by one or two people, excepting our smaller schools and services, and working as a team with that shared vision and goal helps. One more thing, I'd really urge school leaders to make use of professional and collegial networks available to you. This was highlighted by the 2020 Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey. Often people will be facing similar challenges or have good ideas and leadership can feel really lonely sometimes. So those connection points really help.

I'd love to see more supervision structures in place. I think at the time when I left my school, they had supervision, like proper clinical supervision structures in place for pastoral staff, which was fantastic and really made a difference to the wellbeing of those staff. I think emails, I know Andrea touched on it earlier, but emails are a big, well, when I started teaching your communication came from a pigeon hole in the staff room and now it feels like email can be a full-time job. So thinking about having cut-off times for when emails can be sent and taken, and strategies in schools for managing emails from parents and students and those sorts of things. Yeah, those are the sorts of things I'd be looking at there around those kinds of boundaries.

Nikki Edwards

I think you should consider an audit of where you are now. Because we want to come from a strength-based approach and often we're doing a whole lot of really great things already. So ask educators, interrogate your policies and then see where you are now, and that will allow you to plan into where you'd like to be.

Rachel Jewell

We have our Be You Consultants who could support you with this by helping you with some pretty simple actions. Gathering data on how things are currently, what are the needs, what's going well, what might need strengthening? And we've got some really simple ideas for how to gather this available to schools. Happy to support you with planning and ideas to address your development ideas and also chat through any challenges along the way as well, so just reach out.

I manage the New South Wales/ACT team here for headspace Schools. So, I've work with primary and secondary schools. We've got an experienced multidisciplinary national team of consultants and they're available by phone, email or video conference at no cost to support a whole school approach to staff wellbeing, to wellbeing in general. They've got really good understanding around schools and early learning services and their unique challenges and can listen and support you. The Be You website is brilliant. It's got a whole section about educator wellbeing with a number of tools, examples of practice, professional learning recordings, as well as fact sheets. And for networks of educators, if you're in a network, we can facilitate a reflective session to connect and learn about some of the practical strategies to support a whole school, mental health approach and staff wellbeing, in particular, if that's what you'd like as well, based on the Be You evidence-base.

Yeah. And as I mentioned, if you're not sure who your consultant is, give us a shout through the contact page on the website.