Blog posts
Blog posts
Many teacher wellbeing initiatives fail because they are one-size-fits-all, quick fixes, or top-down. Learn how to build a contextualised, strategic, and collaborative staff wellbeing strategy in schools that improves retention, reduces burnout, and drive
2025-09-11
Open item
Blog posts
Investing in staff wellbeing in schools delivers benefits that extend far beyond individual staff members.
2025-06-30
Open item
Blog posts
How schools can take a simple, 6-step strategic approach to make a meaningful difference to staf wellbeing.
2025-06-30
Open item
Blog posts
Regardless of a school’s context, when I conduct surveys and focus groups, the same main theme emerges - staff want closer connections with colleagues and leadership.
2024-04-21
Open item
Blog posts
Workplace belonging is a key component of a positive workplace culture. Schools foster belonging when they unite staff around a shared purpose and create an environment where everyone feels accepted, respected and recognised.
2022-11-05
Open item
Blog posts
Underfunding in a high-burnout profession is impacting staff recruitment and retention globally. Ultimately, pupils and their families are being failed by the system.
2022-10-22
Open item
Blog posts
Studies show that workload is the single biggest contributor to the burnout of teaching staff in schools. Yet despite increasing interest in improving the wellbeing of staff, many schools seem reluctant to address workload effectively.
2022-10-15
Open item
Blog posts
Research from around the world shows that staff working in schools have lower levels of wellbeing and higher levels of burnout than the general population.
2022-09-24
Open item
Blog posts
As we start another school year in the northern hemisphere I reflect back on the hundreds of conversations I have had over the last twelve months with educators and school leader...
2021-08-18
Open item
Blog posts
This is the third article in my series on international school teacher wellbeing during the COVID 19 crisis, based upon a survey which I conducted in January and February 2021. 275...
2021-03-26
Open item
Blog posts
Earlier this week, I published the main findings from my research into International School Teacher Wellbeing During the COVID 19 Crisis 2020-21. It is important to give t...
2021-03-20
Open item
Blog posts
In January and February of this year, 275 international school teachers from 46 countries took part in an comprehensive survey about their mental health and wellbeing. The infograp...
2021-03-17
Open item
Blog posts
Schools around the world are becoming the front-line for dealing with child mental health issues, yet should this be the case and if so are governments providing schools with the s...
2021-03-11
Open item
Blog posts
In my last article What are the Most Effective Steps Schools Can Take to Support Teachers’ and Leaders’ Mental Health and Wellbeing? I listed nine steps that scho...
2021-01-30
Open item
Blog posts
There is a host of data from around the world which suggests that teachers and school leaders experience significantly more work-related stress than the general population and are ...
2021-01-23
Open item
Blog posts
The mental health of educators is a growing concern around the world. One in twenty UK teachers now report mental health problems lasting more than 12 months and half of teachers f...
2021-01-09
Open item
Blog posts
Back in September 2020 in my article Is an Epidemic of COVID Burnout Awaiting our School Leaders? I shared my own experiences of an occupational burnout diagnosed the year be...
2021-01-04
Open item
Blog posts
The media is filled almost every day with reports of increased stress and mental health issues that schools are facing in the wake of the current pandemic crisis. Most focus on con...
2020-12-05
Open item
Blog posts
In my recent study into school leader wellbeing during the COVID 19 crisis 70% of the 721 school leaders who took part say they have come close to breaking point at some time durin...
2020-11-28
Open item
Blog posts
Many thanks to all those 721 school leaders around the world who took part in my online survey last month. I have prepared an infographic to share the highlights. A complete report...
2020-11-22
Open item
Blog posts
As Germany, France and the UK move into new national lockdowns this week, the decision has been taken to keep schools open. Anxiety among teaching staff and parents has been clim...
2020-11-05
Open item
Blog posts
On Thursday I led a Zoom town hall discussion with a large group of Montessori school leaders from across the USA who had reached out to ask for my support. The first question was ...
2020-11-02
Open item
Blog posts
Resilience has been a buzzword in education for the last 5-10 years but since the declaration of a global pandemic there has been a much greater focus on the importance of resilien...
2020-10-20
Open item
Blog posts
There has been a big conversation happening in the media over recent months about the potential impact of the COVID crisis on the emotional health of our young people. Some talk of...
2020-10-19
Open item
Blog posts
The COVID 19 crisis is increasing the huge levels of stress already experienced by international school leaders. While some are thriving in the face of the challenge, many are over...
2020-10-06
Open item
Blog posts
In my article Are Schools Asking Too Much of Middle Leaders? I examined how the current COVID crisis is leaving many middle leaders exhausted and disillusioned with some clos...
2020-10-03
Open item
Blog posts
The COVID crisis has brought new and unexpected demands for already overburdened middle leaders in schools around the world. Middle leaders are the linchpins holding our schools to...
2020-09-26
Open item
Blog posts
My article The Loneliness of the International School Leader from 2018, is by far my most read and commented upon post, striking a chord with school leaders around the world....
2020-09-19
Open item
Blog posts
In my doctoral research “International Schools as Emotional Arenas: Facing the Leadership Challenges in a German Context” (2017) an emerging theme that went largely une...
2020-09-10
Open item
Blog posts
A year ago, at the start of the 2019-20 school year, I took the decision to retire from work at the end of the year, at the age of 56. I feel no shame in admitting that 15 years as...
2020-09-06
Open item
Blog posts
The current teacher strikes in New Zealand have brought into sharp relief the issues facing overworked and stressed educators around the world. On social media groups increasing st...
2019-05-19
Open item
Blog posts
In a previous article, The Loneliness of the International School Leader, I wrote about the professional and personal isolation of principals and heads around the world. We ar...
2019-05-12
Open item
Blog posts
The loneliness of headship is a commonly recurring theme in the literature on school leader wellbeing. What MacBeath (2009) calls “structural loneliness” results from...
2019-03-17
Open item
Blog posts
Research shows that the interpersonal demands placed on school leaders bring just as much stress, if not more, than the workload demands of having too much to do and not enough tim...
2019-03-10
Open item
Blog posts
The demands on middle leaders in schools are increasing, accompanied by increased levels of stress. In the past, the middle leader role was often defined in one of two ways, coordi...
2019-03-10
Open item
Blog posts
Employees today, across a range of industries, are experiencing increased work-related stress. The intensification of work, as technology speeds up the movement of data and increas...
2019-03-10
Open item
Blog posts
There is considerable evidence that school leaders find their work stressful and that, for many, this is impacting on their individual wellbeing. A study into the recruitment and r...
2019-03-10
Open item