Teacher Wellbeing Research Project 2019-20
Please find us on Twitter: @Mr_Crome and @CiseRachel
Our most recent blog:
Launching Primary Research with Britain’s Healthiest Workplace survey
We haven’t blogged for a while, owing to our own workload and a few things that we’ve been planning for this term. But we’re very excited about the next stage of our wellbeing research project: carrying out primary research that will help us understand the health and wellbeing of education staff across a range of…
“I’m probably not clever enough to write this article…” Imposter Syndrome: why do so many of us feel like frauds?
What do Albert Einstein, Maya Angelou and Meryl Streep all have in common? Deep down, they all view themselves as imposters, fraudsters, cheats, fakes, phonies. In other words, they all have expressed the psychological phenomenon we now term: Imposter Syndrome. Einstein commented: “the exaggerated esteem in which my lifework is held makes me very ill…
Teacher Autonomy and the NFER report – a few thoughts…
Regular readers of our blog will know that we are keen proponents of Ryan and Deci (2000) and their model of Self Determination Theory, which suggests that our basic psychological needs are autonomy, competence and relatedness (see blog for more!), and how they need to be met so that we can flourish and thrive at…
‘Have a quiet cuppa and relax!’… But what does research actually say about how teachers unwind?
For the last six months, we have had ‘teacher wellbeing’ switched on with Google Alerts, meaning that every weekend we are shown how many articles across the web have included this specific phrase. It can take hours to sweep through them all, and thankfully it’s not all doom and gloom. Many of the articles or…
Mindfulness, resilience and self-efficacy: over-used and ineffective stress prevention or the key to a happy, healthy teacher?
Imagine the most calm, resilient, stress-free person you know. No situation can shatter the rationality with which they act; no problem is too challenging or beyond their capabilities; no apparent signs of crippling self-doubt and anxiety interfere in their day-to-day life. Now imagine putting this person in a school. Would their resilience, rationality and confidence…
‘You look terrible! But well done for coming in’ – Presenteeism – what is it, and how can we reduce it?
I’ve had a cold over the Christmas holiday. It was inevitable, I suppose. The clichéd battle of body and mind over invading illnesses during term time; you are victorious, and then the holidays appear as cavalry for infection, and you succumb. We’ve all been there. At least, though, when I could feel my throat tightening…
Biscuits at Break Time! Staff perks – what are they, and do they work?
Biscuits at break time, yoga at 3.30 in the main hall, wine at the end of term, and an annual wellbeing day. Schools, generally, do a lot to reward the work of their teachers and to give them a break. Rachel and I flippantly titled our blog ‘biscuits at break time’ at the dawn of…
The Thinking School: a glimpse into how autonomy can empower teaching staff
For the last few weeks, Sam and I have been reading about the workplace landscape in the UK, teacher wellbeing and theories that reflect the basic needs of workers. It’s not all been about the reading though; we’ve been lucky enough to be granted some time away from teaching to visit The Relationships Foundation in…
Exploring Self Determination Theory (SDT) and meeting the psychological needs of school staff
What do people want? What do they need? We make choices every day that we think will generate happiness. We buy a coffee on the way to work because it provides a sense of gratification, and a perception that the handiwork of the barista, along with the caffeine, will see us through the morning unscathed.…
Reviewing the literature about the current landscape for education professionals: bleak and alarming or reassuring and affirming?
It probably doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that the former rings true for the literature that assesses teacher wellbeing in the UK; but what does this mean for our project? After determining that we had tapped into a potentially seismic problem within the education sector, Sam and I decided that we needed…
Our initial plan for the teacher wellbeing research project
Rachel and I work at a high-achieving secondary school in Surrey that has flourished in the last ten years, transforming from an uncertain future to one of the top performers in progress at GCSE and A-Level. Behaviour and learning culture is fantastic, and overall the experience of working there is demanding yet extremely rewarding. And…
Introductions…
Welcome to our blog. Our names are Samuel Crome and Rachel Cise; we work at a secondary school in Surrey. After reflecting on staff wellbeing at our school, and participating in an INSET day with an outside provider who focused on staff stress and wellbeing, we decided the area required further investigation. Our school have…
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Staff Wellbeing in Schools: Biscuits at Break Time 