A crisis in wellbeing for educators – what does the research say?

Wherever you turn these days, there seems to be reports of teachers leaving the education system in droves. And things seem to have become significantly worse over the past few years.

A 2023 national survey of 4000 teachers by the Black Dog Institute in Australia found that ‘teacher mental health and burnout could halve the workforce’. The study found that ‘almost half of Australian teachers (46.8%) are considering leaving the profession within the next 12 months. This is an increase from 14% of teachers intending to leave the profession in 2021’.

The data also showed:

• 60% of teacher absences in the previous month were due to a mental health or emotional problem.
• 52% of teachers reported moderate to extremely severe symptoms of depression compared to 12.1% in the general population. For teachers with anxiety symptoms the figures were 46.2% compared to 9% and for stress, these figures came in at 59.7% compared to 11.4%.

A meta study of teacher wellbeing research also found that teacher wellbeing (or lack thereof) is associated:

‘… negatively with teacher stress and burnout, and positively with satisfaction and positive emotions, resilience and flourishing, and motivation and commitment.’

Senior lecturer in education and teacher, Dr. Kristina Turner, and psychologist, Professor Monica Thielking, have spent several years researching the wellbeing of educators. Drawing on positive psychology frameworks, they have worked with hundreds of teachers to identify the things that are leading to stress, burnout, and overwhelm (all things contributing to the current ‘teacher exodus’), and the things that help teachers feel more hopeful, connected, supported and happy at work.

‘Teachers play a vital role in educating and shaping the lives of young people,’ Turner and Thielking say.

‘Many enter the profession with a deep commitment to making a positive impact on students’ lives. Teaching is both rewarding and challenging, and ensuring teachers’ wellbeing is essential for them to perform their roles effectively.’

Their research has found that there are many factors that contribute to poor teacher wellbeing including increasing workloads, administrative pressures, poor resourcing, emotional demands of teaching and a lack of work-life balance.

They also note that the impacts of low teacher wellbeing go beyond the impacts on the teacher themselves, saying, ‘Poor teacher wellbeing has implications for workforce sustainability, teaching quality and student outcomes.’

Their research also draws on international data, which finds that this issue isn’t just an Australian problem.

‘Recent research indicates that teachers worldwide are experiencing heightened levels of stress, anxiety, burnout and depression. This global issue prompted the United Nations Secretary General to recently convene a High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession in response to the global teacher shortage and as a key follow-up to the UN Transforming Education Summit of 2022.

‘Similarly, one of the recent recommendations arising from the European Commission’s expert group on enhancing supportive learning environments for vulnerable learners and for promoting wellbeing and mental health at school was to empower educators to innovate in teaching while maintaining their own wellbeing.’

what can we do to address these challenges?

A recent Monash University study of over 1000 educators found that teachers identify the following as key to their wellbeing: ‘ feeling safe, supported, valued and trusted, as well as achieving a work/life balance.’

This aligns with Turner and Thielkings findings. They say:

‘Addressing this crisis requires a shift in focus towards strategies that ensure teachers have high job satisfaction, experience their work as meaningful and effective, and promote wellbeing.

Their research found that strength-based positive psychology approaches to supporting teacher wellbeing have been shown to be effective.

benefits of supporting teacher wellbeing using positive psychology

Turner and Thielking’s research (Turner & Thielking, 2019a; Turner Thielking & Meyer, 2021; Turner, Thielking & Prochazka, 2022) has shown that when teachers consciously apply positive psychology strategies in their daily teaching practice, they:

• Feel less stressed, more relaxed, more positive and calmer in the classroom.
• Feel more engaged with teaching, which they believe improved the quality of their lessons.
• Spend more one-on-one time individually with their students and as a result developed a better relationship and understanding of their students, as well as an improvement in students’ work and confidence.
• Adopt a more positive outlook toward their students and give students more strengths-based feedback about their work.
• Become more focused on making their lessons deeper, more meaningful, more engaging and more enjoyable for students.
• Empower their students by giving them a greater voice in the classroom and including more student-led activities.
• Create classroom environments that are calmer, with an increase in engagement, learning, and completion of work.

If we are to stem the flow of talented, creative, skilled and experienced teachers out of education, we need to start creating educational environments that are supportive, enriching, respectful, and hopeful, where workloads are reasonable and educators feel valued.

Kristina Turner and Monica Thielking are the authors of our newest resource, Teacher Wellbeing Cards. With stunning, illustrations by artist, Kain White, these cards are perfect for having honest conversations about how educators can set boundaries, find a better work-life balance, rediscover meaning and energy in their work, and feel more hopeful and empowered.

Preorder now for delivery in July 2025.