The ’How’ of Self-Care for Teachers: Building Your Wellbeing Toolbox

Providing insights, ideas, strategies and compassion, this book offers a new way of looking at self-care for educators experiencing exhaustion and stress, or who may simply be feeling more tired than they should be.

Drawing on personal experiences of burnout, as well as research in wellbeing literacy, self-care and positive psychology, Narelle Lemon presents a new framework for self-care. Designed especially for teachers of any discipline or sector, the framework is based on five key dimensions:

• self-compassion,
• mindful awareness,
• habits,
• time, and
• empowerment.

Evidence-based and easy to follow, these dimensions scaffold the tools and strategies offered in the book, allowing the reader to create their own toolbox based on what resonates with them most. The book is designed to be flexible, so the reader is encouraged to follow the recommendations as closely as they wish, or to take inspiration for their own ideas, acknowledging that tools will change over time and across contexts. The practical tools in this book are further supported by reflective prompts, as well as opportunities for extension with tips for leaders, working groups and the education sector more broadly.

Written by a teacher for teachers, this book gives you not only the tools but also the permission to look after yourself. It will show you that self-care is an act of self-love, self-compassion, and self-awareness, and that it is relational and you need to care for you in order to care for others.

Narelle Lemon, VC Professoriate Research Fellow at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia, is an interdisciplinary scholar specializing in arts, education, and positive psychology. Her research focuses on enhancing wellbeing literacy in K-12 schools, teacher education, higher education, and community settings, emphasizing evidence-based practices for proactive flourishing.