Too Many Hats, One Teacher

How do teachers become well? It's more than just a paycheck, being paid on time, or not getting sick. Well-being, for a teacher, is the sense of being competent, appreciated and engaged with students and colleagues on a day-to-day basis. It's the feeling that it is not too hard, but it does require some effort and that effort will have a positive result.

What's in it for the public? Because the teacher's attitude comes into the classroom before the lesson plan. A drained teacher teaches differently than a supported one and that difference is apparent in how much patience is displayed, how creative the lesson is and how risky it is, and these all show in the students' reading. Whether a shy child speaks up, whether a good teacher remains in the profession or leaves, whether a child learns: these are all determined by teacher well-being.

We treat it as a matter between us or as a luxury. It is neither. It is intrinsic to the quality of education. Imagine an English teacher in a school.