Championing teacher wellbeing

Teaching is more than just a nine-to-five. Behind the rewarding moments sits a complex combination of workload, emotional demands, time pressures and behaviour management. With these demands sometimes extending far beyond the classroom, teachers are often experiencing burnout.

After studying a Bachelor of Education at the University of Wollongong (UOW), Daniela Falecki spent many years as a full-time teacher across both the public and private education systems, working in and alongside schools. Experiencing first-hand the increasing demands, complexities and challenges placed on staff, it led her to founding Teacher Wellbeing, a business dedicated to helping teachers feel more grounded, valued and confident.

Daniela equips educators with practical strategies to thrive both personally and professionally. 

“My mission and love has always been helping people from the inside out,” Daniela says.

Teachers need the same support as students

“I started working with teenagers and doing workshops in schools to support and build the personal development side of students. I realised that it was our teachers that needed the support. Teachers were the ones feeling overwhelmed and tired,” Daniela says.

So, she developed the Sustainable Staff Wellbeing System to help improve professional wellbeing, which combines leadership support and mindset coaching. The system addresses the demands placed on teachers while helping schools embed sustainable wellbeing practices that empower staff, strengthen workplace culture and create lasting positive change.

Teacher Wellbeing has now been operating for over 10 years, working with over 7,000 educators across early childhood, primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. Daniela runs from 80 to 100 interactive workshops within schools each year.

“What I do is help people manage cognitive fatigue,” she says. “I help you regulate your mood and your emotions, and I help you work well with each other to have better conversations.”

Me, we and us

“When I'm working with schools, my programs follow 'me', 'we' and 'us',” Daniela explains. This framework builds a culture that cares for staff wellbeing, creates better systems in education, and communicates how to work well together.

'Me' focuses on individual mindset, energy and boundaries; 'we' reflects on relationships and leadership practices; and 'us' considers the broader systems, expectations and culture within a school.

Daniela highlights that when these three layers work together wellbeing becomes embedded in the way a school operates, creating a culture where staff feel valued, supported and empowered.

“Teacher wellbeing is more than self-care; it’s not about morning teas or the one wellbeing day check-in in week seven. Teacher wellbeing is having the psychological resources to work well together even when work is demanding.”

“One of the simplest things that I do in my workshop is making wellbeing buddies. They’re check-in buddies to create everyday conversation,” Daniela says. 

Incorporating psychological resources helps educators navigate the complexities of modern education. Within her programs, which are available online or in person, Daniela focuses on looking at educators' moods, mental energy, emotional energy and sense of self in the classroom.

Wellbeing, not well doing

“Every single teacher goes into education to make a difference,” Daniela says. “A catchphrase that I share in all my workshops is that we are human beings, not human doings.”

Individual, shared and environmental responsibilities all contribute to your wellbeing at work, Daniela explains, and her work comes from organisational psychology, which focuses on human behaviour in the workplace. 

“I love helping people, helping people develop hope and to be excited about the future. As a lot of the talk in education, certainly around teachers, is around staff retention, burnout, to people leaving the profession and the increasing complexities.”

Teacher wellbeing isn’t about removing all the demands that come with the profession. Daniela explains that it’s about having the skills and resources to navigate a job that people love and change isn’t going to happen overnight. 

Putting workshops into action

“I’m a teacher. I love developing resources to build peoples capacity,” Daniela says.

Teacher Wellbeing offers online courses and free downloads that are accessible to everyone. Some of these courses include Teacher Energy Reset, Mentoring Made Easy and The Reignite Room. 

Many teachers are familiar with the first aid acronym ‘Dr ABC’. Daniela has adapted it into a simple framework to help teachers become first responders to their own wellbeing. 

D is for divergent thinking, encouraging teachers to consider another perspective. R is for rest, asking what they need to give their minds a break. A is for achievement, recognising what they’re proud of that day. B is for believe, reconnecting with what matters most, and C is for celebrate, acknowledging the incredible work they do. 

The aim is to encourage teachers to check in with themselves, rather than putting their own wellbeing last.

“The conversations we have with ourselves are free, and it begins with us. I love empowering people with different ways of thinking.”

How parents can help

Most of us recall a teacher we either loved or disliked, but our experiences as students only show us one side of what it means to be a teacher. 

“If you haven't worked in a school, it's very difficult to understand the complexities of schools. Everyone's got an opinion on what it is to be a teacher,” Daniela says.

She explains the biggest way parents can support teachers is to have awareness of the daily challenges. 

“If you’re hosting a birthday party for your child, you might have 10 little humans in your house and you’re trying to navigate all of them for only two hours. Imagine you've got 25 of them, all with different food allergies, different needs, different requirements, and they're all in your house, and you're trying to engage them. That’s what a teacher does daily, often with very little thanks.”

With teacher shortages continuing to challenge Australian schools, raising awareness of the pressures educators face is more important than ever. Daniela highlights the importance of fostering open conversations between teachers, students and parents. Conversations are free and small actions can help foster a more supportive school-wide community. 

It is 100% worth it

Daniela says the joy of watching young people light up from learning makes the demands of teaching0 worth it. She encourages anyone thinking of studying education to dive in.

“Teaching is the best profession in the world, absolutely do it,” she says. “The stress, the challenges, the complexities, it is 100% worth it every single day of the week.” 

While the demands of teaching are tough, there are passionate educators like Daniela supporting the next generation to not only survive but thrive beyond the classroom. 

Want to learn more? Explore UOW education degrees.