Flourishing at School

In episode 30, Tamare reconnects with her former colleague from Geelong Grammar School's Institute of Positive Education, Justin Robinson. Justin shares lessons learned training thousands of educators around the world and designing evidence-informed approaches to wellbeing with pioneers like Martin Seligman. He also shares a sneak peek into his new project, The Wellbeing Distillery.

In this episode, Tamara speaks with special guest Dr. Carol Radford, founder of Mentoring in Action and author of Teaching With Light: Ten Lessons for Finding Wisdom, Balance, and Inspiration. They explore the grit of novice teachers, the need for mentors across a teaching career, the reason Carol sees wellbeing, resilience, and mindfulness as must-haves for all teaching programs, and her experience on the mat as a yoga teacher has changed the way she works.

In part 2 of this special episode we bring you an excerpt from the Psych Health and Safety podcast where Jason and Joelle chat with Dr Helen Kelly about burnout in teachers and school principals. Helen shares some of the statistics about burnout and attrition rates in teachers, the commonalities and differences in psychosocial hazard exposure between teachers and principals, and the reasons behind the ever-increasing workload for both groups. She offers suggestions for how schools can better manage psychosocial hazards, and shares examples of novel approaches that different schools have taken to improve the wellbeing of their teachers and principals.

In part 1 of this 2-part episode, we bring you an episode from the Psych Health and Safety podcast where Jason and Joelle chat with Dr Helen Kelly about burnout in teachers and school principals. Helen shares some of the statistics about burnout and attrition rates in teachers, the commonalities and differences in psychosocial hazard exposure between teachers and principals, and the reasons behind the ever-increasing workload for both groups. She offers suggestions for how schools can better manage psychosocial hazards, and shares examples of novel approaches that different schools have taken to improve the wellbeing of their teachers and principals.

In episode 26 Tamara is joined by Empathable's CEO, Micah Wonjoon Kessel. Micah and Tamara talk about the new definition of empathy, the reason it is a future skill for all learners, and the "2 in a room" theory that allows radical change without having to change the radicals.

In episode 25 Tamara and special guest Angie Shearer talk about coaching, character strengths, and the power of leading with relationships. They also consider why so many PE teachers excel at connecting with students and how peer coaching can improve the wellbeing of both the coach and the coachee.

In episode 24 Tamara and Jason explore antifragility with Dr. Nick Hotlton, a coach and consultant working with schools, high-performing executives and athletes. Nick also runs a podcast alongside the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard which focuses on research to help individuals better understand how to live well.

In episode 23 Tamara and special guest Associate Director of the Center for Positive Education,Lina Maria Aristizabal, talk about certifications for whole-school wellbeing leaders, the vital role of movement for classroom regulation, and how teacher mental health impacts students.

In episode 22 Tamara talks with expert guest Meg Kapil about her work as a counselor in helping clients to achieve better regulation and her research exploring how mental health challenges and stress regulation interact with learning and performance in educational settings. They discuss simple co-regulation strategies and Meg's curriculum for navigating school stress called the "Stress Stories Project".

In episode 21 Tamara and Jason talk with Rhiannon McGee. Rhiannon leads Pos Ed at its "birthing place" Geelong Grammar School and in this conversation, we explore its evolution, coaching, how it looks across different campuses and the connection to creative education and adventure education.

In this episode, Tamara chats with the Founder and CEO of Arkansas's HeartBridge Collective Bill Vining. As an educator and a consultant for over 40 years, Bill brings shares his experiences in Social-Emotional curriculum, Regenerative Education and highlights the need for all educators to be trauma-informed.

In episode 19 Tamara chats with Dr. Elke Paul, a Berlin-based coach and consultant working with schools and organizations to support science-based wellbeing transformation. They discuss putting spirituality back into leadership, why transformation requires community, and how meeting clients where they are is the only way to begin planning whole-school wellbeing.

In this week's episode, Jason and Tamara are joined by special guest John Gale, Principal of Kings Oxford School. John brings deep experience in the pastoral/wellbeing side of school with experience in teaching, boarding, and school leadership. We talk measurement and buy-in, and we ponder if puppies might be part of the flourishing equation.

In this episode, Jason and Tamara talk with special guest Dr. Helen Kelly about her personal experience as an International School Principal and professional experiences as a wellbeing expert that culminated in the release of her new book School Leaders Matter: Preventing Burnout, Managing Stress and Improving Wellbeing.

In this episode, Tamara and Jason chat with Salzburg Global Seminar's Dominic Regester. Dominic is the Director of Education and Director of the Center for Education Transformation he shares insights into education transformation, global citizenship, and social-emotional learning. We also explore the roles capitalism plays in excluding marginalized students.

In this EXPERT SERIES episode, Tamara and Jason queue up 2023 by taking a look back on 2022 podcast themes and take a deeper dive into the most-mentioned terms and resources mentioned by last year's guest experts.

In episode 14 Jason and Tamara talk to Sue Easton, director of the Principals' Training Center, whose deep experience in International Schools, wellbeing leadership, positive education, and upskilling educators sheds new light on the important role positive leadership plays in school cultures focused on wellbeing which is vital for student flourishing.

In episode 13 Tamara and Jason speak with special guest, Dr. Amy Eva, Associate Education Director at the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. Amy shares tips from her new book Surviving Teacher Burnout and also talks about the intersection of language, awareness, and practice that culminated in Greater Good in Education, a website that features over 250 free, science-based practices for creating kinder, happier schools.

In episode 12 Jason and Tamara join special guest Dr. John Spencer, former middle school teacher and current college professor on a quest to transform schools into bastions of creativity and wonder. They discuss what happens when students own learning, how your "teacher story" might be contributing to burnout, and why all teachers are a blend of water, light & crap. (You'll have to listen to hear what that means!)

In episode 11 Jason and Tamara speak with special guest Marnie Thomas whose love of making wellbeing visible for students, colleagues, and the wider school community has led to her role heading up K-12 Positive Education at Newcastle Grammar School. We explore wellbeing literacy, strengths, and the role of explicit teaching.

In our tenth episode, Tamara and Jason chat with Matthew Savage, an International School consultant whose desire to have every student know they can be seen, be heard, be known and belong came from his 25 years as a school leader and principal in the UK and internationally. Matthew talks about inclusion, using different types of data, and the need for school leaders to consider both street and sheet data as a revolutionary act of kindness.

In Episode 9, Jason and Tamara speak with Clinical and Coaching Psychologist and Founder of The Positivity Institute, Dr. Suzy Green. They discuss self-determination theory, the role of coaching in developing wellbeing leadership, and how to create whole-school momentum.

In this episode, Sue Chandler speaks to Tamara and Jason about her mission to help schools drive positive and transformational change through the integration of the science of wellbeing into whole school systems. We touch on restorative practices the need to understand staff wellbeing from the perspective of psychosocial hazards in the workplace, and how she helped All Hallows' School create their framework

In this episode, Jason and Tamara speak with URStrong's Dana Kerford. Since 2009 Dana has helped over 1 million kids through a first-of-its-kind friendship curriculum which grew into a whole-school friendship strategy. Dana shares tips around the language of friendship, putting out friendship fires, and skills to make friends.

In our first EXPERT SERIES episode, our co-hosts Jason van Schie and Tamara Lechner go back to basics by defining some of the terms and acronyms our guests are using. They explain the acronym PERMA, differentiate between Positive Education and social-emotional learning, discuss Character Strengths, and explain why Geelong Grammar School is so frequently mentioned. They also coin a new term for a group of psychologists.

In episode 5 our guest Héctor Escamilla discusses how applying whole-school wellbeing at Tecmilenio University, the First Positive University in the world, achieved the vision “To prepare people with a purpose in life and competencies to achieve it”. Jason and Tamara explore how students are empowered to customize their own college program with 40 % flexibility, 100% studying positive psychology, and 90% graduating with a job.

In this episode, Tamara Lechner and Jason van Schie speak to Canadian school counselor & teacher and Lisa Baylis, the author of Self-Compassion for Educators and creator of the Awakening the Wellbeing for Educators (AWE) Metod which merges self-care, mindfulness, and self-compassion,

In episode 3 Jason and Tamara catch up with Dr. Sharron Russell, the Director of Student Support and Positive Education at The Shipley School. They discuss Shipley's successes and lessons learned as a pioneer school whose hiring, teaching, and ongoing professional development all include a focus on individual and community mental wellbeing. We touch on teacher buy-in, character strengths, and the importance of a people-first, teacher-second training approach.

In episode two of the Flourishing at School podcast hosts Tamara Lechner and Jason van Schie chat with Dr. Gilda Scarfe, CEO of Positive Ed and a member on the advisory board of the Global Flourishing Study led by Harvard University. Gilda unpacks the role of mental toughness in flourishing at school while considering consistency and teacher buy-in as levers for success. She introduces the importance of consulting with an external expert over time and reminds our listeners that wellbeing at school is a journey rather than a destination.

In the first episode of the Flourishing at School podcast we meet you hosts Tamara Lechner of Canada and Jason van Schie of Australia. They introduce the aim of the podcast which is to advance the understanding and practice of whole school interventions for student and staff mental health. They define the term flourishing and discuss why this should be a goal of schools. They chat candidly about both positive and negative examples of how schools commonly go about mental health initiatives and discuss opportunities for improvement. They introduce the integrated model of mental health and chat about how this can be applied within a school context as a holistic way to prevent illness, promote flourishing and respond to ill-health.