Teacher burnout won't be fixed with more grit. When resilience becomes the plan, schools stop redesigning the work that's draining staff.
Teacher burnout and staff wellbeing get the headlines, but school leaders are missing two quieter problems: toxic resilience and bore out. Steph Hawkins, founder of Well Well Well, brings two decades of leadership across the UK and internationally, plus postgraduate work in applied positive psychology.
She explains how "just dig deeper" became the bridge between unrealistic demands and human capability, and why it lets schools skip the real work.
She breaks wellbeing into three layers (individual, leadership, organizational) and shows why middle leaders, the connective tissue of every school, have more agency than they think.
You'll get the science of recognition that actually lands, why an overused strength starts to drain you, and how appreciative inquiry beats fixing weaknesses in school improvement planning.Depletion isn't a mark of dedication. Design for people and performance follows.
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⌚️ TIMESTAMPS:
- 00:00 - Toxic resilience and unrealistic demands
- 03:58 - Bore out, burnout's overlooked twin
- 07:36 - The three layers of staff wellbeing
- 10:08 - Why toxic resilience blocks system change
- 12:17 - Middle leaders as the school's connective tissue
- 14:25 - Staff recognition that actually lands
- 18:30 - When your strengths start to drain you
- 21:28 - Appreciative inquiry for school improvement
- 22:58 - How opposite strengths create team conflict
- 31:22 - Work design exposes hidden strain
- 33:47 - The connections every new educator needs
- 36:35 - Marquee message and dream school principles
🔗 CONNECT WITH STEPH HAWKINS:
🌎 Website: https://www.wellwellwell.work/
👩🏻💻 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steph-hawkins-mapp/
🫶 WHENEVER YOU ARE READY, HERE'S 3 WAYS TO HELP YOU DO SCHOOL DIFFERENT:
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IXL:
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ORCHARD:
Orchard gives every student a personalized career action plan and scores readiness across 8 dimensions — a number you can take to your board.
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KIDS FIRST EDUCATION:
Kids First Education builds professional learning around your district's priorities, your data, and your classrooms — not pulled off a shelf — and 98% of educators walk out ready to use what they learned.
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