From Burnout to Belonging in Schools: Redefining Culture and Care for Educators

Across Australia, the conversation about teacher wellbeing has never been more urgent. Burnout is no longer an isolated experience, it’s becoming a hallmark of our education system.

A large-scale study by UNSW Sydney surveyed nearly 5,000 primary and secondary school teachers and found that 90 per cent reported moderate to extremely severe levels of stress. Additionally, approximately 68.8 per cent of teachers described their workload as “largely or completely unmanageable.” The study showed that teachers’ average scores for depression were up to three times the national norm and for stress nearly four times higher.

In a complementary investigation, the Deakin University “Australian Teacher Work, Health and Wellbeing Report” found that government school teachers reported higher levels of burnout and elevated stress compared with the general workforce.

When care becomes costly

Teachers enter the profession to make a difference. They show up each day with creativity, courage and compassion. But over time, chronic stress, unrelenting workload and emotional labour take their toll. This is not a matter of personal resilience failing, it reflects a system that is asking too much for too long.

Compassion fatigue and secondary trauma are increasingly recognised in education. When teachers support students through distress without the recovery structures for themselves, their own nervous systems start to fray. What once made them effective now becomes the reason they burn out.

The missing piece

Our schools rightly focus on students , trauma-informed practices, social-emotional learning, behaviour management. These are essential, yet the adults in the room; teachers, aides, leaders, often receive far less structured support.

We train educators to identify trauma in students, but rarely teach them how to regulate their own stress responses. We talk about resilience, but less often about rest.

Wellbeing cannot be fixed by a note in a pigeon hole or a fruit platter in the staffroom. It demands a cultural shift, one that honours the human nervous system, not just the policy.

What belonging really means

Belonging is not a buzzword. It’s a biological necessity. When educators feel safe, seen and valued, their brains and bodies move from survival mode into creativity, connection and growth. When they don’t, they withdraw, not because they don’t care, but because their systems are overwhelmed.

Neuroscience helps us understand this.

• Through polyvagal theory, we know that safety is built through connection and relational regulation.

• Through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), we see that wellbeing is about engaging with life’s challenges meaningfully, not removing them.

• Through trauma-aware education, we understand that co-regulation, not control, allows sustainable systems of practice.

  
  

A new model of school culture

Reimagining school culture means embedding wellbeing into the daily rhythm of education, not treating it as a response to crisis. Consider what that looks like:

• Morning check-ins that begin with staff connection, not compliance.

• Leadership modelling calm rather than urgency.

• Systems that allow time for reflection, recovery and peer connection, rather than constant reaction.

  
  

When wellbeing becomes the foundation rather than the afterthought, the ripple effects are significant: improved retention, deeper relationships, stronger learning environments.

Where we go from here

Every school can begin with a few foundational actions:

• Introduce nervous system literacy. Help staff recognise stress, regulation and the signals their bodies give.

• Integrate micro-moments of recovery. Structure small, realistic pauses rather than grand “wellbeing days.”

• Lead with relational safety. Make connection, vulnerability and trust visible in leadership practices.

• Commit to consistency. Move from one-off sessions to ongoing cycles of reflection, peer support and professional growth.

  
  

The future of education does not rely on the next initiative, it rests on how we care for the people who make learning possible. When educators feel that they belong, not just in their classrooms, but in their staffrooms, leadership teams and communities, everything changes.

At The Balance Collective, we partner with schools ready to turn this vision into action. Our wellbeing partnerships and professional development sessions help educators and leaders create cultures of safety, care, and sustainable performance.

Each program is grounded in neuroscience and designed to work with the realities of school life; practical, relational, and built for long-term change. Whether your school is beginning its wellbeing journey or ready to embed it at a whole-school level, we can help you move from burnout to belonging and from surviving to truly thriving.