Summary: In this episode I speak with Meg Durham from Open Mind Education (openmindeducation.com). Meg was a little girl who always wanted to be a teacher and she grew up to be a Science and PE secondary school teacher. However, despite being extremely excited to begin her teaching career, she describes her first year as an "avalanche". The only way she survived was by napping, and putting her personal life on hold until the holidays. It was an unexpected conversation with a student in crisis that put Meg on the path to a Master's of Student Wellbeing. After a move from Melbourne, VIC to Toowoomba, QLD and from full-time to a 0.7 (or 70%) teaching load, she experienced a marked change to her quality of life, quality of teaching, and life/job satisfaction. One thing led to another and she eventually began Open Mind Education. In this episode, Meg shares about the work she now does with schools, and how she's found there is no one-size-fits all approach. She then goes on to explain why school wellbeing is like a farm and why teacher wellbeing is like a battery. I never metaphor I didn't liked and Meg delivers on the metaphor front amazingly well in this episode! We also talk about the barriers to improving wellbeing, and the importance looking at our psychological fitness in a similar approach to physical fitness. "Imagine what life will be like for you if you show up fully charged for yourself and the people around you." ~ Meg Durham You can find more about Meg at www.openmindeducation.com and for full show notes for this episode, visit selfcareforteachers.com.au/podcast This episode is sponsored by Katrina Bourke Coaching, helping caring professions create a life of balance and flow. Find out more at www.katrinabourkecoaching.com.au and evolve, transform, thrive.
