Leaning In

Teachers are being told they are stressed, overwhelmed and burning out-and the usual response is to help them reduce stress.

But what if stress isn't always the problem?

In Leaning In: The Educator's Guide to Loving Stress, social psychologist, author and educator Dr Helen Street challenges one of the most entrenched assumptions in contemporary wellbeing: that a good life should contain as little stress as possible.

Stress is an inevitable part of caring deeply, attempting difficult things, learning, changing and doing work that matters. The question, Helen argues, is not simply how much stress we experience, but how we understand it, how equipped we feel to meet the challenges in front of us, and whether the environments around us help or hinder our capacity to respond.

Drawing on psychological research and decades of experience working with educators and schools, Leaning In explores the science of stress and the powerful roles played by belief, appraisal, self-efficacy, identity, motivation, relationships and context. It shows why the same demanding experience can leave one person feeling threatened and overwhelmed while another feels energised and engaged-and why simply telling people to become more resilient is never enough.

Along the way, Helen offers practical ways for educators to build their capacity for challenge: from reframing and deliberate practice to feedback, values, movement, rest, connection and self-determination. She also turns the lens towards schools themselves, asking how culture, relationships, expectations and working environments can support educators rather than placing responsibility for wellbeing solely on individuals.

This is not a book about tolerating chronic stress, accepting unreasonable demands or putting a positive spin on burnout.

It is an invitation to develop a richer relationship with challenge.

To build the capacity to meet difficult moments rather than simply trying to avoid them.

And ultimately, to discover that some of the stress in our lives is there for a very good reason:

because we are doing something that matters.