Teacher Wellbeing Transformed
Break Free From Survival Mode Before Burnout
Bianca McLeish
Teacher Wellbeing Transformed by Bianca McLeish is exactly the kind of book that feels like a staffroom conversation you wish someone had started sooner. With her background as both a teacher and a wellbeing consultant, McLeish writes with authority, humility and empathy.
The opening chapters name “survival mode”; that tense, overextended state many educators stay in by default and show how it’s tied to our nervous system, not just to workload. From there, she guides readers through a three-part scaffold: self-awareness, self-empowerment and self-regulation. Each section blends science, stories and simple tools you can try immediately in your daily life.
What sets this book apart is McLeish’s insistence that we don’t need to be perfect to be well; small shifts in how we relate to stress, how we set boundaries and how we regulate ourselves really can ripple outward. Her voice is that of someone who’s lived it, she doesn’t lecture, she invites.
For school leaders, teachers (in-service or pre-service), support staff and organisational teams, this book offers more than ideas: it offers entry points. You’ll find strategies you can pilot tomorrow and questions you can bring to your next team meeting. It’s not a lofty theory book, and it’s not a quick fix, it’s a companion for pacing yourself in a profession that often rewards overdrive.
If you care about sustaining care, connection and agency in your teams or classrooms, Teacher Wellbeing Transformed is a book that earns discussion, experimentation and return visits. I hope it sparks conversations in your staffroom, not because you feel obligated, but because you’ll want to.
