We Are Your Partners on the Path to Wellness

Wellness is a practice, not a point at which we arrive. Well-being is personal and informed by the context in which we seek to be well. TeachWell understands the nuances, complexities, and value of an educator’s wellness within their professional lives. We strive to meet educators and education systems where they are and support them toward greater well-being. 

In 2023 TeachWell entered a partnership with San Mateo County Office of Education and San Mateo County Health Department to dig into the issue of adult Social Emotional Literacy (SEL) and educator well-being. The goal of our partnership is to bring greater awareness to the role of adult SEL in educator professional development and to enhance educators’ social-emotional well-being and resilience. We started with the basic belief that when adults are intentional about their own social-emotional well-being, they co-regulate their students’ emotions, outlook, and behavior. And that when adults model personal SEL competency, they harness day-to-day teachable moments and create lifelong learning opportunities for student social development.

TeachWell is motivated by our commitment to public education and educators everywhere–meaning every adult on a school campus who engages with students. The dire state of the teaching profession moves us to a deep sense of compassion for the burdens born by educators, whose work we see as both essential and heroic. We recognize that toxic stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue are taking a personal toll on our heroes and dragging our education systems into a state of dysfunction.

This guidebook demonstrates a balance between strategic and personalized aspects of well-being. We begin with current data and research and include the perspectives of experts implementing some of the top strategies we identify. As part of our research, we refined our practices to deliver programs reflective of salient strategies and then asked our participants about their experiences in our programs. This guidebook was an opportunity for our team to learn. The process has helped us understand more deeply the needs of educators and create responsive programs to their needs while believing in their resilience. 

We welcome your feedback, suggestions, and ideas that come up for you as you read the guidebook. Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing segments on our social media and inviting your response. We encourage you to respond so that the conversation reaches beyond the TeachWell community. One piece of our learning was that there is a strong network of support available to educators who seek to focus attention on their well-being and tap into their resilience.

See our homepage to download the the Guidebook: Be Well. Teach Well.