Good morning,

What if burnout in education is not primarily a problem for individual teachers to solve?

Ruth Poulsen has spent more than two decades working in schools around the world. After experiencing burnout herself, she began looking much more closely at the conditions that allow teachers and leaders to thrive, and at the systems that gradually make that harder.

In this episode, Ruth joins Kieran for a conversation about boundaries, leadership, chronic stress and the culture of self-sacrifice that still runs through much of education. They explore the difference between caring deeply about the job and allowing it to consume you, alongside the responsibility leaders have for creating schools that do not depend on people continually going above and beyond simply to keep things functioning.

A timely conversation about burnout, professional responsibility and how we might build schools in which people can do excellent work without being slowly depleted by it.

Hope you enjoy!

Regenerative Schools, Ruth’s Substack

Emily Nagoski & Amelia Nagoski, Burnout

Marc Brackett, Permission to Feel

Donald Campbell, Campbell’s Law

Ruth Poulsen, Regenerative Schools: Cultivating a Culture Where Educators Can Flourish

Thinking Deeply about Primary Education is heading to Edinburgh on 28 November!

We’re bringing together teachers, school leaders and some fantastic speakers for a day of thought-provoking conversations, practical ideas and professional learning that gets to the heart of what matters in education.

If you enjoy the podcast, we’d love you to join us and take those conversations beyond your headphones.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thinking-deeply-about-primary-education-conference-edinburgh-tickets-1994538692922

And if you’re a teacher or school leader with ideas, experiences or insights you’d like to share, we have two more TDaPE conferences coming up in early 2027. Applications to speak at TDaPE London and TDaPE Cymru are open now, and we’d love to hear from you.

TDaPE London Sessions: https://forms.gle/475FYpCTb11Y4R716 

TDaPE Cymru Sessions: https://forms.gle/xqEB1uXEyJty8PPs8 

A huge thank you to everyone who shared last week’s episode. It’s always lovely to see these conversations reaching new people, and I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to pass them on. If this week’s episode makes you think of a colleague or friend, please do share it with them.

That’s all from me for now. As always, I’d love to hear what you made of the conversation, so feel free to leave a comment wherever you listen or simply reply to this email.

Until next time, thanks for listening.