This is the second in a two part series on mental health of teachers. In this post I am sharing a brief review of the book How to be a Happy Teacher: A Practical Guide to Self-Care and Wellbeing in the Classroom and Beyond.
Table of Contents
Reference
How to be a Happy Teacher: A Practical Guide to Self-Care and Wellbeing in the Classroom and Beyond
Rachel Boucher
2025
Routledge
Pp. 80
Buy here
A Word About the Author
Rachel Boucher has a decade’s experience of working in primary schools. She specialises in mental health and well-being and teaching English as an additional language. Based on her training and experiences, she also offers training sessions to colleagues. You can find her on Linkedin.
Summary
The book is a practical guidebook, packed with anecdotes and suggestions for handling primary school classrooms. Teachers engaged with primary school teaching are faced with a plethora of struggles and challenges. The book although not themed around these challenges, does address them through the eyes of the teacher. This puts the teacher at the centre rather than focussing on the issues.
Boucher must be commended for subtly bringing the focus on the teacher, shifting away from issues that usually catch the attention of all stakeholders. Schools are either focussed on students or on administrative procedures. It is rare to see the teacher being brought into the centre, reminding us that a happy, content, less stressed teacher is likely to do a much better job at teaching and ‘managing’ children than a hyperventilating adult, constantly worrying about the safety and progress of the child.
The book is divided into two sections. The first focuses on life lessons that teachers can learn from Boucher’s experiences. The second section presents examples, case studies and some reflective activities that teachers can undertake. Some of these are best performed with other teachers.
The preface sets the tone of the book by discussing the unfavourable public perception about teachers, particularly during the COVID’19 pandemic, the professional requirements/demands, and meeting criticisms. Boucher also points to what many authors in the field of school education are referring to: the need to build teacher communities.*
The chapters focus on helping teachers to begin by accepting their place in schools and deal with the perceptions of those who are not into teaching. The book repeatedly reminds teachers to accept what they can and cannot change. Very importantly, teachers are also asked to not accept all work that comes their way. Setting priorities of tasks is important. This translates into making a judicious use of your time as well as mental space and capabilities.
Conclusion
The book is highly recommended if you are facing burnout, frustration and anxiety at spending a number of years at a professional space that is stressful. Although the context is not Indian, teachers in India will also benefit from learning about a different administrative system and curriculum structure. Also, it helps to know that teachers everywhere are facing the same struggles. For teacher educators, administrators, and policy makers, the book will provide you an insight on the emotional state of teachers and maybe plan your work to ease out their work a bit. Let’s work towards being happy teachers!
*You may wish to read more about teacher communities here.