Reflective Supervision in Education

In June 2019 Barnardo's Scotland published a report on “Supervision in Education - Healthier Schools For All”, it summarised some of the challenges faced by school staff opening a conversation about the limited support available for their mental health and wellbeing.
It commented on the daily engagement that school staff have with children (and their families) who are struggling due to challenging home circumstance which inevitably also enter the school environment. It acknowledes and highlights the increasing pressures and challenges of the role in itself, and the high turn over of staff and issues of “burnout”.
Reflective supervision was highlighted as a means to support teacher wellbeing and mental health. But what is it?
Supervision in education is a non judgemental, collaborative process where education practitioners are supported to reflect on their practice, relationships, the emotional demands of their work and the impact of these and the wider education system on their psychological wellbeing. Through dialogue, new meaning emerges and learning is co-created, forming new pathways for action which can contribute to best practice, effective relationships, enhanced wellbeing and professional and personal development
Trauma-informed schools - Paper #2
Nicki Lawrence 2020
Barnardos Scotland
Teachers Experiences of Reflective Supervision
Interested, want to talk more?
Links for supervision in education
- https://www.psychreg.org/school-staff-extraordinary-times/
- https://www.tes.com/news/traumatised-teachers-get-more-help-ease-pressure?fbclid=IwAR1T6q8_u3VH09HrPEZPWgGOktIqYKnPdhou_k2xPoWxDpbVwDjUxmXvJEc"
- https://www.barnardos.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/Supervision%20in%20Education%20-%20Healthier%20Schools%20For%20All%20-%20Main%20report_0.pdf