Now is the time when many of us make resolutions for personal improvement or set intentions for the new year. If you are in this mindset and your intention is to take better care of yourself, a new book published here in Canada and written specifically for teachers may be helpful. Teacher, Take Care: A Guide to Well-Being and Workplace Wellness for Educators, edited by Jennifer E. Lawson with Shannon Gander, Richelle North Star Scott, and Stanley Kipling (Portage & Main Press, 2022), is a collection of essays written by educators who share their personal stories and strategies for wellness. Grounded in experience, and supplemented with comments by Elder Stanley Kipling and Knowledge Keeper Richelle North Star Scott that connect the stories to Indigenous ways of being, the thirteen chapters explore aspects of well-being from a teacher’s perspective. If you are feeling stressed and out of balance in your life, you will relate to the challenges faced by the contributors and will find practical strategies that they used for regaining balance. Exercises for reflecting and responding to the text appear frequently, and the use of the Indigenous Sacred Circle helps to ground the teachings in physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual awareness.
Diana Mumford
Diana is the Editor at Canadian Teacher Magazine.
This article is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Winter 2023 issue.