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Wellbeing as a collective responsibility: Reframing support for language teachers
Dr Christina Gkonou
University of Essex, UK
In recent years, the emotional wellbeing of both students and teachers has become a growing concern in education. Yet, we still lack a clear understanding of how the specific pressures faced by English language teachers affect their wellbeing – and how teachers can be supported meaningfully in both the short and long term. This talk explores key dimensions of teacher wellbeing, drawing on recent research and practical insights to propose how wellbeing strategies can be sustainably integrated into teacher education, daily practice, and wider institutional frameworks.
Supporting teacher wellbeing is not solely a personal responsibility. It is a collective and systemic endeavour that involves teacher educators, school leaders, and policy makers working together to create environments where teachers can thrive. By raising awareness and embedding long-term support structures, we not only prevent stress and burnout, but also enable teachers across diverse backgrounds and levels of experience to teach with confidence, empathy, and resilience. The session advocates for a shift in thinking: from treating wellbeing as an individual afterthought to making it a central, ongoing priority in teacher development and school culture.
Bio
Christina Gkonou is Associate Professor at the University of Essex, UK, where she leads the MA TESOL programme and teaches across a range of modules in language teacher education and the psychology of language learning and teaching. Her research focuses on the affective dimensions of language education, particularly language learner anxiety and language teacher emotions. Christina’s work has gained international recognition, earning numerous keynote invitations and distinctions.
She has published widely in her field, including her most recent book, Cultivating Teacher Wellbeing (2022, Cambridge University Press), and most recent article on language teachers’ sense of belonging (International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2025).
Christina has examined over 30 doctoral theses internationally and has served as External Examiner for MA TESOL and MA Applied Linguistics programmes at the Universities of Birmingham, Kent, and Leeds. She currently oversees the entire provision for the Faculty of Language Studies across all seven branches of the Arab Open University in her role as Chief External Examiner. Additionally, she is co-editor of the Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching book series published by Multilingual Matters.
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