The impact of physical health self‐care practices on special education teacher wellbeing

Abstract International studies have highlighted high levels of psychological distress and burnout among special education teachers, yet little is known about how physical health self‐care shapes the wellbeing of Australian teachers working in this field. This qualitative study explored that relationship among New South Wales (NSW) special education teachers. Using phenomenological semi‐structured interviews with eight teachers, three major themes were constructed: (1) beliefs and attitudes towards physical health self‐care, (2) barriers to physical health self‐care, and (3) facilitators of physical health self‐care. Participants described physical health self‐care as integral to holistic wellbeing and to sustaining their professional effectiveness, while also reporting that long hours, fatigue, and tokenistic school wellbeing initiatives often constrained these practices. At the same time, they identified incidental movement during the school day and supportive school cultures as important enablers. Together, the findings extend the limited Australian literature by showing that wellbeing initiatives for special education teachers should address physical health self‐care in ways that are practical, relational, and responsive to school context.