The School of Wellbeing with Meg Durham Greer Kharidi: Reflective Practice & The Importance of Professional Supervision In Schools | Episode 161
Where do your thoughts go at the end of a busy school day?
In this episode, Meg Durham is joined by Greer Kharidi to explore professional supervision and why it’s one of the most important, yet missing, supports for big-hearted humans working in schools.
Meg and Greer unpack the emotional load educators carry, the complex decisions they are making every day, and why so many people are left to process it all on their own.
Greer shares how professional supervision creates a safe, structured space for educators to reflect on their work, think through challenges, strengthen boundaries, and respond with greater clarity rather than react in the moment.
They also explore how supervision differs from mentoring, coaching, therapy and EAP, and what becomes possible for the profession when we normalise having a space to process and make sense of our work.
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Chapter Markers:
- 00:00 Introduction
- 04:40 What is supervision
- 13:00 Supervision vs mentoring, coaching and therapy
- 17:00 The emotional load of school life
- 25:30 The impact on staff and schools
- 31:00 Boundaries and saying no
- 36:00 What becomes possible
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Deliberate Actions:
- Notice what you’re carrying home and how it’s impacting your life and relationships outside of work.
- Give yourself time to pause and think things through before responding to a request.
- Ask yourself, what is mine to carry and what is not.
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Episode 161 Shownotes - Click here.
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Greer Kharidi Website | LinkedIn | Facebook
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Meg Durham - Website | LinkedIn | Instagram
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** The School of Wellbeing is one of Australia's best health and wellbeing podcasts for teachers, educators and school leaders! **
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Your Questions Answered:
What is professional supervision in schools?
Professional supervision is a structured, reflective space where educators can talk through their work with a trained professional. It’s not about performance or being told what to do. Instead, it’s about pausing to think, gaining perspective, and working through the challenges and decisions that come with school life. It helps educators strengthen boundaries, build self-awareness, and show up more intentionally in their roles.
What is emotional labour in teaching?
Emotional labour in teaching refers to the process of managing, regulating and sometimes suppressing one’s emotions to meet the professional expectations of the role. This includes maintaining calm, care and professionalism while responding to student behaviour, supporting distressed students and families, and navigating complex interpersonal situations.
It often involves both surface acting (displaying expected emotions) and deep acting (trying to genuinely feel those emotions), which requires significant cognitive and emotional effort. Over time, without opportunities to process these experiences, emotional labour can contribute to stress, burnout and reduced wellbeing.
How can professional supervision support teacher wellbeing and decision-making?
Professional supervision creates a safe space for educators to process their thoughts before they turn into stress or overwhelm. It allows them to reflect on situations, explore different ways of responding, and make decisions with greater clarity rather than reacting in the moment. Over time, this supports wellbeing, strengthens professional identity, and helps educators feel more confident in what they can and cannot carry.
What would change in schools if professional supervision became standard practice?
If professional supervision became part of everyday practice in schools, educators would feel more supported, more connected and better equipped to do their work. There would be greater clarity, stronger boundaries and less isolation. This would not only benefit staff wellbeing, but also improve consistency, relationships and outcomes for students. It invites a shift from coping alone to working together with intention and support.