Finding Purpose After Burnout: Head of Programmes & Impact

Finding Purpose After Burnout: Head of Programmes & Impact

From The Adventures After Teaching Podcast by Joanne Howard

June 9, 2026 · 30 min · Season 7 · Episode 2

About this episode

Iain shares his journey of overcoming burnout after 13 years in primary education and finding a new path.

"Once I'd made that decision, I just felt like a weight had been lifted." After 13 years in primary education - taking on the roles of phase leader, assistant head, and eventually acting head - Iain hit a wall. The workload became unmanageable, and he was signed off with work-related stress before handing in his notice in May without anything else lined up. Returning to a lovely new school in September, Iain quickly realised that the education system just wasn’t for him anymore and joined the...

People in this episode

Host: Joanne Howard

Guest: Iain

Topics covered

  • burnout
  • career change
  • education
  • mental health
  • purpose

Keywords

  • burnout
  • education
  • career change
  • mental health
  • purpose
  • work-related stress

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: primary education, education system

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