‘Reimagining the Diary’ began with a quest to find the perfect diary. A group of 15 teachers chose from a range of diaries and journals already on the market and experimented with kindness journals, gratitude journals, list-making, drawing and sound recording. Feedback from this initial study showed that a ‘one size fits all’ approach is unlikely to be ‘perfect’ so we developed a range of activities and different kinds of journaling within the same set.
The toolkit consists of a set of transition cards, to help people get into a reflective mode, a series of diary entries – different for each day, and options to select around keeping, sharing or destroying the diary afterwards. Our ‘Reimagining the Diary’ toolkit includes a range of physical activities in combination with some digital tools to help people rest and reflect on their day.
Watch Lucy Kelly's pitch from the ARC 2022 Pitch Final and find out about more her Reimagining the Diary project for teacher wellbeing:
Reimagining the Diary – 2022 Pitch Final – ARC (arcaccelerator.io)
You can find out more about the ‘Reimagining the Diary Project’, and the benefits of diary-keeping on your wellbeing, by watching my presentation for Teacher Empowerment:
https://teacherempowermentproject.co.uk/empowerment-online/spaces/wellbeing/reimaginethediary
Reimagining the Diary: Reflective practice as a Positive Tool for Educator Wellbeing (Paperback) by Lucy Kelly. Now Available on Amazon.
KELLY, L (2021) Playing with the diary: how crafting a multimodal and sensory diary can have a positive impact on teacher wellbeing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2021.1973986
KELLY, L. (2019) Private lives, public selves. TEAN, 11.2, pp. 82-89.
KELLY, L., HUXFORD, G. and KELLY, C. (2020) ‘In Our Daily Struggles’: Diaries as a Tool for Teacher Well-being. Life Writing, pp. 1-16 (published online). DOI: 10.1080/14484528.2020.1763232.
KELLY, L. (2020) Reclaiming teacher wellbeing through reflective diary writing. IMPACT, 9. Available at: <https://impact.chartered.college/article/reclaiming-teacher-wellbeing-reflective-diary-writing/> [Accessed 8 November 2020]
KELLY, L. (Due 2021) ‘Writing Wellbeing: using reflective diary-writing to support English teacher wellbeing.’ In A. Watson and R. Newman (Eds.) Due 2021. A Practical Guide to Teaching English in the Secondary School. 2nd edition. Abingdon: Routledge. Ch. 22.
KELLY, L. in THOM, J. (2020) Teacher Resilience: managing stress and anxiety to thrive in the classroom. Woodbridge: John Catt Educational Ltd
February 2023: In this episode of 'Beyond Survival: the new teacher podcast, Dr. Lucy Kelly, an Associate Professor of Education at Bristol University and author of 'Reimagining the Diary: Reflective practice as a positive tool for educator wellbeing,' discusses the role of diaries in promoting teacher well-being and reflection. They explore the origins of her interest in diaries, how diaries can enhance teachers' reflective abilities, and their potential to support teacher well-being. Listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/why-is-the-diary-the-secret-to-teacher-well/id1643514835?i=1000603449170
October 2020: I talk to the wonderful Martyn Reah about my research and why diary-keeping can support teacher wellbeing inside and outside the classroom: https://anchor.fm/naylorsnatter/episodes/Lets-talk-about-Flex-with-Emma-Turner-and-guests–Dr–Lucy-Kelly-in-teacher5aday-and-the-return-of-the-TDT-with-David-Weston-eljhnq
May 2020: I talk to Jamie Thom about diary-keeping as a tool to helping teachers reclaim their own wellbeing, drawing on the Reimagining the Diary project and the Diary Toolkit: https://www.buzzsprout.com/929491/3883760-can-reflective-diary-entries-be-the-key-to-solving-teacher-retention-and-wellbeing
Our Partners
- Introducing the ‘Reimagining the Diary’ ProjectHello! My name is Lucy Kelly and I’m the PI (Principal Investigator) for the ‘Reimagining the Diary’ project, which explores diary-keeping and reflective practice as a positive tool for teacher wellbeing. I’m about to launch the next pilot phase with Martyn Reah and Teacher5aday, so I thought it would be useful to share my experiences…
- Phase 3: ‘Reimagining the Diary’ and Teacher5aday collaborationSo we’re now into the final month of this collaboration and what a journey it’s been! I have learnt so much and it’s definitely helped my own wellbeing. The feedback has been wonderful. One participant said: ‘I have to thank @drlucykelly and @martynreah for the absolute gift that is [the Diary Toolkit]. If you get a chance…
- Phase 4: collaboration with Teacher5aday, funded by Bupa FoundationReimagining the Diary: reflective practice as a positive tool for teacher wellbeing Are you a teacher or teaching professional? Have you ever wanted to keep a diary but never found the time? Are you interested in moving beyond the traditional diary format and using reflective practice to improve your own wellbeing? If so, the ‘Reimagining…
- Taking Stock: reflecting on phase 3 and looking aheadThe physical Diary Toolkit sent to our phase 4 participants, kindly sponsored by the Bupa Foundation. So despite another national lockdown, it’s been a busy start to the year for the ‘Reimagining the Diary’ project. Myself and Martyn from Teacher5aday are now working with 82 teachers across the country, each of whom has received a…
- Reimaging the Diary - The Story so Far…Early Days Since beginning in 2018, Reimagining the Diary (RtD) has been on quite the journey! It has gathered pace and participants – with over 450 educators taking part in reflective wellbeing activities through the diaries and toolkits developed by the project to date. Phases 1 and 2 laid…
- Exploring Lucy’s New BookQuick Read... It’s an exciting time for the Reimagining the diary project; our Principal Investigator Dr Lucy Kelly’s new book is reaching out and sharing ideas and findings from the project and connecting with an even wider range of education practitioners. This is so important in a climate where the 2022 Teacher Wellbeing Index (TWI)…
- Mental Health Awareness Week – Diary-keeping to Relieve AnxietyFollowers and friends of the Reimagining the Diary (RtD) project will know that supporting educator wellbeing and metal health is at the heart of the Diary Toolkit. This week, starting 15th May, it is Mental Health Awareness Week - which this year focuses on anxiety. In support of this, we offer a practical blog post…
- Quick Read - Creativity and the DiaryIt’s half term for many schools in England and Wales this week; a good time to sit back with a cup of tea and read this short blog post in which we look back at participant feedback throughout the phases and recap how educators who have used the toolkits have experienced the Diary Toolkit’s creative…