Abstract

I begin this article by exploring the relationship between teachers’ work and a condition called “neurasthenia” or “strain” in the early twentieth century. In particular, I focus on debates about “strain” at a South Australian Royal Commission on Education in 1911-1912. Then I turn to two contemporary policy documents to do with teachers’ work in South Australia. The current focus is on work life balance and teacher wellbeing, these being the flipside of strain. I argue that these modern foci do little to address the structural conditions of teachers’ work which have barely changed over the past century.