Resilience

In the fast-paced school environment, we can often find ourselves overwhelmed with concerns. From staff and resource shortages; curriculum changes; unrealistic expectations of some parents; leadership issues; struggling students; to poor behaviour, it’s easy to fall into a cycle of worry. Will Billy have a meltdown today? Will that cranky parent complain about me? Will this lesson work? Will my students engage and behave? Will my hours get cut? Will the wifi crash? Our days can be filled with worrying. However, most of the things we worry about, never actually happen. Worrying is a natural human response to uncertainty and potential threats. However, research shows that a significant portion of our worries are unfounded. A study by the University of…

In the heart of every community, there exists a group of individuals whose dedication and impact are immeasurable. These individuals, often uncelebrated but always vital, are staff who work in schools. We stand together on the front line of shaping the future. In the face of unprecedented challenges, it is crucial to recognise the profound importance of our work and to find renewed inspiration to persevere. Working in schools has a profound impact. Every word of encouragement we offer and every challenge we help a student overcome, contributes to the larger society. It is through our efforts that students learn to think critically, to explore their creativity and to understand the complexities of the world around them. The seeds we…

That little voice inside your head is powerful! It can be harsher than your toughest critic. What we say to ourselves has a significant affect on our stress levels. In last week’s Happy School article we highlighted the importance of cutting OTHER people some slack. We recommended taking care not to be too judgemental of others and giving them the benefit of the doubt, where possible. We don’t always know what is going on in other people’s lives and we should try to be forgiving. It is just as important that we have reasonable expectations of ourselves. We need to monitor our self-talk and ensure that we are being fair to ourselves, particularly when we are running low on reserves.…

“I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom.   It’s my mood that sets the weather.” This quote from Haim Ginott is a two edged sword. Whilst it can inspire us, it is also a daunting reminder of the impact that we can have each day. Have you noticed that when we are feeling tired or stressed our students’ behaviour often deteriorates? This can create a vicious cycle where we don’t respond as well as we could and their behaviour degenerates further. On those days, it is easy to resent the suggestion that we are the decisive element. Emotional resilience is our ability to maintain an even, consistent and predictable approach. Emotionally resilient people…

Research shows that on average, teachers will make more than 1500 educational decisions every school day. That’s more than four decisions every minute! ‘Decision Fatigue’ is an area currently being researched at Stanford University. Researchers have found that constantly having to make decisions creates fatigue and puts us at risk of making poorer decisions later in the day. As we become more mentally tired, we start acting more impulsively. Author of the book Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, Roy Baumeister believes that this explains, “Why ordinarily sensible people get angry at colleagues and families, splurge on clothes, buy junk food and can’t resist the dealer’s offer to rustproof their new car. No matter how rational and high-minded you try…

A popular saying is ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’. The theme behind the saying is common – if you are scared of something, walk up to it, meet it head on and you may be surprised that it’s not as scary as you thought. Remember the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz? He had no courage – until he found that what he’d been afraid of all his life, wasn’t really frightening at all…and he regained his self-esteem. Fear is like furniture and objects in a dark room. We walk into a dark room and start to bump into obstacles and soon we are anxious and stressed because we don’t know what is in our way. We…