Every staff member in a school has unique strengths. Yet many of us spend far more time worrying about what we can’t do than recognising what we do well. Our brains have a natural negativity bias. We notice mistakes, weaknesses and
Let me start by saying that I am not against sharing personal news and accessing support from colleagues at school. However, friendly work banter is quite different from gossip, which can be quite destructive to workplace relationships, morale and productivity.
This Happy School article is a special edition to mark World Teachers’ Day. In Australia and New Zealand the day is celebrated on the last Friday in October. The ode recognises the impact all staff in schools have on the young people we are trusted with.
Working in schools is challenging. The staffroom should be a place of support, camaraderie and shared purpose—but in some schools, it becomes a space clouded by negativity. Sadly, many early career teachers are told, the one place in the school to avoid…is the staffroom. They are told that is where misery congregates to share how terrible their lives are.
Negativity affects the morale, performance and productivity of our teams. Complaining and negativity are a kind of cancer in an organisation. It grows hidden beneath the surface, if not caught it eventually spreads.