There are so many aspects of our profession that bring us joy on a daily basis. The familiar hello of our students, the colleagues who become family and the communities we serve. These are the reasons why we go to work.
There are also challenges, some of which we do not feel we have a right of reply. Some of these are directed personal attacks, others are directed at the profession as a whole. Sometimes there is substance to these challenges, more often than not, we feel that there is not. I’ve spent two decades listening to the comments:
Teachers have all those holidays.
Teachers work from 9-3.
Teachers are glorified babysitters.
Teachers hold grudges.
Teachers don’t read curriculum documents properly.
Teachers don’t update their skills.
Teachers don’t like the disruptive students.
And the showstopper...The problem with education IS the teachers.
They used to upset me. Not any more!
As a young teacher, these comments would upset me. It felt that it had been decided by people I’d never met before, that I’d gone in to teaching because I positively aligned with a list of undesirable characteristics. Furthermore, I must have decided on teaching because I mustn’t have been able to do what I’d really wanted.
You know the quote I’m referring to…
Those that can, do. Those who can’t, teach.
Consequently, in those early years of my career, I felt that I needed to disprove the generalised comments about teachers. They weren’t indicative of my situation, nor were they obvious to me in the demeanour of anyone I worked with. Furthermore, they had not been evident in the teachers who had taught me and had been my role models. To be quite frank, I wasn’t sure who these recalcitrant teachers were, nor had I met any of them.
Are there teachers who hang out for holidays, work the paid hours, fail to up-skill, pay poor attention to curriculum documents and dislike disruptive students? I’m sure there are.
In fairness, a review of every other profession would reap similar results.
Every. Last. One.
As my husband eloquently pointed out to me years ago, my frustration was based around the fact that educators were being presented as a monolith. We were all being referred to as the weakest link and it wasn’t accurate, nor fair. Educators are as unique and varied as the contributions they make to their students and to the future of the world, on a daily basis. What makes one of my colleagues brilliant, is different to what makes another one, amazing. We are not a monolith, nor are we the sum total of those generalised opinions I often heard from the uninformed.
I refused to have my joy and passion for teaching taken from me and I was determined to come up with a solution. Perhaps I had unconsciously begun this journey towards teacher wellbeing decades before I realised it was important to me.
Like many of my colleagues:
I was going to continue to be the adult who read with the child who struggled to be supported at home.
I was going to continue to check that the child without lunch had something to eat.
I was going to continue to walk alongside families in their times of challenge and lift others, when I was in a position to help.
I was going to continue to be the advocate for the child who didn’t have one.
On top of that, I was going to continue to support student wellbeing, be their champion and help them learn, so that like me, they had choices once they finished this journey of primary and secondary education. Whether that choice had them placing a rover on Mars, becoming an amazing entrepreneur, or joining me in the ranks of education. They were going to be able to chase THEIR dream. My time with them, was going to help provide them with choices.
How did I turn this ship around and find my joy again?
Reframing.
Reframing, or cognitive reframing, is a simple and common sense technique I used to help reconsider a challenging situation, person or relationship.
The application of a more positive lens helped me shift my point of view, and change the meaning or experience I’d placed on the disappointing untruths about education. In order to professionally handle the demands of my work with a positive lens, I had to learn to be mindful and reset my default. Reframing helped me do this.
I reframed by consciously deciding to ask myself questions as I reflected on those challenging situations. Whilst the technique is simple and common sense, remembering to make it a process for evaluation took discipline and effort to begin with.
I considered the days challenges each evening (in addition to practices of gratitude) by asking questions such as:
“Do you have any evidence that this might be true?”
"Is there another way to look at this situation?"
"What are three other possible reasons this could have happened?"
This helped me develop healthier self-talk. The more I practiced, the easier it became to employ.
Reframing has enabled me to empathise and consider the viewpoints of others, so that I am better able to work towards a solution. It has enabled me to take responsibility where necessary and seek solutions for personal and professional growth.
It has enabled me to acknowledge when the poor behaviour of others, is just that, rather than a reflection of something I have done. Additionally, it helps me remember to focus on the warmth, strength and dedication of the communities I’ve belonged to and served. These experiences continuously make up the majority. This is where I choose to invest my time and energy.
I can thank my high school teachers for acknowledging the importance of always doing the hard yards to form a personal opinion. For they not only gave me choices as I entered college, they also gave me the wisdom to acknowledge when I had choice available to me.
They were brilliant minds. How lucky was I that they chose to teach!
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