Teachers’ well-being for September – one month completed
We are deep in to September, which means lesson planners are planning and our organisation heads are on! While organisation and planning are essential, try not to put too much pressure on yourself. Focus on having an open mind and reducing pressure/anxiety. Being open-minded allows you to approach hurdles with a clear head and decisions can be made in a methodical manner.
Re-educating ourselves:
A favourite motto of mine is, increased knowledge improves teacher well-being. Simply stated, by being more aware of a situation, subject, individual pupils; more routes are created for yourself and your class. A factor in your subject areas is ensuring you are up to date with the curriculum. Additionally, looking back to your previous year. Would you have adapted the way certain topics were taught? What would you have done differently? Do you know enough about the pupils in your group to support them and you, to have a relaxed approach to learning?
This sounds counter productive to Well-being but the more prepared we are at this point of the year the more we are likely to take on the unexpected more easily. For a more traditional take on well-being read this blog.
As an important reminder, although your knowledge of taught subjects is vital, consider the less obvious factors. For example, researching various teaching types or whether a new/updated study shows alternative methods of education/learning styles. At the Essential Education Group we believe that understanding the psychology behind teaching young children or children with needs will massively benefit your students and give you more confidence. While you are a teacher and will have a deep understanding of educational methods. Have an open door to parents’ suggestions, and maybe send an email out highlighting if parents have discovered new information for teaching their children with additional needs.
Targets aren’t everything:
As we know setting yourself a target can be really helpful, especially to keep organised and have something to work towards. However, in recent years, we have seen schools under increased pressure to achieve both your personal targets and your student’s targets. While having students work towards a goal, targets don’t factor in external influences, such as a new diagnosis. Have additional goals for students, which are less academic based, focusing on students’ personal growth, also a key area of education. Decreasing the focus from academic targets and considering alternative education will have brilliant effects on your well-being. Adopting this mindset should allow teachers to have a clearer headspace and increase awareness of students’ development in all areas. For example, an autistic student displays a new interest.
An important reminder is that while you can influence how your class is taught, you can only do what’s within your means. Impacts from the past three years have altered the education system and if you would like a deeper look at your wellbeing and how you manage it, Why not take this quiz.
Things may be difficult, with a lot out of your control. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, small incremental changes will have the biggest impact. Your small everyday decisions will have amazing consequences on the education system. Good luck with this academic year.