Staff well-being within education

Screen Shot 2014-06-20 at 11.54.42 amIs it just me or do teachers appear constantly busy, on a wheel of on- going change and an increased workload? Although I am an advocate for innovation and development, it does seem that no sooner do we roll out one new initiative, that another one is upon us, leading us to sometimes feel overwhelmed; multi-tasking at a frenetic pace.

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As a teacher you know the routine well… you’ve taught all day (not a straight forward task!), you may or may not have done a lunchtime duty, the 3.00pm bell goes, you spend the next 10 minutes seeing the children off and talking to their parents. You grab your laptop in one hand and a pile of work in the other (that you will end up taking home to do after dinner) and you race to the staffroom for the 3.15pm staff meeting that you know you’re going to be late for. With 2 minutes to grab a quick cup of coffee, you sit yourself down, take a deep breath and prepare to be fully engaged and ready to take on the next piece of professional development that will need implementing, meanwhile, thinking about tomorrow’s teaching plan and what you are going to cook for dinner that night! Phew!

It’s any wonder we can sometimes go home feeling like the tank is empty. In an occupation requiring constant up-skilling in an environment where you give so much of your time and energy to ‘little people’, it is vital to take care of yourself first.

While we can debate the reasons why teachers feel so much pressure, I wonder if it is time to shift the focus in the staffroom from an on-going roll out of professional development to raise student achievement, to a portion of time being dedicated to the well-being of staff.

Working within Education can be challenging and demanding. School environments are highly dynamic places. We deal with relationships – children, parents and families, and colleagues. We are constantly adapting to on-going changes and developments whilst under pressure to move students academically, and we are in the midst of a rapid growth of technology.

Training to become a Certified Coach last year ignited an interest in me to explore the ways people in Education can make self-care a priority in order to be more productive and effective in the work place. While the idea of making one’s self-care a priority might seem self-centred, doing so actually allows us to make our greatest contributions.

When we develop our awareness of our wellbeing, and attend to our needs, we have a much better chance of maintaining our vitality, and coping positively with challenges that working in this industry present. At times we can lose ourselves in the daily madness of our busy lives. When we start making our own well-being a priority, life satisfaction increases.

As a Coach I work with clients to improve the quality of their lives. Sometimes it takes just small amounts of tweaking and a focus on what it is that makes you happy, that can result in positive changes.

In a recent workshop I facilitated for Women in Education, I shared some ideas on taking better care of ourselves in the workplace.

I typically start by looking at the external aspects of work and gently shift to the parts of ourselves that require care and attention.

Here is a small snapshot of what was covered.

Time Management

Take time in the morning to plan your day – don’t just dive right in!

Schedule meetings in slots prior to the bell ringing –that way the meeting stays on task and has to move at a smart pace (Work smart not hard!)

Don’t put off the dreaded task! – Break it into smaller achievable chunks and start it!

Give yourself 20 minutes before you leave to tie up the day’s loose ends.

Technology

Between cell phones, text messaging and email most of us are plugged in and available 24/7

The trick is to manage technology. Email is a great tool in that you can communicate with anyone at anytime. So what’s the problem? The problem is that everyone else can communicate with you in the same way.

Plan how and when you respond to emails

Read all emails at once and write a list of ‘to do’s’ as you read them. Actioning one at a time could see you spending half of your day responding to emails!

Get into the habit of filing messages, so they don’t pile up in your inbox.

Stress

What causes stress depends, at least in part, on your perception of it. Something that’s stressful to you may not faze someone else.

I ask teachers to think about the following questions; What situations knock you off track at work? How do you react? How do you feel physically/emotionally when this happens? What can you do to ‘rebalance’?

One of the activities I suggest doing is making a list of actions that could restore your equilibrium when you feel ‘out of kilter’. It could be something as simple as having a cup of tea in a quiet space or going out of the school grounds at lunchtime for a break.

I also encourage people to establish boundaries for themselves and get really clear about them. This works well for both work and home. It is about setting new priorities for yourself, using your time the way you really want. A couple of examples are;

  • Take time for lunch everyday – sitting eating food whilst at your laptop does not count!
  • Work reasonable hours. Set a time for heading home. It is a myth to believe that working long hours makes you productive. Smart workers get the job done within a reasonable time frame.
  • I also cover facts and tips for exercise, sleep & nutrition –all of which are key components to feeling well.As a cog in the wheel of an Education system that is constantly evolving and changing, keeping up to date and doing so effectively and efficiently, happens when we make our well-being a priority and we feel that we are managing our own lives, not the other way around!

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Deborah Barclay


Deb Barclay works as a Principal in a North Shore Primary
School. She is an Accredited Coach and works with
teachers and leaders in education on fine tuning their
organisation and their well being. Her philosophy is Lead

Smart with Heart.
For more information, visit
www.debbarclay.com