Summary
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This article, co-authored by Well at Work and Regina Public Schools employees, explores some of the many connections between wellbeing and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). We begin with identifying the strong links between psychological health and safety, inclusion and workplace wellbeing. Learning from the experience and insight of Regina Public Schools staff, we highlight their overall commitment to creating equitable and safe environments, and share their statements about what psychological health and safe is – and is not. Building a solid foundation for psychological safety and inclusion supports the building blocks for more caring, inclusive and, ultimately, successful learning and working experiences.
An important part of psychological safety is valuing diversity, equity and inclusion. In education, we agree that creating inclusive, welcoming, and safe physical and social learning and working environments must begin with a focus on psychological health and safety.
Psychological safety and inclusion are interdependent and often require shared efforts, with inclusion often identified as an element of psychological health and safety and vice versa. For example, Timothy Clark’s Four Stages of Psychological Safety7 identifies inclusion as the first step. Similarly, measures of psychological safety in the workplace (e.g., Guarding Minds at Work) often include indicators for inclusion.
Psychological Safety at WorkWhen we experience psychological safety, we feel safe to take interpersonal risks, to speak up, to disagree openly and to raise concerns without fear of negative repercussions. Inclusion at WorkInclusion is the degree to which employees feel a sense of belonging at work and the safety to share their suggestions and concerns. It also includes the ability to influence inclusive policies, procedures and learning environments. |
At Well at Work, we support school divisions across the country to take a comprehensive, systemic approach to workplace wellbeing. Our experience working with school divisions suggests that when we begin with a focus on psychological health and safety, we create a foundation for workplace wellbeing.
When we ask education employees at all levels what supports their wellbeing at work, the most common responses include having senses of community, connection and belonging at work. As human beings, we have an innate need for social connection.8 Experiencing a sense of belonging and inclusion promotes both physical and mental health, while feeling excluded has a negative effect on overall health and wellbeing. The impact of social exclusion on our overall wellbeing is potentially greater than that of well-known risks such as smoking and physical (in)activity.9, 10
Wellbeing is firmly established as a predictor of employee engagement and performance – and of student learning. When employees feel their best, they can do their best work.11 They can show up as their most creative, caring, compassionate and collaborative selves and nurture the environments where students can thrive. On the other hand, when staff are struggling or when their window of tolerance is narrowed, they are more likely to become overwhelmed and reactive.
Figure 1: The Build Up. (Source: The Awkward Yeti)
Regina Public Schools is a large, diverse urban school division in Saskatchewan, with over 26,000 students and 3000+ employees from very different backgrounds. Regina Public Schools includes 57 schools with families from over 100 different countries. We believe that diversity is a strength, and this belief is reflected in our 2023-2027 strategic plan that prioritizes mental health; inclusive, welcoming and safe environments; and unwavering support for diversity, equity and inclusion.
Regina Public Schools Strategic Priority 2: Equitable and Safe EnvironmentsProvide inclusive, safe and welcoming environments, informed by trauma sensitive practices committed to principles of diversity, equity and inclusion. Goal 2.1: Enrich, strengthen and promote mental health and well-being in students and staff. Goal 2.2: Deepen awareness, understanding and commitment for diversity, equity and inclusion. Goal 2.3: Create accepting, safe, inclusive and accountable learning and working spaces. |
Recognizing that all RPS staff have a role to play in creating safe and equitable environments, our recent work has focused on building a shared understanding and priority of psychological safety among our entire staff team – from head facility technicians to Registered Psychologists. This work included facilitating a series of discussions with all RPS staff and with smaller employee groups to define what psychological safety is, what it looks and feels like when we experience psychological safety, and what psychological safety is not. Some of the notable discussion points are highlighted below.
Our experience at Regina Public Schools shows that effective diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategies begin with a focus on belonging and inclusion. For example, we continue to deepen the understanding that diversity hiring is hiring based on merit with special care taken to ensure procedures have reduced biases related to a candidate’s age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and other personal characteristics unrelated to their job performance. Diversity retention requires that all employees feel valued and respected. Beginning with a focus on psychological safety enables employees to bring their whole selves (i.e., race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, background, religion, family status and all other parts of their identity) to work, without judgement.
Figure 2: Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging. (Source: DIA Diversity Equity and Inclusion Statement)
Each dimension of a person’s identity (e.g., race, gender, ability, language) provides varying degrees of privilege and marginalization, a concept known as intersectionality. The term intersectionality comes from the work of Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw and was originally intended to describe discrimination experienced by Black women on the basis of race and gender.12 Dr. Crenshaw reminds us that those who are marginalized based on one or more dimensions of identity are more likely to experience microaggressions, discrimination or harassment that create challenges in navigating physical and social environments.
Understanding that an individual’s identity is broad and not singularly focused is important in creating psychological safety in the workplace. When we say a space is inclusive or is psychologically safe, we must ask the question, “For whom?” A space that is deemed psychologically safe for one person does not necessarily mean it is safe for all. This means that the specific realities or experiences of, for example, a transgender staff member or a racialized woman require that intentional consideration be given to the multiple dimensions of individuals’ identity, and intentional planning be put in place to create and support inclusionary practices.
Creating inclusive and psychologically safe working teams has significant impacts on educational outcomes. Research showing that collective teacher efficacy is the number one influence on student achievement highlights the importance of collaboration and of effective teamwork in schools.13 In addition to fostering a sense of belonging and inclusion, psychological safety has also been identified as the most important characteristic of high-performing teams.14 With higher levels of psychological safety, teams become more adept at expressing diverse ideas and contrarian perspectives. This leads to better decision making, better performance and, ultimately, better outcomes for students and staff alike.
Whether we start with a lens of workplace wellbeing or begin with questions about diversity, equity and inclusion, we find that a focus on psychological safety and inclusion lays the foundation for our work. Psychological safety and inclusion allow for important and courageous conversations about privilege and identity while supporting other shared goals in education such as supporting diversity, enhancing learning and wellbeing, and fostering student success.
The diagram below shows the many pathways through which a foundation of psychological safety and inclusion supports diversity, learning and wellbeing – all of which support positive staff and student outcomes.
Figure 3: Psychological Safety and Inclusion as the Foundation for Wellbeing, Diversity, Learning – and Improved Outcomes (Adapted from Tom Gehraghty – psychsafety.co.uk)
Across the country, school divisions such as Regina Public Schools are finding ways to build solid foundations for psychological safety and inclusion. In doing so, they are supporting the building blocks for more caring, inclusive and, ultimately, successful learning and working experiences.
Both Well at Work and Regina Public Schools are committed to an ongoing process of learning and unpacking the connections between workplace wellbeing and diversity, equity and inclusion. If you or your school division are working to connect the dots between psychological safety and inclusion, reach out to Kathleen at klane@edcan.ca.
Photo: Microsoft Office Stock
First published in Education Canada, September 2023
1 Dixon-Fyle, S., Dolan, K., Hunt, D.V., & Prince, S. (2020). Diversity Wins. McKinsey. Retrieved January 11, 2024 from: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins-how-inclusion-matters
2 Duhigg, C. (2016). What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team. The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved January 11, 2024 from: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/what-google-learned-from-its-quest-to-build-the-perfect-team.html
3 Hamfelt, A. (2019). Social Inclusion: The key determinant of mental wellness. Canadian Mental Health Association – BC Division. Retrieved January 11, 2024 from: https://bc.cmha.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/POL_BuildingEquitableFoundation_LitReview_8.5x11_2019_12_04.pdf
4 Office of the US Surgeon General. (2022) The US Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Wellbeing. Retrieved January 11, 2024 from: https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/workplace-mental-health-well-being.pdf
5 National Association of Chronic Disease Directors. (2018). Healthy Schools, Healthy Staff, Healthy Students: A Guide to Improving School Employee Wellness. Retrieved January 11, 2024 from: https://chronicdisease.org/resource/resmgr/school_health/school_employee_wellness/nacdd_schoolemployeewellness.pdf
6 Dix, K., Ahmed, S.K., Carslake, T., Sniedze-Gregory, S., O’Grady, E, & Trevitt, J. (2020). Student health and wellbeing: A systematic review of intervention research examining effective student wellbeing in schools and their academic outcomes. Main report and executive summary. Evidence for Learning. Retrieved 11 December 2023 from: https://evidenceforlearning.org.au/education-evidence/evidence-reviews/student-health-and-wellbeing
7 Timothy Clark’s Four Stages of Psychological Safety
8 Office of the US Surgeon General. (2022)
9 Hamfelt, A. (2019).
10 World Health Organization. (2023). WHO launches commission to foster social connection. Retrieved January 11, 2024 from: https://www.who.int/news/item/15-11-2023-who-launches-commission-to-foster-social-connection
11 National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (2018) Healthy Schools, Healthy Staff, Healthy Students
12 Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum. Retrieved January 11, 2024 from: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf
13 Visible Learning. (2018). Collective Teacher Efficacy (CTE) according to John Hattie. Retrieved January 11, 2024 from: https://visible-learning.org/2018/03/collective-teacher-efficacy-hattie/
14 Duhigg, C. (2016).
We’ve all been in school environments where staff and students are thriving, learning, collaborating, and creating exceptional learning experiences. We’ve also been in school environments where themes of stress, interpersonal conflict, and burnout are a part of the lunchtime conversation. Educators can feel the strong connection between staff wellbeing and student learning.
It’s not just a feeling. A recent meta-analysis shows that teacher wellbeing is positively correlated with teacher–student relationships, quality of instruction, student experiences, and student outcomes.1 It’s not just teaching staff that influence student success – all school staff have a role to play in developing relationships with students and create a supportive school environment, both of which support positive student outcomes.2
Enhances teaching qualityTeachers are widely regarded as the most important in-school influencers of student success, satisfaction, and achievement.3 Teacher wellbeing is closely related to teaching quality:4 One study found that teacher wellbeing accounted for 8% of the variation in academic achievement.5 As we know from experience, when we feel our best, we can do our best work.6 |
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Strengthens relationships with studentsStudents benefit from having a caring adult at school.7 Strong teacher-student relationships have a positive impact on students’ academic achievement;8 increased teacher wellbeing enhances teacher-student relationships.9 Any adult in the school community can become that caring adult: support staff, maintenance staff, bus drivers, and principals. |
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Fosters supportive school environmentsSchool staff play a central role in shaping the school environment.10, 11 When a safe and supportive learning environment exists, students can flourish;12 without one, student wellbeing and learning suffer. However, staff must be well to create the safe, welcoming, and inclusive school environments emphasized in school district strategic plans. |
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Directly influences student wellbeingWhen teachers are well, they contribute to their students’ social, emotional, cognitive, spiritual, and physical wellbeing.13 Multiple studies have shown direct links between teacher wellbeing and student wellbeing – including a direct connection between teacher’s stress levels and student’s cortisol levels.14 The research connecting student learning with student wellbeing is clear: student wellbeing enhances learning.15 |
School staff who are healthy and well create supportive school environments and caring relationships with students. They provide quality instruction, fostering student wellbeing and success. Seeing students flourish further enhances our sense of wellbeing – after all, this is why most of us got into the field in the first place. When students flourish, they are also more likely to follow behavioural norms and treat fellow students with care and respect – further enhancing the school environment. It’s a virtuous cycle.
When students or staff struggle, the cycle can turn vicious. As a society, we are facing a variety of challenges: climate change, political polarization, inflation, and housing/food insecurity. The challenges students experience at home may manifest as a mental health condition or disruptive classroom behaviour. These in turn influence the classroom environment, adding to the emotional burden and workload of school staff. Additionally, school staff experience all the same challenges as students and families. As these stressors pile on, wellbeing decreases, and education staff are less able to create safe and supportive school environments.
Educators across Canada and worldwide intrinsically recognize the complex interplay between student and staff wellbeing. Research shows that this interplay can create a virtuous cycle, where students and staff thrive. Or it can create a vicious cycle that creates stress, anxiety, and ill-being.
If we truly want our students to be healthy and ready to learn it is essential to invest in the wellbeing and culture of our staff. We all want to walk into schools where collaboration, support, and learning are “in the air”. Let’s help more schools thrive by investing in our staff.
Photo: Getty Images Signature
First published in Education Canada, September 2023
1 Dreer, B. (2023) On the outcomes of teacher wellbeing: a systematic review of research. Front. Psychol. 14:1205179. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1205179
2 McCallum, F. (2021). Teacher and Staff Wellbeing: Understanding the Experiences of School Staff. In M.L. Kern & M.L. Wehmeyer (Eds.) The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Education. (pp. 715-740). Palgrave MacMillan. Retrieved 11 December 2023 from: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-64537-3
3 Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses to achievement. London: Routledge.
4 Mingren, Z., & Shiquan, F. (2018). Rural teacher identity and influencing factors in western China. Chinese Education & Society,51(2), 91–102.
5 Briner, R., & Dewberry, C. (2007). Staff wellbeing is key to school success: A research study into the links between staff wellbeing and school performance. London: Worklife Support.
6 National Association of Chronic Disease Directors. (2018). Healthy School, Healthy Staff, Healthy Students: A Guide to Improving School Employee Wellness. Retrieved 11 December 2023 from: https://chronicdisease.org/resource/resmgr/school_health/school_employee_wellness/nacdd_schoolemployeewellness.pdf
7 American Institutes for Research (n.d.) Understanding the Importance of Creating Positive School Climates to Support Students Facing Adversity and Trauma. School Climate Improvement Resource Package. Retrieved 11 December 2023 from: https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/sites/default/files/NCSSLE-Trauma-Adversity-Brief-508.pdf
8 Quin, D. (2017). Longitudinal and Contextual Associations Between Teacher–Student Relationships and Student Engagement: A Systematic Review. Review of Educational Research, 87(2), 345–387.
9 Kelty Mental Health (n.d.). Fostering and Supporting Teacher and Staff Well-being. Retrieved 11 December 2023 from: https://keltymentalhealth.ca/school-professionals/fostering-and-supporting-teacher-and-staff-well-being#:~:text=Teachers%20play%20a%20key%20role,more%20supportive%20teacher%2Dstudent%20relationships.
10 Astor, R.A. and Moore, H. (2021). Positive school climate for school staff? The roles of administrators, staff beliefs, and school organization in high and low resource school districts. Journal of Community Psychology. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354451658_Positive_school_climate_for_school_staff_The_roles_of_administrators_staff_beliefs_and_school_organization_in_high_and_low_resource_school_districts
11 Dinsdale,R. (2017). The Role of Leaders in Developing a Positive Culture. BU Journal of Graduate Studies in Education, Volume 9, Issue 1.https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-64537-3_28
12 Lindorff A (2020) The impact of promoting student wellbeing on student academic and non-academic outcomes: An analysis of the evidence. Retrieved 11 December 2023 from: https://oxfordimpact.oup.com/home/wellbeing-impact-study
13 Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses to achievement. London: Routledge.
14 Oberle, E., & Schonert-Reichl, K. A. (2016). Stress contagion in the classroom? The link between classroom teacher burnout and morning cortisol in elementary school students. Social Science & Medicine, 159, 30-37
15 Dix, K, Ahmed, S.K., Carslake, T, Sniedze-Gregory, S, O’Grady, E, & Trevitt, J (2020). Student health and wellbeing: A systematic review of intervention research examining effective student wellbeing in schools and their academic outcomes. Main report and executive summary. Evidence for Learning Retrieved 11 December 2023 from: https://evidenceforlearning.org.au/education-evidence/evidence-reviews/student-health-and-wellbeing
K-12 education staff play an essential role in nurturing students’ wellbeing and academic success, yet they also experience high rates of stress and burnout. Low levels of educator wellbeing lead to decreased morale and staffing-related challenges. It also has negative ripple effects on the wellbeing and success of students.
This article explores the value of the Guarding Minds at Work (“Guarding Minds”) survey tool in facilitating meaningful improvements to workplace wellbeing in Canadian school districts. Guarding Minds assesses psychological health and safety – the workplace factors that affect wellbeing. The survey findings can support meaningful conversations with employees that lead to a more supportive and psychologically safe environment for working and learning.
Many school districts want to support their staff’s wellbeing- so they provide mindfulness apps, free yoga classes and wellness tips. These can be helpful for some. Other districts develop in-house surveys with self-assessments of wellbeing and feedback on district-led plans.
The first step in making significant and lasting improvements is Identifying the underlying issues affecting employee wellness. Guarding Minds hones in on the workplace issues and conditions affecting wellbeing, providing a window into educators’ feelings and perceptions about how their work environment affects their wellbeing.
The survey’s evidence-based psychological health and safety factors help pinpoint aspects of the workplace that warrant specific attention. Each element includes sub-statements that help make the issues more tangible and provide clues to how to take targeted action. For example, the Involvement and Influence factor includes the statements “My suggestions are considered at work” and “I am informed about important changes at work in a timely manner.” If a survey result comes back with “significant” results for those statements, then the district has a concrete area of action to improve employee wellbeing.
Employee Group Segmentation
School districts include a wide range of employees. A teacher’s challenges are very different from those of a custodian. While it’s helpful to know that 55% of employees have problems balancing work and personal life, knowing 72% of teachers are struggling allows districts to focus on solutions tailored to teachers rather than more generic ones.
” Segmenting” district data by employee group can provide more nuanced insights into what’s happening on the ground. School districts have found this segmentation extremely valuable. It has helped them tailor strategies to address the needs of specific groups. However, this segmentation multiplies the volume of Guarding Minds reports that must be analyzed. Well at Work‘s advisors’ team has developed specific tools and resources that support districts to make sense of their Guarding Minds data and move to action.
Guarding Minds identifies areas of strength and where action is needed to improve workplace wellbeing. By highlighting crucial issues such as bullying, harassment or discrimination, Guarding Minds helps leaders take swift action and avoid risks to employees and the organization. Guarding Minds considers a comprehensive array of factors that influence workplace wellbeing. It assesses critical issues, including burnout, trauma, stress, and inclusion. By encompassing these vital areas, Guarding Minds helps school districts foster an inclusive work environment that supports employees’ wellbeing and diverse needs.
Guarding Minds reports also link education leaders to evidence-based strategies for specific areas of concern.
The powerful data and evidence-based strategies enable leaders to take informed action and initiate positive changes to enhance workplace wellbeing.
Many Canadian school districts have found Guarding Minds indispensable in enhancing workplace wellbeing. Its alignment with leading standards, focus on actionable areas of improvement, and evidence-based strategies make it essential to understanding an organization’s current state of wellbeing. The first step to making a change is to understand the current state of wellbeing: Guarding Minds is an excellent place to start.
Photo: Getty Images Pro
First published in Education Canada, September 2023
In reference to the article Staff Well-Being in Schools: Some B.C. ideas and approaches
Originally published in September 2019
Developed by the EdCan Network, Well at Work supports education leaders across Canada to develop and implement system-wide strategies to improve K-12 workplace wellbeing for the long term – all while mobilizing a network of passionate educators, researchers, practitioners, and stakeholder groups.
Well at Work offers an advisory service, professional learning, and resources.
Does your group still have burning questions or comments? Encourage them to send their questions to Dr. Charlie Naylor, lead author for this article.
Or, send us your message and we’ll make sure one of our experts gets in touch.
Last year, I attended a conference and was chatting with another attendee. I told her about my interest and work in the area of teacher self-care. With a puzzled look on her face, she proceeded to ask me, “Is teacher self-care even a thing?” Before I could say “yes,” I realized that her response was something I myself would’ve asked prior to experiencing burnout back when I was teaching in 2015.
During my 20-year teaching career, I had no idea that the term ‘self-care’ or ‘teacher self-care’ ever existed. Like many teachers, I spent most of my weeks and weekends planning lessons, grading assignments (especially while at my son’s basketball practices and games), responding to emails from students, designing rubrics, and searching for the best learning resources that had the most perfect clipart. It was never-ending, but it was a choice I had made thinking that this was what it took to be a “good” teacher.
I began to show signs of burnout, but at the time I hadn’t realized that this was indeed the term for what I was feeling. My personality had started to change and I was quick to lose my patience with my colleagues and students – I just didn’t care anymore nor did I bother to hide my feelings. My colleagues who had known me for six or seven years didn’t ask if I was alright because they didn’t know the signs of burnout. Burning out for me was a slow burn – like the feeling you get from holding onto a rope in a game of tug-of-war. You know you’re slipping yet you can’t get a grip, it’s painful but you just don’t know what to do in the moment as things unfold. Eventually, the endless cycle of precarious work and the three personal crises I experienced within an 18-month period pushed me over the edge. It was time to walk away from a career that I had loved.
I’m certainly not alone when it comes to experiencing stress as a teacher. The high levels of stress and burnout in the teaching profession are widely documented. It’s the chronic use of empathy and emotional resources in our profession that’s strongly associated with exhaustion and/or professional burnout. There are numerous factors that can contribute to teacher stress including precarious work (especially in higher education), multiple workloads, students’ demands, increased legislative regulations, changing educational standards, few professional development opportunities, and a lack of planning time, support, and resources. As I researched to learn more about the warning signs of burnout, I began to understand more and more about the importance of having a self-care practice.
Self-care is not an indulgence, but rather it’s necessary in the work we do as caring teaching professionals. Self-care is the skills and strategies used to maintain personal, familial, emotional, and spiritual needs while attending to the needs and demands of others. Without self-care, teachers are at risk of emotional exhaustion and/or professional burnout.
Teachers have often told me that they feel self-care is just one more responsibility or one more item to add to their to-do list. However, recent research has shown us that self-care isn’t only an individual responsibility, but it’s also an organizational responsibility. Workplace well-being should be embedded within the K-12 education system and reflected in a school’s culture. Ultimately, working conditions should create an atmosphere where teachers feel supported in their role, feel less stressed, and are equipped with the skills to look after their own well-being.
Last year, I had decided that it was time to share my story of burnout, and so I wrote a book entitled The Teacher Self-care Manual: Simple Strategies for Stressed Teachers. I’ve been fortunate to present at conferences in Canada and the USA and have met teachers from all over the world who have shared their own stories and wisdom about teacher self-care practices. Many of the teachers I’ve spoken with all seem to have a similar definition of what it takes to be a “good” teacher and how this standard is not only unrealistic, but is what prevents or impacts a self-care practice. As one teacher suggested, it’s often a mindset of “self-sacrifice” versus “self-care.”
Upon returning to teaching in 2017, I realized that I needed to adopt self-care strategies if I wanted to prevent professional burnout again. I strongly believe that self-care should be easy to follow, at no cost, and shouldn’t add time to our already busy career. To achieve this, I find incorporating “new tiny habits” such as walking daily, setting reasonable marking expectations, setting boundaries (e.g. no emails at night or weekends), spending time doing things I enjoy, connecting with people important to me, and setting Sunday as a no-work day are self-care practices that are easy to follow. While these practices work for me, self-care practices are unique – there’s no one-size fits all plan and it’s important to find practices that work best for you.
The well-being of everyone within the school community including, students, teachers, and principals/vice-principals is important. Research suggests that learning happens best when both students and teachers are well. What’s more, when teachers are well, their relationships with students, colleagues, and the overall school community become more positive.
In the past year, I’ve noticed an increase in conferences that focus on teacher well-being as well as many excellent resources. There’s a rise in school-level initiatives, too. In Canada, we see examples in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and elsewhere where teachers have formed Staff Wellness Committees in their schools or at the district level. While this is positive news, work still needs to be done to address school cultures that prevent teachers from participating in well-being initiatives. For example, teachers are often reluctant to participate in well-being initiatives for fear of judgement and being seen as not coping well.
First published in June 2020
Photos: Adobe Stock
Acton, R., & Glasgow, P. (2015). Teacher wellbeing in neoliberal contexts: A review of the literature. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(8)
Cherkowski, S., & Walker, K. (2018). Teacher Wellbeing. Noticing, Nurturing, Sustaining and Flourishing in Schools. Word & Deed Publishing, ON
Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 397-422. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397
Newell, J., & MacNeil, G. (2010). Professional Burnout, Vicarious Trauma, Secondary Traumatic Stress, and Compassion Fatigue: A Review of Theoretical Terms, Risk Factors, and Preventive Methods for Clinicians and Researchers. Best Practices in Mental Health, Vol. 6 (2) Lyccum Books
Skovholt, T. M., & Trotter-Mathison, M. (2011). The resilient practitioner: Burnout prevention and self-care strategies for counselors, therapists, teachers, and health professionals. (2nd Edition ed.) New York, NY: Taylor and Francis.
Spilt, J.L., Koomen, H.M. & Thijs, J.T. (2011). Teacher well-being: The importance of teacher-student relationships. Educational Psychology Review, 23(4)
Stoeber, J., & Rennert, D. (2008). Perfectionism in school teachers: Relations with stress appraisals, coping styles, and burnout. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 21, 37-53.
Spurgeon, J., & Thompson, L. (2018). Rooted in Resilience: A Framework for the Integration of Well-Being in Teacher Education Programs. University of Pennsylvania
Wellahead. (n.d.). Research Brief: Promoting the Wellbeing of Teachers and School Staff What are the most effective approaches in promoting the wellbeing of teachers and school staff? Retrieved fro https://static1.squarespace.com/static/586814ae2e69cfb1676a5c0b/t/5b281bb170a6ad31c89ab315/1529355185939/TSWB_ResearchBrief.pdf
Listen to “Why teacher self-care is not a thing ft. Patrice Palmer” on Spreaker.
Stress and burnout led Patrice Palmer to leave the teaching profession after a 20 year-long career. Although she had attempted to return to part-time teaching, Patrice never regained her passion. Why does teacher self-sacrifice appear to be the norm rather than the exception? In this episode, Patrice Palmer explains why it’s critical to avoid burning out in the first place and to find ways to practice self-care amid the demands of the teaching profession.
First published in April 2020
Listen to “Self-Care for New Educators” on Spreaker.
Teacher candidates are prepared to care for students in the classroom, but often they’re less prepared to take care of themselves. Why does educator self-care matter in the workplace?
First published in September 2019
Teaching in northern and remote communities can be an intense, even overwhelming experience – and the result can be exhausted, struggling teachers. The authors present seven dimensions of wellness as a framework for nurturing both personal and collective wellness in the context of rural and remote schools.
My first year of teaching was an emotional rollercoaster. I cried. I laughed. I cry-laughed. In the span of one academic year, there were suicide attempts, deaths, high rates of teacher attrition, and school closures. These traumas were compounded by the poverty, lack of food security, and unsafe drinking water in the community. I was a brand-new teacher teaching high school in an isolated First Nation community in Northern Ontario and I was filled with both excitement and doubt. I was drowning in student debt, completely removed from my family and support network, and working harder than ever to be the best teacher I could. What I know now, that I didn’t know then, was that you can’t out-teach trauma or grief, and you can’t out-teach a complete lack of well-being. I tried to, but I couldn’t.
I didn’t know about wellness in the same way I do now.
I realize now that my wellness was deeply compromised – financially, socially, physically, environmentally, and intellectually – and I didn’t even know it. I thought I needed to toughen up; I just needed to get through the day, the week, the month. But at the end of each day, each week, and each month, I was depleted and drained. I had so little left to offer my students. They were resilient, supportive, and strong, not me. I didn’t know about wellness in the same way I do now. I knew about physical health and why it was important. I knew I needed to exercise and eat well (neither of which I did) and I knew mental health mattered, so I talked to colleagues and tried to offer and gain support when needed. But that was the limit of my understanding about wellness and the limit of my embodiment of it. I never thought to access counselling support from someone like my co-author Elaine, or to seek help from veteran teachers, family, or administration. I just white-knuckled it through three full years of teaching. In the end I left my teaching position to pursue a PhD and, quickly thereafter, I crashed. I was riddled with anxiety, battling weight gain, taking on more student debt, and attempting to fend off looming health concerns. I was forced to begin a long journey in learning about wellness and how to prioritize my own.
That journey has led me here, to writing this article that you are reading today. It also led me to the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge, where I’m an associate professor and where I met Dr. Elaine Greidanus. When I met Elaine, we shared stories of the North: the long drives, the intense cold weather, the amazing people, and the communities and cultures we were privileged to learn from and with. Whether in Alberta or Ontario, our experiences merged and as a result we have pursued a research agenda and teaching opportunities that have centralized the wellness of educators.
Every two weeks I would leave my home in Edmonton at five in the morning and make the five- or six-hour drive to the community I was to work in. I marked the time of the year by which town I drove through as the sun came up. In the summer, the sun was just rising as I left Edmonton; in the spring, I would witness the sun rise over the farming fields around Westlock; and in winter, the sun might just be rising as I got to the community for that day. Often, I would not see anyone else on the road, except the moose, coyotes, deer, bear, and lynx.
I made myself available to help in any way that I could.
Some school days, I would complete one or two psychoeducational assessments with students who were struggling to meet the educational goals that were set for them. On days when there were no assessments to complete, or the students were not able to attend that day, I made myself available to help in any way that I could. Each school had their own ideas about the best use of my time. On occasion, I was asked to meet with students who were feeling upset, coach inclusive education teachers on how to design or implement individualized plans for students, or speak with principals about the ways to approach mental health challenges that arose in the school.
Whenever possible, I made it a priority to be in classrooms with teachers who invited me to provide feedback on their students or their own teaching approaches, and at the end of the day I stayed as long as possible to talk with those teachers who wanted to talk. Every teacher I met was open to talking about their experiences in the school, and many shared their own personal struggles with working and living in a remote community. Because I was not directly employed by the school, they felt I was far enough removed to be impartial. Because I was a psychologist, I was “professional” enough to hold their confidences, and because I worked in the communities, I understood enough for them to share their stories with me – stories just like Dawn’s.
You can’t pour from an empty cup! As a teacher, you have heard this said several times, and perhaps even said it yourself. The statement resonates with us; it reminds us to take the time we need to be our best selves, so we can best support our students. However, research shows that the wellness of educators is much more complicated than this. As educators, we are part of a greater community and even if we have a full cup individually, the collective cup (the school community, the families, and students) may not be full. This impacts the day-to-day experiences in every classroom. So, how can educators situate themselves and their understanding of wellness both individually and collectively in order to thrive and not just survive?
Wellness can generally be defined as an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence.1 The “7 Dimensions” model of wellness (below) is a strong fit with the practice of educators because it highlights the diversity of wellness needs and provides a practical framework to develop wellness both individually and collectively.2
Figure 1: 7 Dimensions of Wellness
In Northern and remote locations, the dimensions of wellness are often more deeply intertwined. Colleagues are friends, parents and students are neighbours, and social interactions take place in school settings with colleagues and the greater school community. Living, working, and socially interacting with the same pool of people in common places compound and intensify all seven dimensions. The occupational dimension of wellness is of vital importance and relevance for those educators who find themselves part of small school communities where the borders between school and home are blurred. A concerted focus on the occupation dimension can be very useful for educators in Northern, remote, and rural school settings as a means of developing collective wellness.
1. Pedagogical Alignment: To increase your satisfaction and challenge yourself, seek out and explore various pedagogical approaches that align with your philosophy of teaching and learning.
2. Professional Networks: Reach out and develop networks of peers within and beyond the school to expand your connections and contribute to a healthy and productive dynamic.
3. Positive Perspective: Contribute to a positive, growth-oriented working environment by seeking solutions, thinking forward, seeing challenges as opportunities, and expressing gratitude. Adopting a growth mindset can help to actively challenge limiting frameworks such as black-and-white thinking, overgeneralizing, jumping to conclusions, personalizing, catastrophizing, and blaming.
Not only can the seven dimensions of wellness serve as a framework to support collective wellness; they can also generate a strong foundation for addressing and developing wellness at an individual level.
1. Self-Assessment: Identify the wellness dimensions that are already strengths for you and those areas that you want to learn more about. To assist you in identifying these areas, consider using a self-assessment tool that attends to different aspects of wellness, such as the one provided online by Simon Fraser University.3
2. Strategic Wellness Planning: Based on the wellness priorities you have identified in your self-assessment, be strategic and choose just a few to focus on during one timeframe. Design a plan to address those specific dimensions, using a SMART goals approach.4 If possible, find an accountability partner to check in with periodically to see how you are both doing in terms of addressing your wellness. As time progresses, revisit your plan and adjust according to what your needs and current realities or limitation are.
3. Seek Support: Reach out through your networks, such as an employee assistance program, community programs, or social networks. Meet with a counsellor, try a meditation class, join a walking group or a book club, or download (and use!) a mindfulness app. As you work through a self-assessment process and develop a strategic wellness plan you will, more clearly, be able to identify what types of support to seek.
The wellness of educators in all school settings is a vitally important aspect of the teaching profession. Research indicates that when educators address both individual and collective wellness needs, rates of teacher attrition decrease, school dynamics improve, and ultimately students benefit. Addressing and developing a culture of wellness for teachers and in schools is no easy task. Working on the three P’s and the three S’s will help develop a strong culture of individual and collective wellness and will ultimately serve to improve school environments for both teachers and students. This is especially important for those Northern, rural, and isolated school communities where the spaces between individual and collective are narrowed.
It’s been more than ten years since Dawn started her teaching career in Northern Ontario. She says, “Since then I have devoted much of my time both professionally and personally to wellness. I have never felt better, more motivated or more passionate about teaching. I exercise, eat well, seek support, and develop wellness plans that I share with my accountability partner. That being said, I have days, and even semesters, when I am exhausted, stressed out, and feel hopeless at times. But when those days or semesters come, I revisit the 3 P’s and 3 S’s and I work at my wellness, the same way I work at my lesson plans and assessments with students.”
After all, teachers who are well will be our best teachers.
Photo: iStock and Adobe Stock
First published in Education Canada, December 2019
2 Adapted from Alberta’s Strategic Approach to Wellness: Health for all… wellness for life (Government of Alberta, Alberta Health: 2014).
4 SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. https://alis.alberta.ca/plan-your-career/set-smart-goals
“I have a general recommendation that I make to people – turn adversity into opportunity.”
– Dr. Aaron T. Beck1
Dr. Aaron T. Beck, the founder of cognitive behavioural therapy, says the current pandemic can offer a unique opportunity for us to reassess our priorities, realign our values, and mine for meaning. During virtual professional learning hosted by Ever Active Schools (a provincial initiative in Alberta initiative supporting healthy school communities), and in casual conversation with educators in our lives, we have heard from teachers who have found inspiring ways to prioritize well-being during this challenging time. These educators have shared well-being success stories and new opportunities that they would like to continue in a transition back to schools. Themes included intentionality, connection, slowing down, and greater flexibility and control over their days.
In considering opportunities to carry forward, one teacher shared, “It would be nice to have time in our school day to just connect with students and start slower.” Others discussed how the pandemic created space to savour their morning coffee, purposefully connect with students and colleagues, spend more time with family, and get outside. These perspectives have been echoed in conversations with educators since the pandemic reshaped our daily lives.
As an education community, how will we reprioritize? What lessons have we learned from the COVID-19 crisis and how will we act upon them with intention, compassion, and courage?
Through the uncertainty of the past several months, there are a few things that remain certain. It’s even more clear that social connection, savouring positive moments, and resilience are key to optimal teaching and learning, and to our capacity to be well through life’s inevitable highs and lows. Staff and student well-being can be mutually reinforcing when well-being is intentionally prioritized. Drawing on research and educators’ experiences2 during the pandemic, we explore opportunities to reconsider well-being in education.
Acknowledging our negativity bias
“Our natural tendency is toward the negative, so it takes a concerted effort to wear a different set of glasses.”
– Dr. Judith Beck3
Most studies on “teacher well-being” have focused on the impacts of teacher stress and burnout. We propose that a focus on well-being should be centered on wellness and not illness.
One aspect of our human psychology that may help to explain the pervasive emphasis on stress and burnout in the teaching profession is that we are wired to focus on the negative more than the positive.4 This is a normal reaction to events in our daily lives; we may even owe part of our survival as a species to this negativity bias. As teachers, this is why one defiant student can derail us after an otherwise stellar lesson, or a brief negative interaction with a colleague or parent can send us into a downward spiral (despite several other positive interactions that same day).
The depiction of teaching as a stressful profession, however, is priming new teachers to normalize and expect exhaustion. As early as the first day of their BEd programs, many teacher candidates are warned of high attrition and exhaustion in the profession. New teachers are asking for a more inspiring and balanced view. At the 2019 National Forum on Wellness in Post-Secondary, one teacher candidate shared, “There’s a common narrative of mutually endured suffering going into our practicums, and I was stressed about the stress… both of my practicums were incredible and I didn’t need to be that stressed. Changing up the narrative would be helpful.”
We hope that the lessons learned from the pandemic can serve as an invitation to shift the conversation from being stressed at school to being well at school. While there are several contributing factors to the current narrative, the good news is we are also hard-wired to connect and overcome challenges. We can leverage these innate strengths to redirect our attention.
Well-being opportunities
Below, we share educators’ experiences during the pandemic within three specific categories: cultivating connection, savouring positive moments, and building resilience (CPR).5 These lessons are relevant whether we’re at home, school, or somewhere in between.
“Connecting with kids is the key.” – Elementary teacher on experiencing joy after 20+ years in the profession
The transition from bustling hallways and classrooms to virtual spaces has highlighted in real-time that social connection is foundational to well-being and to learning. We crave it. Teachers and students alike say that what they miss most is each other.
Strong relationships can lead to a longer lifespan and improved creativity, meaning, resilience, and learning outcomes. Positive workplace interactions have the potential to strengthen our immune system, broaden our thinking, enhance self-image, and increase adaptability, cooperation, and job satisfaction.6 Powerful benefits for schools!
Especially during times of difficulty, our social connections need to go beyond chit-chat and honour the full pendulum of emotions.
While it’s not the same as face-to-face, teachers found creative ways to maintain those needed connections even during a global pandemic: sidewalk messages and neighbourhood obstacle courses, driveway charades, celebration car parades, drop-in Google lunches, Instagram live, email check-ins with jokes, and department calls with silly themes and fun games. We have been resourceful in connecting even when we can’t be physically close.
Especially during times of difficulty, these social connections need to go beyond chit-chat and honour the full pendulum of emotions. To cultivate these deeper connections, we can ask meaningful questions:
(Some of the above were adapted from organizational psychologist Dr. Adam Grant. Check out his WorkLife podcast for more ideas to build meaningful connections both in-person and remotely.)
Research on effective teacher well-being initiatives show that increasing experiences of positive emotion is equally or more important to promote well-being than building skills to reduce stress and burnout.7 Capitalizing on small positive moments ignites a “broaden and build” effect – positive emotions broaden our perspectives, actions, and relationships, and build resources like social support and resilience.8 An experienced Grade 1/2 teacher reflected in an email on a small positive moment during the pandemic that improved her well-being and job satisfaction:
“Students can see how hard you’re trying, and will offer their grace to you. This was demonstrated when students offered to meet with me prior to Google Meets to allow me to practice sharing my screen, and other skills I needed for my lessons. They were willing to be my guinea pigs so that I could be successful. Knowing that they wanted me to be successful made me feel amazing. I love my job!”
Balancing our work and personal life is especially vital in the current context. During an online conversation, teachers shared how setting time boundaries and managing expectations helped them to stay positive. Others carved out time for meditation, walks outside with family, Zoom fitness classes with friends, podcasts, or reading for pleasure. Some teachers found joy in starting a gratitude practice and taking time to reflect on what went well in their changed teaching role.
Teachers also shared their successes with colleagues. Emotions are contagious; we can “catch” positive emotions as easily as negative ones.9 Savouring positive experiences and celebrating others when they do the same can boost resilience and cultivate awareness of those meaningful moments in the future. Actively responding to others’ good news offers reciprocal benefits for both parties; it can help decrease loneliness and strengthen self-efficacy, sense of belonging, and our memory of the good event.10
Some teachers found the following daily questions,11 applicable in any context, particularly helpful for cultivating positive moments during the pandemic:
Resilience allows us to manage inevitable challenges and setbacks, and develop skills to move through those experiences and grow as a result. It allows us to experience hope in hardship. Teachers shared during the virtual chat how the pandemic has provided opportunities to build resilience, including managing expectations of productivity and creating space to be vulnerable and name emotions (which, in turn, encourages their colleagues to do the same): “It’s okay not to be okay.”
How can we continue these generative conversations…and interrupt the narrative of burnout and stress?
A powerful skill in developing resilience is the ability to reframe and challenge our rigid thoughts or expectations. It takes practice, but we can learn how to turn unproductive worries, all-or-nothing thinking, and guilt-inducing lists of “shoulds” into more balanced and empowering thoughts. One educator shared how she was able to reframe disappointment in missing a pre-planned trip by connecting to the meaning, or her why, of going on the trip in the first place. Her why was connection, so she found a new opportunity to connect with those same people. Consider these questions to reframe in the moment:
Similarly, self-compassion is a strategy to build our resilience and ability to manage stress. Teachers identify self-compassion as a powerful practice to combat self-criticism while navigating uncertainty. Dr. Kristin Neff explains self-compassion as treating ourselves with kindness. To apply self-compassion, try asking these questions inspired by Neff’s framework:13
Continuing the conversation
Let’s not forget the lessons we’re learning through this difficult situation. How can we continue these generative conversations, implement a reprioritized value for well-being habits, and as a result, interrupt the narrative of burnout and stress? These seemingly simple habits are impactful regardless of the setting; the pandemic simply shone a bright light on their necessity.
To envision an education system that prioritizes well-being at an individual and organizational level, how would we allocate time? For example, how could we restructure the school day to encourage intentional opportunities to connect and savour positive moments, without the usual rush to the next thing? Habits teachers reported during the pandemic are simple, inexpensive ways to build well-being and sustainability in our profession.
Imagine a narrative of teaching that is energizing and empowering to both manage the complexities of education today, and to spark an upward spiral of well-being for teachers and students. Eventually, talking about well-being will become as common as talking about stress.
Illustration: Diana Pham
First published in Education Canada, September 2020
1 A. T. Beck, J. Beck, and M. E. P. Seligman, Aaron Beck, Judith Beck and Martin Seligman in Massive MAPP Meetup [Video] (April 21, 2020). www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk-uPg1rJmI&t=728s
2 For a summary of the In the Round learning chats hosted by Ever Active Schools: https://everactive.org/professional-learning/#online
4 P. Rozin and E. B. Royzman, “Negativity Bias, Negativity Dominance, and Contagion,” Personality and Social Psychology Review 5, No. 4 (2001): 296-320; R. F. Baumeister, E. Bratslavsky, et al., “Bad is Stronger than Good,” Review of General Psychology 5, No. 4 (2001): 323-370.
5 Referred to as the CPR of happiness by UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center: https://blog.edx.org/scientific-self-care-feel-happy-grounded-grateful
6 J. E. Dutton and E. D. Heaphy, “The Power of High-quality Connections,” Positive Organizational Scholarship: Foundations of a new discipline 3 (2003): 263-278; J. Holt-Lunstad, T. B. Smith, and J. B. Layton, “Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A meta-analytic review,” PLOS Medicine 7, No. 7 (2010).
7 WellAhead, Research Brief: Promoting the wellbeing of teachers and school staff (2018). https://static1.squarespace.com/static/586814ae2e69cfb1676a5c0b/t/5b281bb170a6ad31c89ab315/1529355185939/TSWB_ResearchBrief.pdf
8 B. L. Fredrickson, (2001). “The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions,” American Psychologist 56, No. 3 (2001): 218-226.
9 S. G. Barsade, C. G. Coutifaris, and J. Pillemer, “Emotional Contagion in Organizational Life,” Research in Organizational Behavior 38 (2018): 137-151; S. G. Barsade, “The Ripple Effect: Emotional contagion and its influence on group behavior,” Administrative Science Quarterly 47, No. 4 (2002): 644-675.
10 S. L. Gable et al., “What Do You Do When Things Go Right? The intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits of sharing positive events,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 87, No. 2 (2004): 228-245.
11 Brooke Anderson, “Six Daily Questions to Ask Yourself in Quarantine,” Greater Good Magazine (March 24, 2020). https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/six_daily_questions_to_ask_yourself_in_quarantine
12 Visit www.viacharacter.org to take a free character strengths survey and learn about your signature strengths. Using strengths creates a common language, builds resilience skills, and benefits student and staff well-being.
13 For supporting research and free online tools: https://self-compassion.org
Teaching in our current school system is hard work. There has never before been a time when educators were expected to take on so many roles, with more expectations and less support.
Teachers are exhausted and regularly facing burnout. Why? Because teachers care, and they are seeing more students struggle with academics due to lack of mental, emotional, and physical health resiliency.
Support staff are tired and don’t get paid nearly enough to support the educators and the students they work with one-on-one. Why? Because support staff care and they are seeing students and teachers struggle.
Administrators are weary. They are expected to be “on” at all times with no chance to recharge and to rest, and so they continue to push themselves and deliver. Why? Because administrators care about the school cultures they are leading.
We continue to push on, fake it, and survive. Educators are working with our most precious commodity – our children. Over the last few years, we’ve learned that if want to enable our kids to flourish then we need to take care of the adults that care for them.
Brain science tells us that children’s brains aren’t fully developed until they are 25 years-old. Until that age, children, teenagers, and young adults look to the developed brain of an adult for attunement and regulation. This helps their brains understand how and when to stay calm under stress. They use their mirror neurons to “mirror” the behaviour of others.
Have you ever walked into a room where everyone is frowning and instantly your stomach drops and your shoulders tense? Do you immediately, instinctively inhabit the same feelings? This is called ‘emotional contagion,’ and this is exactly what’s happening in schools. Kids are facing tough challenges and stress at home, at school, in their communities and – let’s face it – in our whole world right now, and they bring this stress with them to school.
Educators feel it and absorb this stress.
Many educators hold onto this stress and too often don’t have adequate self-care and self-compassion strategies to release the build-up. Therefore they burnout. Burnout rates for educators continue to skyrocket, while personal leaves, medical leaves, and sick days are going up. As our educators burnout, our students feel it — and the cycle of unwellness continues.
However, emotional contagion works with positive emotions as much as it does with the negative. When we focus on happiness, hope, gratitude, compassion, and joy we see a greater shift towards resiliency. By supporting the resiliency of our educators, we may simultaneously see this positive shift grow within our schools.
As a high school counsellor and teacher in the Greater Victoria School District in B.C. for the last 15 years, I have seen my own well-being teeter-totter along with the highs and lows of both my personal and professional life. I have become a mom, and have also seen youth in my schools die of overdose and suicide. I have engaged with colleagues in amazing learning opportunities, and have also been overwhelmed by the expectations placed on myself and my colleagues in the workplace. I have laughed out loud with students and seen them experience great joy in their learning, and I have also watched them struggle with tears in both our eyes.
I have ridden these ups and downs at times with ease and grace, and at other times while feeling like I was falling apart. There is no easy way to be an educator and a human being without sensing the suffering in our own lives and in that of our students. Through it all, I have learned some very important strategies that have helped me retain my composure, my resiliency, and my well-being.
As a practicing educator and counsellor in a challenging school of diverse learners, I know first-hand what burnout feels like. I have also repeatedly seen colleagues suffer from burnout and compassion fatigue. I believe we need to create space for educators to practice self-compassion, self-awareness, and well-being habits. In essence, educators need to be encouraged and supported to have a self-care practice to avoid burning out.
The ultimate act of self-care is a self-compassion practice. ‘Self-compassion’ means meeting ourselves during difficult and stressful times with the kindness and tenderness that you might offer to a dear friend or a small child. Kristin Neff suggests, “Instead of mercilessly judging and criticizing yourself for various inadequacies or shortcomings, self-compassion means you are kind and understanding when confronted with personal failings – after all, whoever said you were supposed to be perfect?”
There are three elements of mindful self-compassion to better care for ourselves and to calm the inner critic:
‘Mindfulness’ is a non-judgemental, receptive state of mind in which one observes their thoughts, feelings, and body as they are, without trying to suppress or deny them. Meeting these thoughts, feelings, and body sensations with kindness allow us to be present instead of over-identifying and being swept away by negative reactivity. By paying attention with kindness, we stay more present.
Often when we are suffering we tend to think we are alone. We believe that we are the only ones who may have felt this pain. So we hide away and keep our struggles to ourselves. With self-compassion, we are aware that all humans suffer and that we are never alone, and instead are part of a shared human experience. The very definition of being “human” means that one is mortal, vulnerable, and imperfect.
We are often quick to judge and criticize ourselves when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate. However, self-compassion entails expressing warmth and understanding towards ourselves in these moments of suffering. Self-compassionate people recognize that being imperfect, failing, and experiencing life’s difficulties are inevitable, so they tend to be gentle with themselves when confronted with painful experiences rather than getting angry when life falls short of set ideals.
As I practiced and taught mindful self-compassion during the past few years, I have come to see it as an essential strategy in improving my own well-being. I often find myself slowing down and actually seeing what I need in any given moment to truly care for myself. I am also more conscious of my inner voice, and if it’s ever being unkind (as is so often the case for many of us), I ask myself if I would say what I’m saying to myself to my daughter – and if I wouldn’t, then I change the tone.
Mindful self-compassion is a practice that has changed my wellbeing and is the key component of my self-care practice. Self-care can’t just be indulgent acts like bubble baths and pedicures (although lovely and wonderful things). Rather, self-care is actually a discipline in how we treat our bodies and our minds. It’s boundary setting, saying no, discovering your values and living within them, and finding many ways to be kinder to ourselves.
Only when we have strongly focused on making our own well-being a priority will we see a shift in well-being in schools.
When we as educators feel emotionally regulated, physically strong, self-aware and socially connected we create a strong sense of well-being in our lives. Together, let’s find ways to rebuild our resiliency. Let’s focus on self-care AND self-compassion. Let’s reignite our passion for teaching. Let’s awaken educator well-being so that together we can get back to making a difference in our schools again.
First published in September 2019
Winnipeg, MB, April 4, 2022. The EdCan Network is pleased to announce that its professional learning course, the Well at Work K-12 Leadership Course, is now available asynchronously online for school district leaders, wellbeing leads, school principals, and teams. With classes delivered by district leaders and subject matter experts, the course prepares education leaders across Canada to undertake a systemic approach aimed at sustainably improving employee wellbeing which contributes to a more positive school environment for students.
“The Well at Work K-12 Leadership Course is the first of its kind to focus on workplace wellbeing specifically in the education sector from a systemic perspective,” says Anne MacPhee, Chair of the EdCan Network and National Director of Finance and Operations for the Canadian Mental Health Association. “Ensuring the mental health and wellbeing of teachers and staff has been a consistent challenge that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. As we shift towards a post-pandemic era, it’s more important than ever that we seize the day by investing in healthy K-12 workplaces for the long term.”
The course consists of bite-size learning modules that are accompanied by additional resources and services which provide gateways to deeper learning and customized support. Broad topics of discussion will include the rationale for taking action on workplace wellbeing; how to approach systemic work; and who to involve in workplace wellbeing transformation efforts with considerations for local contexts.
“Through Workplace Strategies for Mental Health, we invest in initiatives that strengthen the resilience of employees. This helps them respond to the daily pressures at work, resolve workplace issues and support each other,” says Mary Ann Baynton, Director of Collaboration and Strategy, Workplace Strategies for Mental Health. “That’s why we’re proud to support the Well at Work K-12 Leadership Course. By helping teachers build on their strengths, this program will also help improve student outcomes.”
Since 2019, the EdCan Network through its Well at Work initiative has served as Canada’s national lead on K-12 workplace wellbeing. Through its workshops, convening activities, and advisory services, Well at Work supports education leaders across Canada to develop and implement system-wide strategies to improve K-12 workplace wellbeing for the long term.
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This webinar is primarily for school district leaders, principals, and vice-principals, and school or district wellbeing leads as well as anyone interested in K-12 staff wellbeing.
We know that wellbeing – especially cases of burnout – are issues in Canadian schools. We know a lot of this is systemic – involving organizational culture, structures, priorities, and policies at various levels of the education system. However, research is still evolving about how approaches taken at the school level or the individual level could help educators cope with their daily stress. In a 12-month research project, The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) set out to develop two simple approaches that could be scaled district-wide.
This webinar broadcasted on June 16, 2021 discussed findings from this research project outlining what worked, what didn’t work, and lessons learned that can be used to support education leaders in ensuring their staff’s wellbeing.
The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) generates and applies behavioural insights to inform policy, improve public services, and deliver positive results for people and communities. BIT works in partnership with governments, local authorities, businesses and charities, often using simple behaviour changes to tackle policy.
Behavioural insights is an approach that uses evidence of the conscious and non-conscious drivers of human behaviour to address practical issues. It is an approach inspired by the more nuanced and realistic understanding of human behaviour offered up by research in the behavioural sciences. Early applications of behavioural insights focused primarily on making small changes to how government services were structured and communicated. For example, a well known trial dramatically brought forward tax payments by informing late tax payers of the “descriptive social norm” that nine out of ten people pay their tax on time. In the decade since the phrase “behavioural insights” was coined, practitioners have started tackling increasingly complex challenges, like trying to find light-touch approaches to reduce burnout and increase workplace wellbeing.
BIT created and tested organizational approaches to improve school wellbeing in Canada. To develop organizational approaches, BIT conducted exploratory research including a literature review of current wellbeing and burnout initiatives, qualitative interviews with educators in Canada, and interviews with leading academics. These activities grounded the project in the best available evidence and the lived experience of Canadian educators. Following this exploratory research, BIT, with continued input from a range of Canadian educators, developed two low-cost, scalable approaches for evaluation in a randomized controlled trial.
Schools from British Columbia, Manitoba and Alberta were invited to participate in the trial. A total of 2,178 school staff completed a baseline survey, and 1,217 of them (from three Canadian provinces, five school districts, and 109 schools) consented to participate in the study.
The McConnell Foundation has been supporting workplace wellbeing in K-12 education through its WellAhead initiative since 2017. In early 2020, it brought together relevant thought-leaders to consider how to make measurable improvements in the wellbeing of K-12 education staff across Canada. A Design Team was formed to develop a preliminary concept based on that initial thinking.¹ The Design Team then engaged with education stakeholders to get their feedback on the concept, and learn from their experience.
The stakeholders who participated generously shared their time, expertise, and encouragement, including pitfalls to avoid, opportunities to strengthen the approaches, and perspectives that had not previously been considered. Their feedback contributes to developing approaches that fit their environments, and accurately reflect their needs and preferences — which will ultimately lead to a greater impact.
¹Charlie Naylor (Independent Consultant), Felicia Ochs (Wellness Coordinator, Parkland School Division), André Rebeiz (Research Manager, EdCan), Tammy Shubat (Director of Programs, Ophea), and Kim Weatherby (School Health Promotion Consultant).
A team of researchers from the University of Winnipeg have been studying stress and resilience in teachers since the pandemic began. Based on responses from more than 2,200 teachers from across Canada who completed surveys in April, June, and September of 2020, and several follow-up interviews, the researchers were able to gain a detailed understanding of the demands, resources, and stressors experienced by teachers, including their strategies to cope.
Note: These findings are part two of a survey series on supporting teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey responses were first collected in April/May 2020, when teachers had just begun to teach remotely (click here to check out the first set of survey results!). The survey was administered a second time in mid-June 2020. Data was collected once more in September 2020, when students (in most provinces) were physically back in school practicing safety protocols related to COVID-19.