Stress - You Bad?

Stress!  The teacher's enemy.  How many times have we heard that teaching is a stressful profession.  The workload is stressful.  The children's behaviour is stressful.  New initiatives are stressful.

Ross Morrison McGill recently wrote a blog post about stress and teaching.  It read as though stress is necessarily bad.  It read as though stress is something that should be avoided and that there might be some stress free utopia out there - abroad.  The implication of the post was that stress is bad with a capital B.  I have some news for you - and Ross.  Stress is not all bad.  You read it right. I'll say it again - stress is not all bad.

We all need a certain amount of stress in order to function.  A certain level of stress gets us out of bed in the morning.  This is why some long term unemployed people don't get up in the morning.  They've lost hope and they have little stress; they really don't have a reason to get up.

Have you every wondered why the vast majority of people work to deadlines?  It's stress.  Most people have a certain level of stress that will spur them into action.  Until that level of stress is reached they won't do anything, but when that crucial level is reached then they get on with the task.  It is stress that makes them do the task.  It takes time for this system to be calibrated which is why young people need help with this.  Also, if the task is not perceived as important then is won't trigger a stress response and the task will not get done - sound familiar?

As you can see, stress is unavoidable and it can be seen as a good thing and a call to action.  Having said that, some stress can be very difficult to deal with.  There have been psychological studies that show that the level of stress at the top of an organisation is far lower that at the bottom - the reverse of what many mangers think.  The reason is control.  Those at the top of an organisation have complete control over what they do.  If there is a task that they'd rather not do or is too difficult for them, it gets delegated.  Those at the bottom have no such luxury.  They have to do all the tasks given to them.  This problem gets worse when that person has several bosses (head of department, head of year, etc) who are all loading tasks onto the lowly individual.  They have no control over the tasks that they have to complete and they can easily get overloaded.  This lack of control leads to real stress as it cannot be avoided.  (Perhaps this is one of the reasons why so many young teachers leave the profession.)

In fact, if an individual experiences too little stress, little gets done and what is achieved probably won't be done that well.  As stress increases to the trigger level I mentioned above, actions get more effective and efficient.  You will be performing at your optimum level and probably feeling really alive and happy with life.  When stress gets too far beyond this optimum level then performance drops off again and this is when people feel 'under stress' and anxious.  They don't know which task to do next and the tasks that they do perform will not be completed very well.

Interestingly, there has been some work done looking at how stress affects health, and it may well change your attitude to stress.  Kelly McGonigal has recorded a TED talk about this.  One of her main arguments is that stress itself is not bad for us; it is the belief that stress is bad for us that damages our health.  It is not stress itself that is unhealthy; it is our response to stress that can be unhealthy.  This is not at all self evident but it does in fact make biological sense.  If you want to know more, watch the video from the link above, it really is worth the time.

We need to acknowledge that stress is a necessary part of life and we need to train ourselves to better deal with the stress that we are under.  We need to accept that stress is a necessary part of live and that it is preparing our bodies for action.  Also, we need our bosses to acknowledge that overloading people leads to poor performance.  In fact, a good manager will be ensuring that their charges are at optimum stress levels most of the time to give the best results.  This would also mean only one person managing each individual in the organisation, and the management structure of most school being redesigned.  I'll leave you with that thought!

The Principles of Teaching - Part 2

I hope I've whetted your appetite with part one of this series.  The first principle of teaching that I'm going to propose is relationships.  I am certain that cultivating a mutually respectful relationship with each of your learners is a key to success.

When learners are younger they do not do their work for themselves, no matter how hard we might wish that they would; they work for their teacher.  They might like to learn new facts and acquire new skills but very few will value the work necessary to embed these facts and skills.  During this time the students will be working for their teacher and so the relationship really matters.  I am certain that learners who feel that their teacher really cares about them will do more than learners who feel that teacher is indifferent to them. Note that this is about the learner's perception of the teacher.  It is perfectly possible that the teacher cares deeply about the learner but the teacher may not have communicated this effectively to the learner.  It is communicating this caring and building the relationship that is important.

You know that it really makes a difference if someone connects with you and talks to you about things that are important to you.  It makes your your day a little better and helps you to tackle the next task.  It is the same with the learners in your care.  I know that in my classes there are certain people who love football, others have a passion for horses.  I could name the favourite bands of several of my students.  There are many other interests that individual learners have that are important to them.  Sometimes, it is worth a few words about their interest; it fosters a connection and it makes them think that they are important to you.

Some of you may well be thinking that you don't have time for this, that the time spent cultivating these relationships would be better spent delivering the curriculum.  I would strongly argue that the time spent on these relationships is an investment and you get it back several times over because the learners will be more involved and so they will get through tasks more quickly and with deeper participation if they know that they matter to you as people.

As we know, it is important for learners to fail and to bounce back form failure if they are to progress.  It is the willingness to try things out and take risks, allied with the response to failure that brings real progress.  Learners have to feel that they will not be judged as failures if they 'get it wrong'.  There needs to be a climate in the classroom that failing in fine providing that the failure is a step to future progress.  Part of building this climate is building relationships with the learners in the class.  When we are with strangers, or with people who we feel will judge us, we are reluctant to try things out that may not work as we fear being judged as failures.  Maintaining respectful relationships with learners is a step along the way to creating a culture where failing is alright.

There are times when we as teachers need to deliver difficult feedback, "Jack, that really was not good enough."  We have heard of 'two stars and a wish' and the 'jam sandwich' technique for burying critical messages.  No matter how hard we try, many people take critical messages as a personal criticism and not simply a criticism of their work.  I am sure that the teacher who has a genuine relationship with the learner will be more willing to deliver the message and the learner will be more willing to act on it and make the necessary changes to progress.

Put yourself in your learner's shoes.  Who would you rather have as your teacher, the one who makes you feel that they know you and care about you, or the one who does not even know your name?  And which of those teachers would you work for?

The Principles of Teaching - Part 1

“If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself,” Albert Einstein.

I think that Einstein was exaggerating, but not by much.  If you substitute a well informed 18 year old for the 6 year old, then I am sure that he was pretty much spot on.

I am certain that if human beings are capable of carrying out a task then that task must in essence be fairly simple, despite the appearance of complexity.  I would argue strongly that if someone tells you that a task is complex then either they don’t really understand it, or the complexity it there as a cloak to either put off those who are not one of the initiated, or the task is fatally flawed.  I have no doubt that the trading that brought down the banking system falls into this category.

Einstein himself was very good at cutting through surface complexity to the heart of the matter.  Before he came up with Special Relativity, people believed that there was a universal clock and that time passed at the same rate everywhere.  Einstein’s radical idea was that there was no universal time and that time passed at different rates depending on the speed of travel.  He also proposed that the speed of light was the same for all observers.  All the consequences of his theory come from these simple ideas – in fact, the first idea is a consequence of the second.  There you have it: Special Relativity explained so that an 18 year old would understand.  Of course, it’s another matter whether they accept it as the ideas are not intuitive.  Also, the consequences of the these simple ideas can be fairly complex but, fundamentally, the ideas behind the complexity are in actual fact very simple.

When teachers start out on their journey, there is an awful lot thrown at them including reporting, differentiation, assessment for learning, the national curriculum, mixed ability or setting, mindset, marking and feedback, behaviour management, equality, homework, SEN, summative assessment, cross-curricular themes, safeguarding, classroom management, pedagogy, and many, many more.  It is very easy for teachers who are new to the profession to get bogged down with all of this and it is difficult for someone will little experience to sort out what is really important, to extract the essentials from this seemingly endless list.  It is all too easy to fall into the trap of believing that teaching is an endless, unbelievably complex task.

I am certain that this is wrong.  I am certain that there really are relatively few fundamental principles that underlie successful teaching.  There are a few stones of truth that successful teachers cling too and these inform everything that they do.  I am also certain that if teachers – especially new teachers – really understand these fundamental principles then their ideas will have more clarity and their job will be easier.  So, my question is, what are these fundamental principles that underpin successful teaching?  What are the principles that cut through the surface complexity and underpin the actions of a successful teacher?  What are these fundamental stones of truth?

Mindfulness - Is it Really new?

There has been definite trend for mindfulness over the last year or so.  Certainly, last summer it was difficult to read a newspaper or listen to the radio without some mention of mindfulness and its use in many contexts.  I was interested enough in its potential benefits that I started studying and practising mindfulness about six months ago.  I have really enjoyed the process and I am certain that it has helped me.

In a nutshell, mindfulness is designed to root you in the moment by being aware of breathing, especially the outward breath, and being aware of your own body and how it feels.  This can be achieved through consciously moving through various positions that lead into a period of peaceful sitting; or can be achieved through repetitive movement.  No matter which way it is achieved, it leads to a sensation of being rooted in the moment with the future and the past left to look after themselves.

Recently, I have been reflecting on the nature of mindfulness and wondering if it really is so foreign to westerners.  I have never understood why grown men get up before dawn to sit and watch a a little float bobbing on the surface of a lake.  I know that some of these men do it to escape the family situation for a while and get some time to themselves.  But I am now fairly certain that a substantial number of anglers will be attaining a state of mindfulness, really being aware of the moment and their relation to it.  I am sure that many of them are unconsciously very competent exponents of mindfulness and this is probably one of the reasons why they come back to the lake side week after week.

Many sportsmen talk of being in ‘the zone’, when the ball appears to be far larger than it really is and their skills are executed faultlessly.  Again, I am sure that the experience of being in the zone is a manifestation of mindfulness.  When an athlete is in the zone there is no conscious thought, the athlete is using the reactions that have been built up through countless hours of training and the actions are the results of the programs that have been written into the brain through hours of practise; it really is being in the moment.  I could make a similar argument about musician who are ‘in the groove’, and interestingly, often when a musician realises that he is in the groove, he drops out of it because conscious thought takes over from the automatic processes that have been embedded through rehearsal.

I really do wonder if people continue with these pastimes- and there are many more that I could mention – at least in part because of their relationship to the experience of mindfulness.  Many many pastimes require the participant to be absorbed in the activity and to really live in the moment.  Perhaps the active study of mindfulness is a metacognative realisation of this and allows those who practise mindfulness to really get under the skin of this process.

I am certain that western culture includes many opportunities for mindfulness, and being in the moment, within activities that are not labelled as mindful.  Mindfulness is not alien or a bolt on for westerners, it is implicit in many areas of life although many people could benefit from the process being made explicit.

What was the Point?

The morning after the Charlie Hebdo murders I wrote on the board #JeSuisCharlie before any of my students entered the room.  I asked them why I had done this and many of them realised that it related to the events in Paris the day before.  We talked about what Charlie Hebdo was and why it had been targeted. We discussed the possible motives for the murders and we talked about why the hash tag that I had written on the board had been trending worldwide on Twitter, and why that hash tag had been chosen.  Finally, I showed a selection of cartoons that had been drawn in response to the murders and talked about the imagery in the cartoons.  There was hardly a curriculum subject that we had not touched on. Most learners had been engaged in the session, even those who are not usually motivated by 'tutor' material.  At the end of the discussion, one student asked, "What was the point of that?"

I could not help but reflect on this comment.  This was the biggest news even of the decade but an articulate seventeen year old could not see the point of discussing it.  Had I presented the topic badly?  I don't think so.  As I have said, I had succeeded in engaging people who weren't usually engaged.  Or is this a deeper problem of detachment?  I would love to know.

Have Fun!

When I say good bye to people I often say to them, "Have fun," and I really mean it.  We only have one shot at this life so we might as well enjoy the ride.

A little while ago I taught a particular sixth form student who would come into lessons on a Friday afternoon and declare, "I don't want to go to work tonight."  He did this week after week until eventually I said to him that he didn't have to go to work.  He replied that he did have to go to work or he would get sacked.  So then I told him that he really did not have to go to work, it was his choice to go and he went because he did not like the alternative.  He had a choice to make.  I can't remember him complaining about his Friday evening shift ever again.

I think it is important that if someone is not enjoying something that they stop and reevaluate.  Sometimes the thing that they are not enjoying is unavoidable - washing up, for example - but often it is avoidable.  Sometimes with a small tweak it can be eliminated, although sometimes a lot more than a small tweak is needed and it might require a lot of upheaval to effect the change and it might require a lot of soul searching to decide if the upheaval is worthwhile.  But my point stands, why continue to do something that is no fun, or perhaps positively draining?

Obviously, this can apply to all aspects of life, but it certainly applies to our life as teachers.  Teachers are great at filling their days with tasks that are not strictly related to teaching and learning.  For example, the football team that you've been running for the last four years even though your subject specialism is History.  Perhaps you feel that your coaching is getting a little stale and you could do with a break, but who will take over?  Actually, this is not your problem.  You may well be, unwittingly being taken advantage of - Fred always does that team.  If you give sufficient notice that you will no longer be looking after the team then their is no problem.  But what about the children?  What if no-one else steps up?  Don't guilt trip yourself.  The chances are someone else will step up, perhaps there is a new teacher who enjoys a bit of football coaching, or perhaps an established member of staff will take over.  But more importantly, what about YOU?  It's your life and it's your choice.  There is no point in living your life just to please others.  The choice that you made several years ago that was right at the time may not be the right one now.

We all have choices.  They may not all be pleasant or easy, but we have them nonetheless.  It is important that we use good judgement in making then and we weigh up the different options sensibly before we exercise our choice, but it is our choice to make.  And we certainly have a choice to have fun!

Who's it For?

Workload is always a hot topic for teachers and I have just come through a particularly tough time myself.  I really love my core job.  Teaching young people is great.  Being with youngsters day in day out may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they have enormous energy and they do not have the cynicism and world weariness of so many adults.  Young adults so often live for the moment and enjoy life and being with them is a real privilege.

Introducing them to new ideas and new skills is an enticing challenge. Thinking through a way of introducing a difficult concept and then leading learners through a well planned and resourced sequence of lessons is what I enjoy; it is why I am a teacher.

Unfortunately, during the last few weeks I confess, I have taken by eye off the teaching ball and I have been concentrating on admin.  If I don't complete admin tasks on time I will get it in the neck from someone, but if my lessons are a little below parr when I am not being observed, then no-one will notice - and that's my core responsibility.

The main problem I have been dealing with is completing different tasks for different people - all in the same time frame.  I am sure that some of you are already thinking that with a little better time management I could have spread these tasks out.  Actually, if the documents that I have been working on are to be current and valid, I could not spread out the tasks; they all really did need doing in the same time span.

Teachers do not have one boss, as most people in other industries do.  For some tasks I am responsible to my department, for other to my pastoral team, for others to the senior leadership team, and for others to outside agencies such as the local authority or exam boards.  Nicky Morgan, the current Education Secretary, recently ran a workload survey in conjunction with the TES, which was certainly a step in the right direction.  I am certain that one of the main drivers of teachers' workload problems is that we all serve several bosses.  If each of these bosses demands a time limited task to be completed at the same time, the candle gets burned at both ends and the teacher in the middle gets burnt out.  Each of the tasks will probably be very valuable but the different bosses do not liaise with each other and coordinate the work, and in some cases this would be impossible, but it is still the teacher who is left to square the circle of demands on his time.

It seems to me that despite schools' best intentions - and my school really does prioritise teaching and learning - it is too easy for the teacher's core activity to be superseded by admin that come from too many sources, which cannot be right.