Tag: Wellbeing

Bookmarked Beyond Burned Out (Harvard Business Review)

In our always-on world, burnout has long been a threat. But in 2020 burnout became rampant, seemingly overnight. Within weeks millions of people lost their jobs and faced financial and food insecurity. People working on the front lines worried for their physical safety, and those in health care put their lives at risk every day. A third of U.S. employees started “living at work” — with the kitchen table as their new pseudo-office. Over the year acute stress would become chronic stress. And it shows few signs of abating.

Today’s level of burnout is the result of an existing problem made exponentially worse. Yet despite how massive the problem is, it’s never too late to fix it. Combating burnout may feel like an overwhelming and herculean task, especially after months of emotional fatigue, but if you’re armed with the right tools, it can be easier than you might think. And ready or not, we can’t ignore the urgency — we are in the midst of a burnout epidemic.

Jennifer Moss reflects on the results of a global survey on the impact of burnout during COVID-19.

Teaming up together, Leiter, Maslach, and David Whiteside, the director of insights and research at YMCA WorkWell, and I created a survey that analyzes the state of burnout and well-being during Covid-19. We combined several evidence-based scales, including the Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey (MBI-GS), a psychological assessment of occupational burnout, and the Areas of Worklife Survey (AWS), which assesses employees’ perceptions of work-setting qualities that affect whether they experience engagement or burnout.

Moss discusses how organisational issues are often put on individuals to resolve. In response, she provides a number of ‘upstream interventions’ for moving forward. These include more flexible working conditions associated with working from home, reviewing the need to meetings, being empathetic and checking in on people’s well-being.

  1. Ask, Is this meeting necessary?
  2. If yes, then ask:
    • Does it have to be a video call?
    • Does it have to be longer than 30 minutes?
    • Which attendees are absolutely essential?
    • Can we turn off our cameras and use our photos or avatars instead?
    • Can we do an audio-only conference call for a much-needed screen break?
  3. Start meetings with a check-in: How are people feeling? Does anyone have a back-to-back call? If you’re leading the meeting, set a timer so you can let anyone who does have one jump off five to 10 minutes early.

I wonder if the pandemic, rather than changing everything, has merely amplified what is already in place? As the organisation I work for considers bringing everyone back, it feels like some of the elephants in the office have simply gotten bigger.

ᔥ “Tom Barrett” in The Dialogic Learning Weekly #203 | Revue ()

Bookmarked Staff wellbeing: Time and money (the édu flâneuse)

Trust, too, is key to the wellbeing of the teaching profession. Schools need to cultivate cultures of trust. Teachers need to be trusted by parents, the media, and government. Trusting teachers to be the professional experts they are allows teachers to focus on their core business of teaching and supporting the students in their care. Looking after staff is key to retaining them within positive cultures of people working together for the good of their community. Nuanced attention to staff wellbeing takes intentionality, thoughtfulness, a framework for decision making, time, and often money.

Bookmarked Educator Self-Care (User Generated Education)

I have written about doing check-ins with students on several occasions, for example, see Emotional Check-Ins in a Teaching Webinar. What I find ironic about myself is that I haven’t discussed self-care of educators. This is especially negligent since I have a Doctorate in Counseling. I should know better as I wholeheartedly believe that in case of an emergency such as the COVID pandemic, educators need to practice . . . “in the event of an emergency should put your own oxygen masks on first so you can breath and assist others.” The pandemic has made the need for educator self-care blatantly apparent. This post is designed to provide educators with practical strategies for increasing their own self-care. After some background information, I offer an interactive infographic on self-care strategies and a 21-day journal for exploring and developing educator self-care strategies.

Jackie Gerstein provides a collection of strategies for helping teachers with self-care. She shares a link to a Google Doc that can be used for reflections.
Bookmarked Skodel (skodel.com)
Skodel uses 30-second check-ins to build up a interactive picture of student wellbeing over time.

“In a typical school day you’re not really as a young person given an opportunity where you would feel engaged, comfortable and safe enough to actually let someone know that you’re struggling, or how you’re feeling,” Ian Fagan said.

I am intrigued as to how this differs from other more generic response systems? I am going to assume that it is more focused.

I agree with Richard Olsen that this will be the first of many in this space:

The question I have is that as more enter this space where does one solution start and another stop? I am also interested in the blurring of the lines with some of these things, especially when they start including surveillance and artificial intelligence.

Replied to Wellbeing When You Gotta Be Online (blog.mahabali.me)

So, obviously, one of the most important thing to maintain wellbeing is to actually get offline a bit!!! But for highly social extroverts like myself and my kid, you need to also socialize w folks, and now that’s mainly going to be online… and you also honestly need to figure out ways to make work stuff work for you when you can… because a good online work meeting can help with wellbeing too. It makes all the difference.

So here are my tips for managing wellbeing when you’ve gotta be online

This is a really useful list Maha, thank you for sharing. I guess care for each other is what matters.
Liked Building cohesion… (What Ed Said)

With ‘building cohesion’ as our 2020 focus, we started the year with a whole school workshop in which over 120 educators across disciplines and campuses connected and interconnected through a range of activities. Noticing and naming the ways they built cohesion, each time they changed groups during the morning, heightened awareness and highlighted transferable possibilities.

Bookmarked Stressed-out teacher? Try these self-care tips – ABC Life (abc.net.au)

Teachers and mental health experts share their tips for ways educators can keep a balanced approach to work, and avoid emotional and physical burnout.

Grace Jennings-Edquist collates a number of self-care strategies to support teachers. This is something that I have written about in the past. I still have concerns that we are overlooking the systemic issues.
Replied to School Culture and the Permission To Say No (maelstrom)

Those who marvel at or question the vacations teachers enjoy are unlikely to have experienced the energy drain that the profession involves. There are inevitably other professions that demand emoti…

This reminds me of a recent posts from Bianca Hewes and Chris Wejr. I think that we worry about saying no to additional requests for the students, but I also think it comes back to care for self.
Replied to Building Staff Culture: The Importance of Slowing Down by Chris Wejr (chriswejr.com)

By slowing down… we can create stronger and deeper relationships, make more thoughtful decisions, lead healthier lives. By doing this, we can positively affect staff culture and the wellbeing of our entire organization.

Thank you as always for sharing Chris. I have found myself slowing down in regards to my blogging. Although I have many unfinished thoughts and notes, I have learnt that not everything needs to be elaborated upon.
Bookmarked The Price of Gratitude (Julian Stodd's Learning Blog)

Gratitude is cheap, yet priceless. See where you can spend yours.

Julian Stodd discusses the free act of gratitude. This is something so often overlooked. Stodd’s discussion of ‘cheap, but priceless’ reminds me of Steve Wheeler’s discussion of sharing knowledge and ideas:

Giving away ideas and knowledge is a bit like love, as told in the story of Jesus and the feeding of the 5000. You can share it around as much as you like, but you still get to keep it, and there is always plenty left over.

Marginalia

Part of Social Leadership is not having the answers, but creating the space, and respecting those who do.

Liked 30 Day Challenge For a Happier Teacher You by Pernille Ripp (pernillesripp.com)

If you are like me, January brings excitement, positivity but also exhaustion. This quiet month is one where I sometimes find my energy running low, my creativity running out, and rather than take the time to take care of myself I barrel on as if that will do the trick. So this year, much like the years before, I am challenging myself to take better care of myself, as well as those around me. And so the 30-day challenge is back. A challenge meant to remind me of all the good. Challenge me to take better care of myself. Challenge me to slow down. Challenge me to focus more on meaningful interactions, rather than hurried conversations. Feel free to join me if you want or create your own.

Liked ‘We wouldnʼt need to practise wellbeing if we experienced it everyday’ by Jane Caro (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Even the things that appear to be therapeutic feel like cons to me. We wouldn’t need to practise wellbeing if we actually experienced it in our everyday lives. We wouldn’t need to practise mindfulness if we weren’t so constantly overwhelmed by ever-increasing expectations. And getting up at 5am to fit in regular exercise is not agile (I don’t care how limber you may be), it’s just another symptom of a world out of whack.

Bring back lolly-gagging, daydreaming and mooching around. Bring back the weekend. Legislate a 35-hour week. I bet we’d all be nicer, kinder and less aggro within days.

Liked School climate can make a big difference to children with mental health issues by By Jill Aldridge and Katrina McChesney (EduResearch Matters)

Our analysis identified four key aspects of the school climate that are associated with students’mental health and wellbeing. We suggest that by considering these four aspects, schools can take manageable steps to promote an environment that supports student mental health and wellbeing.

  • Social connectedness / relationships:
  • School safety
  • School connectedness
  • Academic environment
Liked Technology as Distraction – Ideas and Thoughts by Dean Shareski (ideasandthoughts.org)

Schools have not traditionally been asked to care for student’s health beyond a mandatory few classes. This isn’t as exciting as helping kids become entrepreneurs, creating an app, getting a scholarship or even just helping them graduate. Talking about the power and potential of technology is exciting and very palatable. I should know, I’ve done this and continue to get invited to share messages that promote technology as a powerful tool for learning. I’m not going to stop but I have and will continue to embed hard truths and realities about focusing on what really matters.

Liked On Saying No More by Pernille Ripp (Pernille Ripp)

I have realized in the past week that self-care is something I need to plan for. Is something every educator needs to plan for. That no matter what we do, which role we play, we can always feel like we are not enough. Like there is not enough of us. But I have also realized that that is not true.

There is enough of us but just too much of other things.

There will always be more coming at us, no matter what we do.

Bookmarked i am sorry by Pernille Ripp (Pernille Ripp)

So it is time for me to step back a bit. To do less work publicly, to share less, to not be so immediately available.  To be just Pernille, the person who doesn’t have all of the answers necessarily.  That only creates something because she cannot help it. That gives all of her when she is in a public space, but then steps back when she is private.

Pernille Ripe reflects on life as a connected educator. She discusses the stress, anxieties and perceived responsibilities that come with being an educelebrity. Although we often talk about the technicalities associated with being (digitally) literate, what is sometimes overlooked are the social consequences. This is something that Austin Kleon also recently reflected upon.
Bookmarked How faking your feelings at work can be damaging by Keren Levy (bbc.com)

Remaining true to your feelings appears to be key – numerous studies show those who report regularly having to display emotions at work that conflict with their own feelings are more likely to experience emotional exhaustion.

Of course, everybody needs to be professional at work and handling difficult clients and colleagues is often just part of the job. But what’s clear is that putting yourself in their shoes and trying to understand their position is ultimately of greater benefit to your own well-being than voicing sentiments that, deep down, you don’t believe.

It is an interesting dilemma balancing between the personal and private. I think that rather than everyone maintaining the ‘party line’ that it is important for people to translate the core message into their own story or explanation.
Bookmarked How (and Why) Ed-Tech Companies Are Tracking Students’ Feelings by Benjamin Herold (Education Week)

Ready or not, technologies such as online surveys, big data, and wearable devices are already being used to measure, monitor, and modify students’ emotions and mindsets.

Benjamin Herold takes a dive into the rise of edtech to measure the ‘whole’ student, with a particular focus on wellbeing.

For years, there’s been a movement to personalize student learning based on each child’s academic strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. Now, some experts believe such efforts shouldn’t be limited to determining how well individual kids spell or subtract. To be effective, the thinking goes, schools also need to know when students are distracted, whether they’re willing to embrace new challenges, and if they can control their impulses and empathize with the emotions of those around them.

Something that Martin E. P. Seligman has discussed about in regards to Facebook. Having recently been a part of demonstration of SEQTA, I understand Ben Williamson’s point that this “could have real consequences.” The concern is that all consequences are good. Will Richardson shares his concern that we have forgotten about learning and the actual lives of the students. Providing his own take on the matter, Bernard Bull has started a seven-part series looking at the impact of AI on education, while Neil Selwyn asks the question, “who does the automated system tell the teacher to help first – the struggling girl who rarely attends school and is predicted to fail, or a high-flying ‘top of the class’ boy?” Selwyn also explains why teachers will never be replaced.