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See your problems in a new light
Jonathan Wood, National Manager for The Place2Be in Scotland, will be writing a series of articles over the next four issues of Teaching Scotland focusing on emotional health and wellbeing. These articles will be complemented by podcasts from a range of contributors - giving their views and insights to supporting children's emotional health and wellbeing in schools. The first looks at regaining perspective.
At the start of a new term it can be hard to put your second skin back on. In some professions this second skin comes with the job - the lab technician's white coat; the mechanic's overalls. These serve to protect the wearer from the toxicity connected with the job. But what do teachers have - besides preparation and professionalism - to shield them from some of the psychological challenges that come their way?
So here are some simple top tips for regaining perspective.
- Talk to someone you trust about it - but not in an open-ended way. Give yourself 10-15 minutes, and aim to get to a strategy for next time it happens.
- Work hard to recognise your part in this. What is it about this particular child or situation that sets all your bells ringing? How far back does this go for you? In your mind, draw a line around what is your 'stuff' and what is the child's.
- Learn what you can about the child's background. This should not involve prying - only that information that is professionally available. Could there be external reasons for this behaviour?
- Work out your strategy for dealing with this next time. Be creative. Do the unexpected.
- Put your strategy into place - and review it with the helpful soul you first spoke to.
- Revise your strategy until it works. Don't give up, be confident in your capacity to discover new approaches.
It may be that a sense of perspective is the best second skin a teacher could have.
Award-winning charity The Place2Be works inside 172 schools to improve the emotional wellbeing of children, their families and the whole school community - providing school-based counselling and support for more than 58,000 children and families alongside training for school staff members, and professional qualifications for counsellors and trainee counsellors.
For more information, visit www.theplace2be.org.uk