Reflection on the importance of staff and student wellbeing

 Feeling clear headed, calm and refreshed after coming back from holidays I have been reflecting on how important this state of being is to be able to be effective in the new academic year and to cope with life in general. The cost of living crisis, heading back to school/work, new job, continuing wars, poverty, political chaos, what is happening with COVID and more  are all part of the ongoing post pandemic uncertainty we are facing. 

It is important to consider this and check in on how staff and students are feeling straight away. This creates a feeling of being valued, a sense of belonging, an anxiety free work and learning environment , the chance to have a choice all of which leads to happier individuals who are then able to do their best . It is essential to practice plenty of self-care and really get to know our students in the first 6 weeks to get this right 

Tolerating uncertainty 

As educators how can we help with this ? Research shows that people react differently to uncertainty, and that those with a higher intolerance for uncertainty may be less resilient and more prone to low mood, negative or down feelings and anxiety Different people have differing levels of tolerance to uncertainty. It is important to determine where individuals are on this scale. I use an uncertainty quiz to help me- here are a few sample questions where individuals rate themselves on a scale 

• Unforeseen events upset me greatly
• One should always look ahead so as to avoid surprises
• When I am uncertain, I can’t function very well

 There are no ‘right’ answers. Acknowledge and accept who you are and  consider how others may be different  then start to build up your  wellbeing toolkit  

Wellbeing toolkit   

Building resilience is key .  Resilience - a definition “The ability to recover and bounce back from adversity and hardship feeling stronger and more able to cope than before”. I have delivered many sessions on wellbeing and resilience this within colleges and have developed an easy to use wellbeing toolkit to help educators. All activities can be used with staff and adapted for use with  students. A few  strategies from this include : 

• Celebrating your strengths – builds confidence and helps you determine existing skills that you can draw upon
•  Focusing on the positives rather than the negative is much better for generating positive energy- journaling 3 good things that happen every day helps bring the positivity to the surface and trains the brains to have a growth mindset
• Focus on what you can control not what you can’t – this helps manage stress and anxiety and you let go of things outside of your control which is empowering
• Developing coaching techniques to manage better 2 way equal conversations with colleagues and students
• Mindful self care - determine what is good for you and make time to do more  of it
• Engage in  1-1 coaching sessions where you talk though challenges and reflect on different solutions

    If you are interested in hearing more detail about these and other strategies, please get in touch with me directly for more information on coaching and training packages via jsincintegrity@gmail.com