Mental and physical health for teachers and students

Outlining threats and solutions

Unless we focus on a particular aspect in our lives, we’ll just function

automatically. If our behavioural patterns are amazing, it will result in
experiencing great quality of life– but that’s rarely the case. Even with an
outstanding level of awareness there might be room for improvement.

How could we teach with more ease and joy? What factors can we take
into account?

From an organisational perspective, employee wellbeing is an important

factor in quality, performance and productivity. Wellbeing is strongly
related to work stress, a key player in employee absence. Demotivated
staff are often disengaged, do not enjoy their jobs and eventually leave.

A teacher with low health and wellbeing, experiencing high levels of stress
or who is ill at work, will not perform to the best of their ability.

Teachers are one of the many factors that may be associated with a
student’s educational attainment. Other factors are the student’s home
and family life, the school as a whole, their peers and the classes they are
placed in.

It would therefore seem likely that higher levels of teacher health and
wellbeing would result in improved student educational outcomes. A
teacher with high job satisfaction, positive morale and who is healthy
should be more likely to teach lessons which are creative, challenging and
effective, leading to students doing better.

STAFF WELLBEING

It is a good idea to measure staff wellbeing on an annual basis. We can

find an online Positive Workplace Survey service, which includes a
diagnostic report and detailed analysis of your staff’s responses.

However, it is possible to put together our own survey. We may also want
to instil a suggestion box so that teachers can provide feedback
throughout the year.

We could include questions such as the below, and ask staff to scale how
happy they are on a scale of 1-5 (where appropriate). Using a scale helps
make the results quantifiable:

 Do you feel stressed at work?

 Do you feel adequately supported at work?

  Do you feel equipped to manage your workload?

 Where/who do you turn to if there is something wrong?

 Would you like the opportunity to have counselling?

 What do you enjoy about your job?

 What do you not like?

 Are you aware of the health and welfare support that is available if
so? (It would be a great idea to work out a system for ourselves. )

What practical strategies can we have in place to promote good staff

wellbeing? For example:

 Providing staff mindfulness, relaxation and managing stress

sessions.

 Offering resilience-based workshops for staff to help normalise the

process of speaking about wellbeing.

 Encouraging staff to buddy up with colleagues to support each other

in providing opportunities for reflective practice and problem-solving
school-based challenges

 Creating a sense of belonging to the school (e.g. through team

development opportunities).

We already have mental support:

 Teacher appraisal that is encouraging and that concentrates on the

‘praise’ aspect.

 Making staff recognition and praise a part of your school’s culture –

setting aside regular time slots in meetings to do this.

Forming a whole school approach to the wellbeing of teachers and

students

At the start of the year, we could share a photo and brief sentence
explaining how we look after our mental health and wellbeing. These could
form part of a corridor display and provide a great talking point amongst
staff and students.
Discuss it with a partner. 

WHAT IS MENTAL HEALTH

Go to the wall and find definitions of mental health.

According to Medilexicon's medical dictionary, mental health is:

"Emotional, behavioural, and social maturity or normality; the absence of a

mental or behavioural disorder; a state of psychological well-being in
which one has achieved a satisfactory integration of one's instinctual
drives acceptable to both oneself and one's social milieu; an appropriate
balance of love, work, and leisure pursuits."

According to the World Health Organization, mental health is:

"... a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own
abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively
and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community."

The WHO stresses that mental health "is not just the absence of mental
disorder."

Being mentally healthy means that we feel good about ourselves, make
and keep positive relationships with others and can feel and manage the
full range of emotions. Good mental health allows us to cope with life's ups
and downs, we can ‘bounce back’, we feel in control of our lives and can
ask for help from others when we need support.

Being resilient is a vital part of it. When faced with a tragedy, natural
disaster, health concern, relationship, work, or school problem, resilience
is how well a person can adapt to the events in their life. A person with
good resilience has the ability to bounce back more quickly and with less
stress than someone whose resilience is less developed.

Everybody has resilience. It’s just a question of how much and how well
you put it to good use in your life. Resilience doesn’t mean the person
doesn’t feel the intensity of the event or problem. Instead, it just means
that they’ve found a pretty good way of dealing with it more quickly than
others.

Everyone can learn to increase their resilience abilities. Like any human
skill, learning greater resilience is something that you can do at any age,
from any background, no matter your education or family relationships. All
you need to do in order to increase your resilience is have the willingness
to do so. And then seek out ways of learning more about resilience, either
from search engines, or with the help of a trained behaviour specialist.

WHAT ARE THE THREATS IN OUR PROFESSION

THE TWO KEYWORDS: STRESS AND BURNOUT

Group discussion 

What kinds of factors are or could be the cause of stress for language
teachers?
Some pictures to illustrate certain possible stressful factors:

FACTORS THAT CAN CAUSE STRESS

 Workload
 Perfectionism
 Job insecurity
 Zero hour contracts
 Observations and inspections
 Mixed level groups
 Administration
Stress occurs when there is a mismatch between the perceived pressures
of the work situation and the individual’s ability to cope with it.

BURNOUT =

Avoiding burnout is an individual responsibility. But the signs are visible:

moaning, groaning, complaining, change in behaviour, absenteeism,
missing deadlines, extended sick leave, acting on automatic pilot, avoiding
contact with others, avoiding eye contact.

TIPS FOR MENTAL WELLBEING

1. Reconnect to your purpose

Try to do one thing each week that reminds you why you became a teacher
in the first place.
Get started: Use a teaching strategy that you and your students all enjoy
to remind you of the difference you’re making in their lives.

2. Adopt a growth mindset in your teaching

There’s great value in trying new things and accepting mistakes as

opportunities to learn. We could all do with a reminder of the power of
‘yet’. It can be helpful to see yourself as a learner (just like your students)
and to spend time reflecting on new ideas, considering what you have
learnt and acknowledging areas that you find challenging.

Get started: Check out Developing a Growth Mindset in Teachers and Staff

https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/developing-growth-mindset-teachers-
and-staff

3. Focus on kindness and gratitude

An act of appreciation or kindness produces positive emotions, stronger

social connections and improved wellbeing. Consider simple ways you can
build gratitude and kindness into your day. And the best thing? Kindness
and gratitude are contagious, so imagine the benefit to your classroom!

Get started: Each night, recall three good things that have happened
during the day. To make it easy to keep track, check out the Gratitude
Journal app.

https://au.reachout.com/tools-and-apps/gratitude-journal

4. Create clear boundaries between home and school

Set a reasonable time for leaving school each day (and stick to it). Find
ways to turn off your teacher mindset, so that you can relax when you get
home.

Get started: Try developing an end-of-day ‘ritual’ to help you switch

mindsets. It may include changing your clothes when you get home,
heading out for an afternoon walk, or spending time with family and
friends. In addition, try to limit the amount of school work you bring home.

5. Set up effective debriefing and mentoring structures

Teaching can be an emotionally taxing job that throws up many different

challenges. Set up structures that help you to focus on solutions rather
than problems. While a venting session may make you feel better in the
short term, it doesn’t solve the problem and may make you feel stuck.
Get started: Consider using a debriefing structure to help manage your
thinking about challenging situations. Or team up with a supportive
colleague and set up a formal mentor relationship structure.

Or talk to David 

6. Establish good sleeping habits

Good-quality sleep is one of the most important aspects of maintaining

your physical and psychological health. This can be a tough ask after the
late nights and long sleep-ins you’ve probably indulged in during your
holiday break!

Get started: Develop a regular bedtime routine, which may include taking
a warm bath, reading quietly for a while or having a warm drink. Consider
using a sleep app.

7. Build up your emotional resilience

Think of proactive ways to manage the stress in your life. Meet regularly
with friends and family, spend time on hobbies you enjoy, read or watch
things that make you laugh, and build into your daily routine proven stress-
busting activities such as yoga, meditation or exercises that involve deep
breathing.

Get started: There are lots of great (and free) apps to help you manage
stress. These include the ReachOut Worrytime , ReachOut
Breathe and Smiling Mind.

https://schools.au.reachout.com/articles/reachout-worrytime

https://schools.au.reachout.com/articles/reachout-breathe

https://schools.au.reachout.com/articles/smiling-mind

8. Keep focused on your goals

Setting goals is a great way to give you direction, focus and motivation.
Try to ensure that all your goals are achievable, measurable and have an
end point. It can be helpful to break a larger goal into more manageable
sub-goals.

Get started: Think of something that, if you do it today, will make you feel
satisfied and accomplished. Then do it!

9. Reward yourself
The improved physical and psychological health that comes from
prioritising your wellbeing is a reward in itself, but there’s also value in
using tangible rewards when you meet particular goals.

Get started: Consider simple and practical ways to reward yourself

whenever you reach a goal or sub-goal: take a walk in nature, soak in a
warm bath, cook your favourite dinner or indulge in a massage.

10. Build new connections and relationships

Building new relationships and connections is key to our wellbeing. Take

the time to get to know the students and staff members in your school
community.

Get started: Consider ways to develop student-focused relationships.

See Wellbeing Fives for some practical ways to do this.

https://schools.au.reachout.com/wellbeing-5s

SAVING ENERGY IN THE CLASSROOM- SAVE YOURSELF

 Win-win: delegate. Always ask yourself: Could the students do this

instead of me?
 Error correction: use gestures for pointing out different mistakes,
ask other students to correct something
 Talk as little as possible as we lose energy through speaking.
 Set healthy boundaries: break time is vital for you, too
 WHAT ELSE?

WHAT IS PHYSICAL HEALTH - THE HUMAN MACHINE- NO USER GUIDE

While physical health consists of many components, here is a brief list of

the key areas that should be addressed:

 Physical activity - includes strength, flexibility, and endurance

 Nutrition and diet - includes nutrient, supplements and fluid intake,
and healthy digestion
 Alcohol and drugs - includes the abstinence from or reduced
consumption of these substances
 Medical self-care - includes addressing minor ailments or injuries
and seeking emergency care as necessary
 Rest and sleep - includes periodic rest and relaxation, along with
high quality sleep
WHY I INCLUDED PHYSICAL HEALTH IN THE CLASSROOM SETTING

Look around you and identify a health hazard in the classroom that can
even shorten life expectancy by two years.
Sitting is not as harmful as smoking.

Still.

Sitting Is Killing You, But Standing Isn’t the Answer (And Neither is
Exercise)

Here’s the hard truth: The probability is that you have been sitting for 60
minutes before reading this and you will probably sit for the vast majority
of your day afterwards. (Full disclaimer: I’m also sitting as I write this.)

You sit to eat breakfast. You sit in your car on the way to work. You sit in
front of your workstation all day (and night). Then you sit in front of Netflix
for three more hours trying to slow down your racing thoughts knowing you
probably should’ve gone to the gym to offset how sedentary you were all
day.

This sensationalist phrase, as coined by Dr. James Levine, director of the

Mayo Clinic at Arizona State University, is everywhere. Countless studies
have correlated chronic sitting with an increased risk for type 2 diabetes
and cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and kidney disease in women,
colon cancer in men, numerous chronic issues related to obesity, and oh
yeah…death.

But like a frog slowly boiling in water, you don’t realize anything is wrong
until it’s too late.

The negative health consequences of being sedentary for more than 60-90
minutes apply to any position…including standing.

The key to better health at your sedentary job is constant movement

throughout the day.
Simply reducing inactivity by increasing the time spent walking or
standing is a more effective way to help reduce certain health risks than
one hour of physical exercise.

We can easily follow this piece of advice, but how about our students?

SAVING OUR STUDENTS - How could we facilitate their movement in the

classroom:

 Move your students when you appoint new pairs

 Mingle exercise
 Students write on the board
 Placing items on the wall to work with
 WHAT ELSE?

As for the teachers: it is amazing that we are not chained to a desk.

But.

What is your position while you write on the board, help students
individually or mark attendance?

Our next keywords are POSTURE AND BREATHING.

Abdominal/ diaphragmatic breathing benefits

Diaphragmatic breathing has a ton of benefits. It’s at the centre of the

practice of meditation, which is known to help manage the symptoms of
conditions as wide-ranging as irritable bowel syndrome, depression and
anxiety, and sleeplessness.

 It helps you relax, lowering the harmful effects of the stress

hormone cortisol on your body.
 It lowers your heart rate.
 It helps lower your blood pressure.
 It helps you cope with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD).
 It improves your core muscle stability.
 It improves your body’s ability to tolerate intense exercise.
 It lowers your chances of injuring or wearing out your muscles.
 It slows your rate of breathing so that it expends less energy.

One of the biggest benefits of diaphragmatic breathing is reducing stress.

Being stressed keeps your immune system from working at full capacity.
This can make you more susceptible to numerous conditions. And over
time, long-term (chronic) stress, even from seemingly minor
inconveniences like traffic, issues with loved ones, or other daily concerns
can cause you to develop anxiety or depression. Some deep breathing
exercises can help you reduce these effects of stress.

YOGA ASANAS FOR GOOD POSTURE AND BREATH WORK by Evi 

YOGA VIDEOS WITH ADRIENE FOR STRESS RELIEF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiKJRoX_2uo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJbRpHZr_d0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsOqcwcy2mI

Homework:

• Delegate
• Work forms
• Make sure you are hydrated during teaching
• Plan your meals and snacks
• Posture
• Breathing

What else would work for you to teach with ease and joy?