- Increase tolerance for discomfort through distress inoculation training
One of the most important universal goals for all people, is to raise our capacity for discomfort. Especially for those in acute or chronically stressful jobs, the value of enduring emotional discomfort is critical. The longer we can withstand discomfort, the more time we have to be intentional about our coping method. Those who instinctively resort to anger, withdrawal, or other types of maladaptive coping skills, will be more likely to suffer emotional breakdown.
- Explore constructive differencing paradigm
The least understood life skill for children or adults is the exploration of differences. Those who find differences threatening, will experience less intimacy, less impact, and less engagement. The avoidance, dismissal, or overpowering of differences is what leads to fragmentation in small and large groups. Educators and students require this critical skill to adapt to a more integrated workforce, to navigate the complexities of online relatedness, and deal with the challenges of a multicultural society.
- Develop reciprocal feedback loops with peers and colleagues
We can eliminate about 75% of all arguments and disagreements with others if we can learn to communicate more effectively. This means learning how to express and receive with our peers and colleagues, in a way that keeps conflicts contained. Educators and students will often bring others into their conflicts as a way of gaining support, but this has the consequence of deepening/ broadening the conflict. Feedback loops are designed with useful parameters and incentives for remaining engaged throughout the tumult of decision making.
- Learn new tools to receive and assimilate supervisor feedback without defensiveness
Teacher observations are notorious for inducing stress. Until we learn how to utilize a polarity system that reduces subjectivity and increases self-reflective practice, we need educators to learn how to welcome input without guardedness. Educators need to be continuously growing their self-awareness so they can reduce blindspots and effectively navigate the complex academic and social-emotional needs of students. To do so without feedback increases the risk for stagnation and becoming antiquated in our practice.
- Negotiation skills needed for gaining and maintaining support
Teaching is known for being a siloed profession, isolated by the very nature of separate classroom instruction. The need for personal and professional support is critical in reducing burnout, however this is more challenging for some. How we feel supported can vary widely among individuals. How we offer support generally reflects how we would want to receive it. Combined, these variables make it more important for people to learn how to ask for and negotiate what they need before resentment sets in.
- Appreciate impact of school culture on individual performance
School culture is a commonly used term but largely misunderstood. The complexities of school culture and organizational health require an appreciation of the three dimensions, adaptation, climate, and infrastructure and the subsets of each. Through each individual lens, this ‘culture’ will be experienced differently by students and teachers, making it necessary to appreciate the way we perceive this ambiguous but powerful force that influences several of our basic needs.
- Learn triggers and identify why certain students evoke different frustrations
There are reasons why some students irk us while others seem irresistibly naughty. This has less to do with the student themselves and more about what gets elicited within us as adults. All student behavior can be linked to unmet needs, which drives all behavior. But while some behaviors seem particularly noxious to us, is a result of our own unmet needs and life experiences. This is a critical self-reflective practice needed to improve engagement.
- Link personal issues to capacity for potency, peace, and presence
In a recent survey, over 97% of educators acknowledge that issues in their personal life impacted their work in the classroom. This is not a novel idea in the workforce although somehow educators are expected to leave their baggage at the door. A more productive avenue is to explore our baggage and appreciate that we bring it with us wherever we go. Potency, Presence, and Peace are critical elements for job satisfaction and require exploration into this integration of personal and professional selves.
- Understand balance of process versus outcome
People who are less stressed are those who appreciate the value of process over content. Quite a challenge when you consider the fact that we are in an era of improved accountability, making outcomes our focus. While we have built greater uniformity and awareness about our deficits, we have also sacrificed autonomy and creativity for many educators. In doing so, we have helped them to feel like assembly line workers who have little input to the process.
- Recalibrate brain/body integration
The most stressed individuals are ones who are disproportionately in their brains. Understandable for educators who spend the plethora of their time instructing. In doing so, we create imbalance with our other parts, leading us to neglect our bodies. Our bodies are where needs are met or messages are sent when unmet. Learning how to tune into our bodies can help us be more intuitive, more present, and more vital inside and outside the classroom.