If only we could stand and stare; the stress of constant change

"What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare."

So wrote W.H.Davies in 1911. When was the last time a teacher had the time to stand and stare? In fact I have found throughout my career that I am running at full pelt often just to stand still. Education has been in a state of constant change since I can remember and there are so signs that this will arrest soon. The problem is that this is on top of all of the other demands associated with this profession and that as soon as you feel confident with a certain aspect of the job it goes and changes.

We are the slaves of change but what keeps changing?:

• Technology
• Specifications and courses
• Communities and society
• Educational philosophies and trends (just think AfL, VAK, starters and plenaries)
• Inspection regulations
• National policy, league tables and so on.

And those were off the top of my head! There will be far more but these seem to be the things that have dogged my career. School procedures change but more often than not these are in response to external factors. But why do things change? Governments change and often the political philosophy changes, and schools find themselves squarely in the centre of the ideological battlefield. Technology changes, tablets appeared, social media sprung forth and so on. Our understanding of how children learn and the effectiveness of different approaches develops through practice and research. The curriculum develops to reflect the needs of an ever changing world. Communities change and their needs change. In short everything changes constantly around education and so education inevitably constantly changes.

Change is unsettling for many reasons. We lose our place in our understanding of the world. The things on which we relied or in which we believed move and we are required to make new meaning out of our professional world. Our beliefs and values may be challenged and leave us confused and uncertain. Change inevitably generates work and this is work in addition to our normal professional lives. New specifications, teaching philosophies and technologies all require a great deal of time to react to and to adapt to. Schemes to write, systems to learn and methodologies to adopt.

So change generates uncertainty and change generates work. I also believe the further we are into our careers the harder change becomes, not because of age but because we have suffered it so many times before and every time our enthusiasm is lower. The workload issue is well explored. The work load generated by change is often on top of the day-to-day workload of planning, teaching and assessment. This creates pressure and excessive pressure can cause stress.

I believe that the stress caused by change itself is significant. We lose our positions of certainty and comfort, we witness others deal better and we can end up doubting our own ability to do the job and handle the constant turmoil. I know how I feel every time I experience change with any IT-based area of my work; I realise that this change causes me stress, and this realisation causes more stress! I know that others will adapt more quickly and that my self-esteem may take a battering. I don't want to appear ignorant so there's another stressor. It could go on and on, but change can fill me with dread and I am sure I am not alone.

What can leadership do? Unfortunately very little. Change is imposed on schools and often the quantity of change experienced by school leaders is even greater. However a good place to start is at least with awareness. Change must be monitored and staff must be cared for during the process. Leaders must be aware of the sensitivity of individuals and that all periods of change generate additional stress. Maybe just talking about and sharing these concerns should be a good place to start.

A Bipolar blogger - Another blog worth looking at...

My last post signposted Mike Stuchbery and his article in TES. I hope you will have seen his blog as a consequence.

Another new blog out there is from Bipolar Teacher. It only has a couple of posts so far but will hopefully shed some light on the experience of teacher with Bipolar Disorder. Find it at teacherbipolar.blogspot.com - Confessions of a Bipolar Teacher.

Something new from me at the weekend.

Hitting the wall - a piece worth reading in TES

Please take a look at this piece by Mike Stuchbery in the TES. It is so valuable to have open and honest accounts of the emotional damage that our profession can cause. Thank you.

A House Divided: Conflict between staff

Possibly the most challenging incidents I have had to deal with in leadership are those when conflict erupts between staff. Conflict arises for all sorts of reasons, teaching allocations, access to resources, taking time off someone, ways in which pupils are treated and even simple animosity. Whatever the cause of the conflict it is always something that must be taken seriously, it cannot be ignored.

Conflict can have a range of consequences but additional pressure and stress are almost always inevitable. What makes conflict particularly problematic is that the stress fallout envelops far more people than simply the protagonists. It is inevitable that those trying to manage the situations (school leaders, union reps) and those close to the central actors in the piece will be effected. Conflict is a large pebble thrown into the pond, it ripples outwards and the whole pond tends to experience it in some way, shape or form. I have seen staffrooms, departments and year teams polarised and divided by conflict.

Remember that to those on either side of the conflict their perception of the situation is real (this links to an article on my leadership blog about the reality of alternative perceptions).

Conflict resolution is a skill in itself. Negotiating with conflicting parties to reach a mutually acceptable solution (for both parties and the school) is a challenge and shouldn't be taken on lightly as getting it wrong can have dire consequences. It is for this reason that conflict causes such stress for mediators. In truth, throughout my career, I have lost more sleep (real sleepless nights, not just metaphor) over this than anything else I have dealt with.

Unfortunately it is rare that anyone is truly satisfied with compromise even though it is the best that can often be hoped for. The aggrieved parties will feel that their case has been watered down and someone else has not faced the wrath they deserve. A feeling of injustice is almost always inevitable in these cases.

Some tips for those handling conflict
When handling conflict it is important to do your homework beforehand. Establish facts and opinions, liaise with union reps, work out end goals . If you are a union rep, recognise that the outcome will probably need to be a compromise. Most importantly give your colleagues the opportunity to "save face". Personal and professional pride are at the heart of conflict and an affront to these can strike a mortal blow. You must ensure that all of those involved can walk the corridors with heads held high.

Don't forget yourself in all of this. Take time to think over the case before the meetings. Visualise the meetings you will have and play a game of chess in your head. Work out the openings, the middle game and the acceptable endings. Do not go into a meeting which you haven't planned out in this way. There is always the chance that things will take an unexpected turn but mentally you will be ready if you have played out a range of scenarios. Remember that you must resolve the issue in the best interests of the school as well as the individuals but always be conscious of the emotional impact on the protagonists. Be reassuring, be conciliatory, be a peacemaker, be a counsellor.

Some tips for those at the centre of the conflict
This can be the most stressful part of a teacher's career, that period of time when you are at loggerheads with a colleague. Seek guidance but do so wisely. Close friends are not always the best listeners, they may tell you what you want to hear but not necessarily what you need to hear. I have always made sure that I knew who I could trust and turn to at times of conflict in any school I've worked in. Even as a head I have made sure I had one person whose discretion was assured, who would listen, console and counsel but not judge. Often this will be a union rep. The best union reps have these attributes (and if they don't they shouldn't be reps!).

If you can abstract yourself from the situation. Attempt to see multiple perspectives even if you don't agree with them, and more importantly attempt to empathise with your colleague. After all emotional well-being is not about content, its about feelings.

Beyond school seek counsel and friendship, relax and take your mind off conflict. Put yourself first!

In conclusion I can say that there is no guaranteed approach to effective conflict management. Everyone is unique, every situation is different. But remember that tomorrow is a new day and that someone is out there ready to look out for you.

Data-related stress: how numbers can ruin lives

Data is everywhere in education, it seeps through every classroom, every piece of paperwork, every judgement, it is omnipresent and at times feels omnipotent. I have seen data push teachers too far and it can have a profound effect on their mental health.

An aside, but I think it is relevant. I recently watched a news report about the achievement of children receiving free school meals; a LEA and by association a group of schools had been lambasted over poor GCSE results. The article presented 5+ A*-C data for this group of disadvantaged pupils but this didn't tell the whole story I'm sure. I sat there and wondered how many of those pupils had had positive experiences in schools that had steer them in the right direction in life, how many would stay out of trouble and aspire to more? At times data just doesn't tell the full story. How devalued must those teachers now feel? Are they all bad teachers (and I'm not suggesting that any of them are)?

Now I need to come clean, I am a data fan and have been in charge of assessment, targets, reporting and tracking in several schools. I have used it imaginatively when required to ensure that inspectors have seen we were a good school but I have also had to use it in holding teachers to account. However I have also listened to the concerns of teachers about data, how it is used and why so many fear it.

So why does data create such problems for so many teachers and leave them in a vulnerable state. There are multiple reasons, many of which overlap. I've tried to break these down but please bear in mind that these are connected and shouldn't be seen in isolation. Here are some of my ideas:

1. Personal understanding. Let's not beat about the bush but data can be mathematically complex and for many teachers the last time they went near maths was when the were 16 years old. Confronting a teacher with reams of numerical information and analysis can be daunting and may leave them feeling threatened.

2. Singled out. We see this in our classes. How many children want to be see to not understand? How many children are brave enough to say "I don't get it" for fear of exposure. No teacher wants to look inadequate, the less experienced teacher doesn't want their lack of experience to show, and the experienced teacher doesn't want to look like they don't get it! Self-esteem is so important and school leaders must not dismiss this as a extravagance and vanity.

3. Being found out. School data wizards will get what they want out of data and some are very good at drilling down into data to an extent where they can say that "Mr So-and-so had a poor year with EAL boys in Year 8". Data exposes us to scrutiny at highly refined levels and leaves us naked in the rain.

4. Lack of faith in data. I have worked in some challenging schools where the progress data suggested we were a poor school. I have never worked in a poor school irrespective of the data. We know there is often so much more to the quality of education than numbers so how can you have faith in the numbers when you know they don't tell the whole tale.

5. Being judged. With the erosion of automatic pay progression, the tightening of budgets and the march of academisation, there are few teachers who would say they feel safer in the profession than they did 10 years ago. Data provides the measures used in appraisal mechanisms and also in the criteria used for making someone redundant.

6. Lack of control. Someone else tends to do data and you have little or no say in the process. Data is done to you and not with you. It is a process over which you have little or no control. It is well acknowledged that lack of control can result in increased anxiety.

7. Beliefs. Many teachers reject the assertion that data is the main way to measure the success of schools. Ask a teacher of many children with additional needs about how they judge success and it will not be on the number of GCSEs! If you are being judged by a system which is at odds with your own beliefs it is likely that you will discount it or resent it.

Nevertheless data is a reality of modern schooling and is not going away. School leaders must recognise the pressure that data paces on teachers and adapt practices to manage this. Support, empathy and CPD are at the heart of dealing with staff concerns over data. You must start from the point where you recognise that teachers' concerns are real and that data does create anxiety. Provide high quality CPD that is differentiated to meet the needs of staff. Identify confident and competent data user and have them work closely with colleagues; this way it doesn't look like SLT are always lecturing the staff. Show understanding and be prepared to coach and mentor colleagues who need extra help.

I saw the impact of my work with data on my colleagues. At times there were moments when bacon was saved due to cunning manipulation of numbers whilst at other times I saw stress and panic erupt across the school. So to any school leader reading this I would ask please remember that sticks and stones can break bones but data can cause breakdowns.

So who's looking out for the heads?

You will find that most of what I write is about the well-being of teachers but occasionally I will focus on senior leaders and especially headteachers as too often they are a group of teachers who are ignored due to their positions. A recent survey suggested that only 5% of teachers aspire to headship and I suspect that this is because most teachers recognise the workload of heads but do they also recognise the level of pressure and risk of stress. Just bear in mind that no-one is immune to the stresses of leadership. I would urge you all to click here to read the tragic report of the suicide of one of our colleagues.

You may be unsympathetic to the principal characters in this piece. They've made your life miserable and so good luck to them.You may think that they get paid enough and they chose the job so let them get on with it, but schools need heads and they need good heads. Have you experienced working for a poor head? How does that effect your experience in school? How does the presence of a poor head put you under increased pressure? Schools cannot function as Utopian collectives, schools must have leaders to weigh up the range of push-pull factors and plot the course which they believe to be right for the school and all those who sail within her!

Doing your best for your staff is demanding, physically and emotionally. Must of us want to please others, our friends and families, our colleagues, our pupils and so on, and heads are no different. Heads are human (yes, they really are), they want to do the right thing, they want to be liked and they want to be valued, but you can't please all the people all of the time. And so I've adopted the following mantra (which I openly share), I would like to maximise happiness of staff but in reality I have succeeded if I minimise discontent.

Headship is a lonely job with few opportunities for emotional sharing. Inevitability if you unload at work you are unloading on someone who is not your equal in the staffing structure, which can be very unwise.

I could list all the tasks I do which place pressure on me and will be experienced by fellow heads but I would be typing all day and you would be reading all night so I'll just pick a couple of examples. Experienced by me or heads I know.

Heads are responsible for budgets, and this isn't simply about textbooks and photocopying. You will all appreciate that they greatest draw on a budget is staffing and there are times when heads cannot set a budget whilst maintaining the number of teachers. Heads end up releasing staff, making them redundant. Before you stamp your feet in rage at me I know it is worse for the teacher being laid off but the emotional drain of making these decisions and telling the teachers is immense.

Heads spend a lot of time covering for colleagues. How many times have you done something wrong and thought that this will come back to bite me and nothing has happened? There's a good chance your head fell on a sword for you, soaked up the challenges of parents, inspectors or whoever and took the hit. You may have an inkling when they say "next time could you try to..." but you didn't see the furious parent or demonic inspector making the life of the head extremely difficult. I have fallen on swords protecting teachers from parental complaints, from authority officers, from inspectors and I am sure I am in the majority of heads who do that. It comes at a price.

Finally I'll mention the constant influx of new demands. There are few weeks that go by without something else coming into schools that need dealing with. A majority of these demands go no further than the senior leadership team. From time to time changes happen that impact everyone, but these are mainly curriculum and assessment demands. The quantity of other stuff is staggering. From safeguarding to food standards the list of demands seems endless.

With the exception of some independent schools where the proprietor is also the head every headteacher has an employer. They have a duty of care to ensure that their employees, including the head, work in an environment in which they are safe. I wonder how many boards of governors, LEAs, academy chains and so on take the time out to sit down with heads and ask "how are you? no really, how are you?".

I would also suggest you all read the article by Viv Grant which appeared in the Guardian in February 2015.

Exam season is here! Don't forget the teachers

And now we're entering the business end of the year. Next month we hit National Curriculum testing as well as GCSEs and A-levels, and we all know who is being judged!

Don't forget it's our fault if our children don't achieve, not the parents who have them for 85% of their lives and certainly not the children who are always beyond reproach. But have we really reached a point when parents and children are absolved of all responsibility? Now as a headteacher myself I believe it is the job of my staff to enable the children to succeed, and I know that I will be held to account by those who employ me. I have an obligation to do the best for my pupils and their parents, but I also have an obligation to do the best for my staff. Can we really square this circle?

We talk a great deal of the stress placed on children at exam time but when was the last time we heard about the pressure placed on the shoulders of teachers. A poor set of results can now see you not getting a pay rise but getting a poor reference, it can be the precipitating factor in the arrival of OFSTED and forced academisation, sliding down league tables and losing pupils. It can be the humiliation in school when your geography class got 45% A*-C when the history teacher got 65%. I remember at the end of my first year of being a head of science being distraught when the science results came in and they looked awful. I had spent the year working 12 hour days, my team had, but still our results were poor. I got a roasting from the head and that had an extremely negative impact on me and my well-being. All of these can have significant and lasting effects on teachers and school leaders. In defence of heads, I can promise you the impact of poor results on them is devastating and can be career ending.

At this time it is the job of every line manager, of every school leader to be looking out for the signs of excessive pressure on colleagues. Self-care is vital. Talk to each other, relax, exercise, don't drink too much, listen to music, read books, take up an instrument, meditate, walk, run, do whatever you need to help calm your mind. It has taken me 20 years to learn this and I'm still only just getting there.

I would recommend Frazzled by Ruby Wax (I'm not on commission either). Her take on mindfulness is not only helpful but also deeply rewarding. You will be around long after the children you teach have forgotten you and so look after yourself.

To finish this I have a wish, that just once a newspaper will run an article on how stressful SATs are for teachers.
 

Know the difference: Pressure and stress

We like to talk about stress when in fact we should be talking about pressure. This may seem pedantic but given the possible consequences of real stress we should be careful and accurate about our use of language.

A good place to start is to be found on the Health and Safety Executive website:

HSE's formal definition of work related stress is:

"The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them at work."

Stress is not an illness – it is a state. However, if stress becomes too excessive and prolonged, mental and physical illness may develop.

Work related stress at the HSE


We all require pressure in life, hunger creates a pressure that results in us needing to eat and rummaging through the cupboards to find food. Without pressure we wouldn't get out of bed and go to work. Pressure is a motivator and not a dirty word. When we deal with pressure with experience success and with that satisfaction, pleasure, a sense of fulfilment and so on. We can handle multiple pressures without feeling overloaded and after all we do it all the time, both in our working lives and at home. However this can change and this is when we can start to experience stress.

Pressures can become excessive, too may books to mark, OFSTED and a parents' evening. Over  a short period of time most can handle increased pressure but it is when these extremes of pressure are sustained that it can start having a psychological and/or physiological effect, it is at this point that stress is being experienced.

Until a tipping point is reached I would suggest (as shown in the graph) that our response and effectiveness  increases as the pressures increases, however we reach a point where it all becomes too much. Rather than "maxing-out" we tend to lose effectiveness and find that we can't handle more and more tasks, this is when we are at risk of stress.

Self awareness is extremely important. If you don't do this already you need to try to analyse your own effectiveness as pressure increases. Listen to friends and family and be wary of the onset of stress. Know the signs and symptoms and be prepared to articulate your concerns to your line manager.

Again the HSE website is a valuable resource (from which the following is taken):

Signs of stress in individuals

If you are suffering from some of the following symptoms it may indicate that you are feeling the effects of stress. If you find that work or aspects of your work bring on or make these symptoms worse, speak to your line manager, trade union representative or your HR department. It may be that some action taken at an early stage will ease the stress and reduce or stop the symptoms.

Emotional symptoms

• Negative or depressive feeling
• Disappointment with yourself
• Increased emotional reactions - more tearful or sensitive or aggressive
• Loneliness, withdrawn
• Loss of motivation commitment and confidence
• Mood swings (not behavioural)

Mental

• Confusion, indecision
• Cant concentrate
• Poor memory

Changes from your normal behaviour

• Changes in eating habits
• Increased smoking, drinking or drug taking 'to cope'
• Mood swings effecting your behaviour
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Twitchy, nervous behaviour
• Changes in attendance such as arriving later or taking more time off.

Please note these are indicators of behaviour of those experiencing stress. They may also be indicative of other conditions. If you are concerned about yourself please seek advice from your GP. If you are concerned about a colleague try to convince them to see their GP.


Finally following my request for reader input the following was sent to me (thank you):

I saw you post about stress. I believe it is because it's an ever changing playing field, curriculum, health and safety, safeguarding, personnel, finance. It's hard to focus on one thing and do it well at times and schools are open long hours, my primary is open 7 am to 9pm and at weekends and just so much going on constantly.

Is it any wonder that colleagues go beyond pressure and into stress?

Spinning plates, swimming sharks and running down hills

There is a myth regarding sharks, they have to keep swimming or else they can't breathe. According to the American Museum of Natural History this isn't quite true but the myth has relevance here. In response to my post about stress I was sent a message which I will share with you:

I like to use the spinning plate analogy. I see each of those pressures as a spinning plate. As a teacher it is our responsibility to keep each one spinning and even though it is challenging it is achievable. However, if one of those pressures demands more time/emotion, say death of a parent, then the other plates start to wobble. This beginning is the stress because it is more difficult to keep them all spinning, indeed it becomes stressful. Then some might topple and fall. Now you get the feeling that it is impossible to get them all spinning again. This is stress. Now many of these pressures/plates are within our control, some are less so.  To avoid stress I guess we need to as teachers, managers, SLT be mindful and ensure that those plates that are under our control don't become unmanageable. Now there is a challenge.

I feel that keeping going in teaching has become an exercise in cracking perpetual motion. My experience is that of running down a hill. As you run you know that if you slow down or stop you're going over, and the only way to keep going is to keep moving faster and faster. The (mythical) shark constantly swimming just to keep breathing, the plate spinner or the down-hill runner, are you any of these?

If this is a shared experience then it is one that can be addressed. Discuss your feelings with your colleagues and I'm sure many of them will share your experience. Next step is the tricky one, how do we tackle it? I haven't got the answers, but I'm certainly going to think about it. There are however two clear lines of response, one coming from teachers and the other from leadership. However I need to do a lot more pondering first of all! Again, your ideas would be particularly welcome.

A big thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
 

What stresses you at school?

I have just spent the last 10 minutes thinking about the factors that can cause stress to a classroom teacher. It is important to recognise that pressure and stress are related, we all need pressure or else we wouldn't get out of bed in the morning, but I take stress to be an adverse psychological and/or physiological reaction to excessive pressure. Given that I have only spent 10 minutes thinking about this I came up with a reasonable length list of factors that can cause stress and exacerbate other mental health conditions (and that's quite worrying). Here are my thoughts so far:

 



Most of these are in blue and these find their origin in the job itself, the two that aren't are beyond the scope of school. I would be very interested to hear what you think are the main stressors in the school life of a classroom teacher. So please consider this a first draft; together we should be able to explore every nook and cranny of school life that can have an adverse effect on emotional well-being.

Over the next few weeks and months I will be writing about many of these stressors but I would like your input.

Further thoughts

I only posted this a few hours ago but something else has crossed my mind. I have worked in and led schools in difficult situations but the key factor that held the school together was how valued the staff felt. I have also worked in a decent school, great children, great location but a leadership team that could never be bothered to tell us we were doing a good job; the staff were generally very low and this all came pouring out when OFSTED came through the door.

Bear with me here. I hate flying. The only time I enjoyed flying is when I had a flying lesson; I felt in control. So much of what we do as teachers feels beyond our control. This is a topic well worth exploring in the future.


 

Bipolar Teachers

Given the data produced by most of the mental health charities it is fair to say that at least 1 in 100 teachers suffer from bipolar disorder. This is the most conservative estimate and I suspect that the mean value from MIND is closer to the mark which suggests that some 9000 teachers are bipolar sufferers. As with many other mental health conditions there is a stigma about it,

I have always felt that conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar, OCD and depression are separated off even by open-minded teachers from conditions such as stress. The attitude seems to be that stress is a normal condition and that it is OK to suffer from stress but the other medical conditions belong to another world of "lunacy". Since we consider that we can blame someone for our stress then we are more likely to be open about it; stress may trigger other underlying conditions but a finger can still be pointed at an external agent

In your staffroom someone is likely to have one of these conditions, they hide it and struggle with it on a daily basis. I would like to see the day when conversations take place in staff rooms that go something like this;
"I'm really struggling at the moment, the stress caused by this new head is making me anxious and giving me sleepless nights."
"I'm also having a rough time with my bipolar at the moment, I've just gone downhill rapidly and reckon that my trigger is also the new head."


Take a look a this link and hopefully understand a little more about bipolar disorder.

Please also look at Bipolar UK for more information and support. 

Don't become a "Mr Chips" - vocation alert!

This is more of a rant than a discussion of a specific mental health issue but it is worth reflecting on a rose-tinted "Mr Chips" vision of teaching, that of teaching as a "vocation". This picture was posted on a social media website the other day and it made me see red. It is not just that it is all twee and fluffy in its sentiment but it actually has a more sinister side.

I am sure that most teachers want to change lives and make a difference but they also want to be valued, be well paid, be respected and feel like professionals. They want a work-life balance and want to be recognised for their labour. I have long been suspicious of those who claim that teaching is a vocation and that they do it for the reasons on the  mug. I think it is laudable that most of those with whom I have worked aspire to the mug definitions but if it was a true "Vocation" they would renounce their salaries and devote every waking hour to the job.

In an earlier post I talked about the potential impact that sentiments about this being the best job in the world can have on colleagues (see The best job in the world...) but there is another problem that should not be ignored. What happens when the bubble bursts? Without naming names, schools and locations, I once worked with a young and idealistic teacher who gave everything to the profession. This teacher produced excellent lessons and children made great progress, all of this took a great deal of time and the concept of work-life balance evaporated. The impact of exam classes, OFSTED, workload and so on meant that more and more time was being spent doing the job. The teacher was already shy and insular but the additional demands of matching the belief in the "vocation" to the challenges of the job meant that the teacher became even more withdrawn. Eventually as the stress levels increased and as the social isolation grew the penny dropped. The "vocation" bubble burst, the belief was shattered and all reasons to do the job disappeared. An extended period of absence from work followed, after which the teacher decided to leave the profession.

I can't say for certain what the trigger event was but I am sure that an unrealistic belief in the vocation of teaching didn't help. Don't get me wrong, I think it is important that we are principled people who believe in the transformative potential of education, but we must also recognise that it is still a job and that we must not sacrifice our emotional well-being for it.

 

A very useful website from the Mental Health Foundation

I believe that when I have the chance to share fantastic resources that I should. The Mental Health Foundation have a superb publications section on their website. You will find policy, statistics, guidance and help in there. If you suffer from a mental health issue, know someone who does, if you are an employer or manager or if you just have an interest in this area please click on the link.

Mental Health Foundation publications 

The danger of loneliness

Contributory Stressing Factor: Isolation

Teaching is a lonely job. There are not many jobs where hours pass between opportunities to talk to other adults. Teaching is possibly unique in being an occupation where on some days the only conversations you have are with 4 year olds! Often the time when you would like to enjoy the company of family and friends after school or at weekends is filled with planning and marking. There are times when you feel that being stranded in the heart of Antarctica would be more socially engaging than teaching your class of Year 3s.

The first department in which I worked always used to get together at the end of the day for a chat. Sometimes it was about the children, sometimes the management, sometimes just anything, but we always had a chat. Not only did you enjoy adult company and feel part of a community but we also were able to unload our work worries before heading home. This was a very challenging school, an inner city comp with inner city problems but we were generally happy. As a very large school we had lots of teachers and probably more in a department than many primary schools have in total.

I have seen over the last 20-odd years in schools too many teachers left to their own devices. I have also had to pick up the pieces of teachers for whom their isolation in school became overwhelming. I have experienced this as a middle and senior leader as well as a union rep. This is real and it is everyone's responsibility.

Don't just assume that a teacher who doesn't come on-board immediately with the social element is simply being aloof, it could be that they simply lack confidence and feel intimidated by their experienced and apparently successful colleagues.

The emotional well-being of your colleagues should be the concern of everyone in a school. Whether you adopt a moral stance and that this concern stems from your concern for your friends and colleagues or because you recognise (more cynically) the impact on other teachers and educational outcomes when a member of staff is below par, you cannot ignore the emotional well-being of your colleagues.
 

Banter, bullying and duty of care

I mentioned in an earlier posting that perceptions are real, that irrespective of the objective truth of a situation a person's subjective experience of that same situation is "true" and completely real. This must be remembered when we think about staffroom banter.

Banter is seen by some (generally the perpetrators) as harmless, knock-about nonsense, but it is often led by someone with a  dominant personality and with a following. If this "banter" is kept within an established consensual group then perhaps these concerns are less appropriate but when the "banter" is directed towards someone else it can easily turn in to bullying. Even if "consensual" the consent may be grudgingly given to maintain the peace and also because of the dominant position the main perpetrator holds. I feel that we should apply the same criteria to banter/bullying with colleagues as we do with children. If it is repeated, non-consensual (in a truly willing way) and oppressive then banter is bullying.

School leadership has to recognise this as an issue. Schools have a duty of care towards their employees. The line between banter and bullying is easily crossed and if this is the case then action has to be taken. In addition the nature of the "banter" may quickly become discriminatory especially if the theme of the banter is around nationality, gender, sexual preference or a protected characteristic. A union official worth their salt should be all over this and making representations to school leadership and if necessary school governing bodies. Unless action is taken by school leadership then it is easy to see how the school fails in its duty of care towards its staff.

Schools can be extremely lonely places for many teachers and "banter" can make it worse. If you're the victim of banter (or aware of it) and feel it is having a detrimental effect on your well-being you must report it to your line manager or senior leadership. Keep notes, inform your union rep and make sure you are listened to. Protect your own mental health at all times.


ACAS Guidance

Blame the teachers

Contributory Stressing Factor: The Media and Public Perception

Everyone has been to school and therefore everyone's an expert on education. Does this happen anywhere else in life? I don't think so but it certainly seems the case when it comes to schools and children. The media plays an enormous part in skewing perception and acting as a mouthpiece for anyone with an axe to grind. The viewing/listening/reading public are then bombarded with views which appear (more often than not) to be damning of the teaching profession. It seems that those who want to be critical of the profession are simply louder and less reasonable than those attempting to engage in intelligent dialogue about education. An example came for me this week when watching a morning talk show where the annual teaching union conferences were being discussed. A guest was very vocal and forceful on the matter of assessment claiming that testing children as often as they are is a good thing. Irrespective of the arguments for and against testing the message was that this person knows little about assessment, teaching and learning and child psychology yet he was given a platform from which he decried the standpoints of a profession grounded in wisdom and knowledge. Unfortunately the subtext was simple, the teaching profession is full of whingers who know less about children than parents and political commentators and should be viewed with suspicion.

We know that the population is persuaded, cajoled and bullied by the media into holding views that may be contrary to instinct. I believe that most people are reasonable but are open to persuasion, and this does not necessarily have to be rational!

We all know that we teachers have short days, long holidays and easy lives and that we deserve to be an easy target. No one wants to see the real work, the 60/70 hour weeks, the stresses and pressures of our working lives, and all too often the portrayal of the profession in the media is unsympathetic and ill-informed.

Consequently teachers feel even more under-valued.

I am not suggesting that the whole of the broadcast and print media are anti-teachers, but I am suggesting that when ill-informed media outlets take a pop at teachers that there is a negative impact on not only the profession as a whole but also on individuals.

I will talk about parents as a source of stress at a later date, but consider some of the negative attitudes we deal with and ask yourself where these come from?   

Beware the staffroom

Contributory Stressing Factor: The Staffroom

We all know about the raft of external factors that heap stress upon the shoulders of teachers and in time I shall discuss these. Unfortunately there is little that individual teachers and school leaders can do to remove these stressors, OFSTED are going nowhere, DfE will keep piling pressures on schools and exam boards will continue to change specs, and so I'll leave this for now. Let's start a lot closer to home, a place that most of you would think is a source of solace rather than anxiety but for some this creates mortifying anxiety, the staffroom.

The staffroom is a crucial part of teacher life. In a job where adult company is limited it provides an oasis of grown-up conversation, social interaction, catharsis, counselling and support. Its where you can generally say what you want with lie-minded people. It is vital in the emotional well-being of staff  and yet many teachers feel excluded from staffroom life. For some the staffroom becomes a source of anxiety, an additional stressor and a no-go zone.

I can remember starting out in teaching in a large inner-city comp with over 100 teachers. I was in my 20s, some of the staff had been teaching in that school far longer than I had been on the planet. I was warned that Mr So-and-so had his own chair (whatever you do don't sit in it) and that the Maths teachers occupied one corner and that this was a no-go zone, and so on. Hardly welcoming! Now I was a little threatened but being a little older than many novice teachers I did have a go and eventually settled in, but in my early days in the school, during the days when I most needed support I felt excluded. Ask yourself, has this happened to you, have you seen this happen to others, does this happen in your school? Do all members of staff use the staffroom? Do some spend their breaks and lunchtimes in their classrooms? Do they claim they are too busy?

I appreciate that teachers are adults and that we often think they should be able to deal with new social situations, but look at it from their point of view. You may be old enough to their parents, you have been doing the job years and appear to do your job effortlessly, you get good results and you have the children eating out of your hand. How would that appear to the anxious novice? It is also worth noting that this doesn't just apply to younger, less experienced teachers. Experienced teachers may also find the staffroom intimidating and a source of further anxiety.

I know that some staff feel actively excluded from staffrooms feeling that cliques exist which exclude all newcomers. A key feature of my writing is that I believe that all perceptions are real and that if a colleague believes this then to them it is 100% real. The staffroom then becomes a further source of anxiety rather than a safe-haven. A place where banter becomes bullying and confidence is shattered.

Teachers are leaving the profession in droves. We have to all be in this together and a simple place to start addressing issues is through the mutual support that staffrooms offer.

Checklist:

• Do all staff use the staffroom?
• Are you conscious of cliques in your staffroom?
• Can you identify any colleague who appears to have "excluded" themselves from the staffroom?
• Do you actively welcome new colleagues?
• Do you have an induction process that also includes the social element?
• Do school leaders recognise that the staffroom provides key support for colleagues?

 

Dealing with multiple perceptions

On my leadership blog I wrote about the challenges of managing diverse, and often conflicting, perceptions. Some may have read this on that blog but if you are only looking at the TMM blog (and that's great if you are) you may find this useful in the context of teacher mental health.
Link to article on "perceptions" in my other blog

Please bear in mind that what may appear as trivial, unimportant, or even non-existent to you will to someone else be real.

The best job in the world... or how to make you feel a real failure

I wrote this early in 2016, however it might contain something of use to someone out there. I've also added a final paragraph with some crucial data.

I recently attended a conference for heads and listened to many great talks from experienced and dedicated heads. They were very good talks, largely inspiring and offering vast amounts of wisdom, in fact they would have been truly excellent had it not been for a couple of throw-away remarks which I believe could have had a very negative effect. In two of the talks the speakers said roughly the same thing, that this is the greatest job in the world. Now of course we could all point out that being a rock star would clearly be better (and I believe that this would be the best job in the world) and laugh this comment off as simply a bit of throwaway bravado but actually there is a danger with statements like this.

I've heard similar things throughout my teaching career, how teaching is the best job in the world, how being a head of department is the best job in the world, how being a head is the best job in the world (spot the obvious failure of simple logic?), but do we actually believe this? Now when I heard this I was feeling relatively upbeat and simply dismissed the assertion as nonsense, but I could have had two other reactions. The first is that I could believe it and think that I had the best job in the world and wasn't I lucky. The other interpretation is the one that worries me. Imagine being sat in a room of 100 peers and being told that you have the best job in the world and seeing the smug smiles and self-satisfied nodding of all those around you. Now inside you are feeling oppressed and stressed, the job's a nightmare and nothing is going your way. In fact it is a disaster, you're not coping and feel you should have stuck with your original career plans of becoming an accountant! How does the throw-away comment make you feel? Like a failure? Whilst those around you are living the dream you are simply surviving the nightmare.

At any level of the teaching profession and with any amount of experience we can constantly find ourselves daunted. We need to know that others share our own sense of inadequacy and that this is a challenge. We need to know that there are times when we hate our jobs and those for whom we work. That the world isn't rosy and that we are not saving mankind from itself.

So please think before you make a comment about whatever you do being brilliant. It may be brilliant for you, you may honestly believe you have the best job in the world but for someone else this may well be reinforcing a feeling of failure.

Just to wrap this up, and to add some flesh to the bones of this piece originally written 3 or so years ago, I would like to recommend the excellent work from Education Support, and their annual Teacher Wellbeing Index, the most recent edition having been published in November 2019. Please take a look, realise you may not be alone, and that there are people out there able to help.
 https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/resources/research-reports/teacher-wellbeing-index-2019

A few definitions

Since I want to consider a wide range of stressors for teachers over the next few weeks it is probably worth asking who is at risk from these stressors.

The simple answer is "everyone" but it is worth identifying two groups and having these at the back of our minds when looking at the main stressors.

Group 1: Those with a  diagnosed mental health problems. In my first post I showed a list basically taken from the MIND website showing some of the dominant mental health problems experienced by the population, including depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar etc.

I am sure that there are plenty of teachers out there in this group who cope perfectly well and you would not know that they had an underlying problem. However conditions can be exacerbated by stress, and there is plenty of that in the working life of a teacher.

Group 2: Those who experience stress and as a result find work harder than it ought to be, MIND page on Stress

The next few posts will consider a range of stressors that are experienced in the workplace, some will be blindingly obvious (but I'll still mention them) and others a little less so. In these posts I will state the stressor followed by a discussion and then (hopefully) some ideas about how to manage these stressors.