Teacher Survival
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Teacher Survival A Practical Human Values Approach to Professional Fulfilment and Happiness Dr. Margaret Taplin Sathya Sai Education in Human Values Published in 2007 by: Institute of Sathya Sai Education Limited, Suites 1517 – 1522, Two Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Hong Kong All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by an means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed by: Cover Design by: Vics Magsaysay Book Design by: Babita Mahtani ISBN 962–8430–08–4 Published in 2008 FOREWORD “The place where true teachers and students are gathered should be filled with serene peace and orderliness. On the contrary, we find today that where students gather, fear and insecurity prevail. Peace and order are not to be seen. Students whose hearts should be soft and compassionate have become hard-hearted and violent. Humility, reverence, compassion, forbearance, sacrifice, and sense control are the qualities which reveal the outcome of true education.” “Teachers are reservoirs from which, through the process of education, students draw the water of life. Only if there is water in the tank can you get water in the tap. If the tank is dry, how can you draw water from the tap?” “You have it in your power to make your days on Earth a path of flowers, instead of a path of thorns.” - Sathya Sai Baba These quotations from Sathya Sai Baba, the founder of the Sathya Sai Education in Human Values Programme, describe the cover of this book and the book’s purpose. Teaching has the capacity to be a joyful, fulfilling profession, but unfortunately these days too many teachers are finding it to be a path of thorns because of the many pressures they face. A teacher who is exhausted and suffering from stress cannot be happy or fulfilled, and has little to give to students, colleagues or anyone else. The purpose of this book is to give teachers hope by sharing some strategies that have worked, to help them to get out of the thorns and back onto the path of flowers. iii Too busy to read another book? If so, go directly to Part 1 “You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.” – Jim Rohn iv CONTENTS Introduction / vii Stress And Teaching / 1 Part 1 Some Common Teacher Stressors And How Teachers Have Survived Them Bullying/violence / 6 Coping with special needs pupils / 10 Exhaustion / 13 Extra-curricula activities / 16 Feeling angry / 18 Feeling burnt out/lacking a sense of mission as a teacher / 21 Guilt / 23 Having to pretend/act/give 100% even when you don’t feel like it / 24 Lack of support by senior colleagues / 26 Low achievement / 30 Parents / 32 Problems with colleagues / 34 Pupils who won’t participate / 37 Rebellious, disrespectful students / 39 Repercussions of stress on family / 45 Students coming late / 46 Theft / 47 Time (never enough!)/excessive workload / 49 Uncontrollable class / 51 Unlikeable children / 54 v Part 2 Theory Explaining Why The Teachers’ Strategies Worked Chapter 1 Reflecting On Your Own Values / 56 Chapter 2 Controlling How We See, Hear and Speak To Students / 58 Chapter 3 Peace / 62 Chapter 4 Silent Sitting and Creative Visualisation / 73 Chapter 5 Loving Students Even In Their Unlikeable Moments / 83 Chapter 6 Raising Students’ Self-Esteem / 103 Chapter 7 Diamond Of The Week / 116 Chapter 8 Combatting Bullying Through Strategies of Truth, Right Action, Peace, Love and Non-Violence / 132 Chapter 9 3HV: The Harmony of Head, Heart and Hands / 141 Chapter 10 Raising Teachers’ Self-Esteem: An Educare Approach To Caring For Teachers / 148 Chapter 11 Forgiving and Letting Go / 158 vi INTRODUCTION I have more power to turn the situation around than I thought. Some of these practices had almost become habits even before I attended the workshop. However, the workshop helped to reinforce them and now they appear to be more powerful. I find them very useful in leading me through a life that sometimes appears to be rather chaotic. Every day I am so pre-occupied with work and there is hardly any space for reflection. With such practice I know what are the most important things in life and living, and there is always a temple for retreat inside me. Comments from teachers who attended one of our workshops on “The Educare Approach to Nurturing Yourself as a Teacher” T HE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK eachers need to be nurtured. We ask a lot of teachers these days – Tthey need to be subject experts, nurturers, record-keepers, administrators, social workers and role models. Many need to cope with students who are disrespectful, and refuse to do any work in class, much less their homework, and who face pressures that make them feel that they are struggling to keep up all the time. Recently I was observing a very good, committed teacher who had a wonderful rapport with her class. I was very impressed by her smiling face, her calm, unruffled manner, and the way she projected patience and peace to her class. I commented to her about how impressed I was but she replied, “I have to be like this because if I am not the pupils will complain to their parents and then the parents will also complain.” When I probed further she admitted that there is often a mismatch between the calmness she is expected to show on the outside and the stress and pressure she is feeling on the inside. This is not a recipe for continued good health for her! On one hand, most teachers want to make a difference to the lives of their pupils – on the other hand the stresses of teaching today can often lead to burnout, and it is very difficult for a burnt-out teacher to be able to fulfil any of the above roles well and consistently. Even the ones who consider teaching as a vocation or a mission need support. The purpose vii Introduction of this book, therefore, is to explore some ways in which teachers can unlock their own inner strengths and values in such a way that will make it easier for them to interact with their pupils and colleagues, and hence make it easier for them to become role models to help their pupils and colleagues to do the same. It is to be hoped that, in doing so, teachers will become happier and more fulfilled in their jobs and in their lives in general. E DUCARE The philosophy underpinning this book is Sathya Sai Education in Human Values (SSEHV). Its goals are: 1. to bring out human excellence at all levels: character, academic, and “being”; 2. the all-round development of the individual (the heart as well as the head and the hands); 3. to help individuals to know who they are; 4. to help people to realise their full potential; and 5. to develop attitudes of selfless service. The main focus is on children, but the same philosophies are appropriate for adults. SSEHV promotes five universal, secular human values: Truth, Right Conduct, Peace, Love and Non-violence (see below), with the ultimate goal of developing the ‘whole’ student, not only the cognitive and physical aspects. Five universal values and sub-values accuracy, curiosity, discrimination, honesty, human TRUTH understanding, intergrity, self-reflection, sincerity courage, dependability, determination, efficiency, RIGHT ACTION endurance, healthy living, independence, initiative, perseverance calmness, concentration, contentment, equanimity, PEACE optimism, self-acceptance, self-discipline, self-esteem compassion, consideration, forgiveness, humaneness, LOVE interdependence, selflessness, tolerance benevolence, co-operation, concern for ecological NON-VIOLENCE balance, respect for diversity, respect for life, respect for property viii Introduction The first value is Truth, which encompasses values such as accuracy, curiosity, discrimination, honesty, human understanding, integrity, self- reflection, and sincerity. The second is Right action, which refers to values such as courage, dependability, determination, efficiency, endurance, healthy living, independence, initiative, and perseverance. The third is Peace, which includes calmness, concentration, contentment, equanimity, optimism, self-acceptance, self-discipline, self-esteem, and balance of nature and technology. The fourth value is Love, which incorporates compassion, consideration, forgiveness, humaneness, interdependence, selflessness, and tolerance. The fifth value is Non-violence. This is the ultimate aim and refers to values such as benevolence, co-operation, concern for ecological balance, respect for diversity, respect for life, respect for property, and unity. These values are all inter-related and inter-dependent. Love is in fact considered to be the basis of character and encompasses all of the other values: love in thought is truth, love in feeling is peace, love in understanding is non-violence, and love in action is right action (Jumsai, 1997, p.103). The term Educare is used to capture the essence of SSEHV. This is concerned with reaching deeply into the higher levels of consciousness and bringing out the values and divinity that are inherent there. The following statement outlines the essence of Educare: “Educare is not the learning from books by rote, to be vomited in the examination halls. But it is the learning from life, which is absorbed into living and transforming. This gives a new meaning to dull mathematics and geography, a new vitality to language, cosmic understanding to science and an enhanced beauty to music and art. It is not to be stuffed from without into the ears of innocent children. Rather it comes from within. It is the release of the inherent intuition and divinity, which is within every individual.