Is Overwhelm Unavoidable?

Is Overwhelm Unavoidable?

I remember at the end of my NQT year thinking, how do people have a life and do this job? Then comes your RQT year and wow it is suddenly a whole new ball game. You begin to wonder what you used to do during your NQT year without action plans, book scans, leading CPD and staff clinics. You don’t remember swimming in free time back then but surely you must have been without this endless list of jobs to do on top of your normal class teacher responsibilities. And my friends, it just carries on like this the same tune, different lyrics for every step up that teaching ladder you go, you wonder what on earth you did before you had all these responsibilities.

Now let me begin by saying, I love a challenge and often throw myself into things which most people would put on the back burner. I never let being busy put me off signing up for new opportunities which is great in some respects, I am on the board of a Charity, I signed up for an NPQSL in the midst of a pandemic (jury is still out on if that was a good idea, I will keep you posted) because of my need for progress. But let me stop right there and say that I do not recommend this way of working because I also often frequent the house of my good pal burn-out. I keep going and going and going until I flop.

As a teacher though, I realised that just because you take on a new challenge it rarely means your old responsibilities aren’t still there for you to pick up. Teaching is a constant juggling act you could liken to riding a bike. Your training years you have the stabilisers on and then you graduate to an NQT and ride independently, by your RQT year someone has thrown you a subject or two to juggle whilst riding and as the years go by OFSTED and action plans provide hoops of fire for you to ride through, new government guidance is like riding up a steep hill in the mud and you get the gist… it’s hard work. That is without a global pandemic being thrown in for good measure. So how do we survive this or perhaps even thrive?

I would love to be able to look to our seniors, the ones with the experience perhaps also in leadership to guide us through this. However, I think in terms of burn out and wellbeing they can actually be the worst culprits, often burning the candle at both ends with staff feeling like they have to follow suit. If we look up to those leading us, they are exhausted, look at the NQT’s trying to keep up with this ever changing educational climate and they are shattered. So, is overwhelm unavoidable as a teacher? Is it just a profession that is not sustainable anymore?

If you read that last paragraph thinking, oh this is where we get all the answers, then unfortunately you are wrong. I don’t have the answers. I think it is clear by now what does NOT work.  You cannot just throw a mandatory staff yoga session at the problem, and if you are a leader and reading this article with that solution on your action plan, please take it off.  Your staff need rest and time to do what makes them sparkle not be forced into sessions to tick a box.

Overwhelm as a teacher has never been more apparent than in our current global situation. As the rest of the world slowed down in this pandemic, we did not. Teachers, despite the horrific and unacceptable media narrative, kept going. We worked longer, harder and more passionately than ever before to make sure that our children got the absolute best we could provide. It took the Government six weeks to set up their online learning, most of us did that in a day, turning our hand to things we have never done before like video lessons and online content. Whilst this is all admirable and makes me proud to be a teacher it does remind me that we often push ourselves to the limit, or beyond, for the children and communities we serve but where will that leave us?

They say to always put on your own oxygen mask before you help others and so I firmly believe at the top of every school action plan should be staff wellbeing because, above all else, that will have the maximum impact on the children. 

Luckily there are SO many amazing people pioneering the wellbeing, self-care movement and we have been lucky enough to have some of them contribute to The Secret Staffroom. I am still learning myself in how to look after my own wellbeing to avoid overwhelm but I can offer a few tips that I have picked up along the way. 

1.  Find something you LOVE doing and literally put it into your diary like a staff meeting. Don't let things pull you away from it as much as possible. 
2. Pick at least 2 (3 if you can) days where you leave school early and leave your guilt behind too! Healthy teachers are happy teachers and happy teachers make better educators. In the long run, this will benefit your kids!
3. Learn to rest - I am still working on this one myself but find something to do each evening when you've left school that switches your brain from teacher mode to civilian. Yoga, meditation, cocktail making, no judgement here, whatever you need to do to make that break at the end of the working day. 

Look after yourself and never forget what a huge difference you are making!