Never has the theme of wellbeing been so much in vogue! And it's really no surprise why. The presence and prevalence of the wellbeing 'movement' is growing fast among the teaching profession and beyond. As teachers, we have one of the most privileged and fulfilling roles - to nurture, engage, inspire, and motivate the children we teach. It's a profession full of dedicated, talented people who commit so much of themselves striving to make a difference, to have an impact.
"A leading educational psychologist is urging schools to stop thinking of wellbeing as another subject to be taught. Instead, she is urging them to create healthier schools where students naturally develop wellbeing and a love of learning.
Dr. Helen Street, an Honorary Research Fellow with The University of Western Australia's Graduate School of Education, has released a new book, Contextual Wellbeing: creating positive schools from the inside out, which offers a practical framework for building a healthy, equitable social context in schools."
We are a happy and stable staff, and my colleagues are a fabulous group of people who look after each other and genuinely care about one another. We have an experienced leadership team, and always aim to take account of how people are feeling and the pressure they are under when trying new approaches and changes to practice. Even so, it has become more and more clear that workload is becoming untenable and wellbeing is suffering a result. I feel that we have felt obligated at times to put policies in place that seem to be there to collect evidence for Ofsted rather than solely to improve the learning of the children in our care. We want to change this.
"In his new book, Adrian Bethune explores different angles of the life of children who are of primary-school age. For example, in a fascinating first chapter, Bethune examines our tribal roots, tapping into our pupils' primitive social instincts and their powerful effects on wellbeing and ability to learn. Citing the work of Louis Cozolino (Click here to view The Social Neuroscience of Education: Optimizing Attachment and Learning in the Classroom by Louis Cozolino on Amazon UK - worthy of a read itself) a tribal classroom embodies tribal qualities including a tribal leader, cooperation, teamwork, equality, fairness, trust and strong personal relationships. Such qualities enable everyone to feel valued and a feeling of a big family, helping secure positive relationships - the role of the teacher in this relationship is to help pupils feel like they belong, which is fundamental to learning. Developing this tribal theme, Bethune the proceeds to share ideas to be implemented in the primary classroom to help cultivate such positive relationships, including the design of a team flag, greetings and endings, teaching social skills, and building humour and games into the setting."
"Going to the library gives people the same kick as getting a raise does - a £1,359 ($ 2,282) raise, to be exact - according to a study commissioned by the U.K.'s Department for Culture, Media & Sport. The study, which looks at the ways "cultural engagement" affects overall wellbeing, concluded that a significant association was found between frequent library use and reported wellbeing. The same was true of dancing, swimming and going to plays. The study notes that "causal direction needs to be considered further" - that is, it's hard to tell whether happy people go to the library, or going to the library makes people happy. But either way, the immortal words of Arthur the Aardvark ring true: "Having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card!""
Watch #UKEdChat After Hours with teacher and author Abbie Mann. She discusses with
Martin Burrett about #Wellbeing and her new book, Live Well, Learn Well.
"With a major focus on wellbeing and mental-health among many communities around the UK, staff and pupils at Bradford Grammar School are taking things one step further, with a 'Spotlight on Happiness' focusing on actions that can improve the mental resilience of all.
In tandem with the England government's pledge of £1.25 billion to improve children and young people's mental health services, the Department of Health and NHS England published 'Future in mind', with a proposal to encourage schools to continue to develop 'whole school approaches' to promoting emotional well-being and mental health."
"We all have mental health. Talk around mental health should be high priority in schools and we have to start with ourselves, realising that mental health is a continuum; it is not static. Positive mental health is a gift, one that should not be taken for granted, and wellbeing is something that needs to be worked at, just like physical health. "
"Mentally healthy schools are schools that pay ongoing and dedicated attention to the emotional wellbeing of both students and staff and put in place policies and interventions to ensure that students and staff feel cared for, listened to, understand, nurtured and valued for what each of them, individually bring to the school community."
"Participating in yoga and mindfulness activities at school helps third-graders exhibiting anxiety improve their wellbeing and emotional health, according to a new Tulane University study published in the journal Psychology Research and Behavior Management."
""Reduce teacher workload!" can be heard up and down the country, in staffrooms and online. The truth is it's one of the simplest things that schools can do to help retain staff and maintain their wellbeing.
That being said, however, some schools aren't doing all they can to remove unnecessary burdens. Those who have done so, enjoy rave reviews on Twitter and elsewhere, which of course doesn't do them any harm when it comes to recruiting and retaining excellent staff. The best staff know their worth and will inevitably leave the school earlier than they would've done if they feel that another school would trust them and let them just get on with the real job of teaching. Even the Department for Education has begun to take note of the issue, identifying some key areas where schools can reduce teacher workload."
"We often talk about the challenges of teacher recruitment and retention, about new initiatives and political landscapes, but day in, day out, teachers and schools are delivering exceptional teaching and most of it is invisible.
Ross uncovers, celebrates, analyses and disseminates best practice in teaching. This is supported by case studies and research undertaken by Ross in ten primary and secondary schools across Great Britain, including a pupil referral unit and private, state and grammar schools, as well as explanations from influential educationalists as to why and how these ideas work. Ross explores the issues of marking and assessment, planning, teaching and learning, teacher wellbeing, student mental health, behaviour and exclusions, SEND, curriculum, research-led practice and CPD."
"Evidence suggests that developing cooking and food preparation skills is important for health and nutrition, yet the practice of home cooking is declining and now rarely taught in school. A new study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior found that developing cooking skills as a young adult may have long-term benefits for health and nutrition."
"Well-being has moved up the political and managerial agenda as well-being concerns have grown. In many schools 'over-doing it' has become a badge of honour and created an unsustainable arms-race of burn-out. But will this renewed focus by educational leaders make any difference? Does it need to, or sure we be responsible for our own well-being and for those around us?"
"Performance targets, increased workload, curriculum changes and other bureaucratic changes are eroding teachers' professional identity and harming their mental health, a new study in Educational Review finds.
The study's authors interviewed 39 teachers across England and Wales who had experienced long term absence from work due to mental health problems, and six head, deputy and assistant head teachers who had dealt with mental health problems among staff."
"This is a proposal with many good ideas gained from different places (Facebook and Twitter) that could be put to school leaders/governors to try and integrate staff well-being into the school policies. Just add in you school name in the gaps and add your name at the bottom!"
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