THE NEW NORMAL a unique opportunity to redefine our relationships with greater grace , and to better understand and address the emotional factors at work in our classrooms and schools during this time of heightened anxiety .
The Liminal Season
Over the past two years as I worked through two leadership transitions amidst the pandemic , I found the work of William Bridges to be enormously helpful . Bridges outlines three distinct phases of transition : what was , what is to be , and the “ liminal ” season between the two . In most transitions there are clear demarcations : a school Head announces their departure , there ’ s a period of uncertainty , then the new Head comes in . The school year has clear demarcations : graduation , summer , a new beginning . With the pandemic we ’ ve entered new territory . We know that what was ended in March 2020 , and we ’ re getting glimmers of what will be as vaccines roll out , but we remain in a constantly shifting liminal season of inbetween . This liminal season has been longer than most of us have ever experienced , with the attendant anxiety and stress , and is likely to go on for a while longer . Everyone in our school communities has had a different experience of the pandemic , and school leaders have heard from every constituency about what normal should look like and when it should return .
Our Age of Anxiety
The term “ age of anxiety ” was coined in the aftermath of World War 2 , but we are certainly living in our own age of anxiety . What so many feel today did not begin in March 2020 . In any discussion of anxiety , it ’ s
We have before us a unique opportunity to redefine our relationships with greater grace , and to better understand and address the emotional factors at work in our classrooms and schools during this time of heightened anxiety .
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important to distinguish between situational and chronic anxiety . Situational anxiety can be useful : we have an article to finish , or a bus is bearing down on us as we cross the street . The most ancient , instinctual part of our brain , the amygdala , takes over , releases adrenaline and cortisol , and gets us moving . Chronic anxiety , on the other hand , is always simmering in the background , still activating the amygdala and releasing stress hormones , often out of our awareness .
While the concepts outlined in this article are not specific to any one group , it is important to keep in mind that marginalized communities have experienced chronic anxiety born of trauma and injustice for generations . Studies have shown that this intergenerational trauma can affect every aspect of life , even before adding our current anxieties . Research into trauma notes the importance of ACEs , or Adverse Childhood Experiences . The pandemic adds yet one
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