E U R O P E A N L E A G U E F O R M I D D L E L E V E L E D U C A T I O N
Take Good Care of Yourself | Mindfulness as Teacher Self-Care
By Jennifer Wood with Christa Turksma
Taking good care of yourself is sometimes easier said than done. What does teacher self-care mean to you? A healthy snack or brisk walk at break time? A hot drink during the staff meeting or a long holiday? A hot bath, listening to music, sleeping in, yoga?
In my seventh year of teaching, I was diagnosed with tinnitus and introduced to mindfulness practice as a way to reduce stress in the body and mind. Based in Germany, I learned that tinnitus is categorized as a stress-related, psychosocial condition and not to be ignored. Many teachers suffer from tinnitus, which is often described as a ringing in the ears or a sound of wind from deep inside the ears. In most cases, the condition does not go away completely, but it can be managed, which is where mindfulness comes in! The first practices I learned were mindful breathing and walking— practices I could use anywhere, anytime to create just enough space and stability to think more clearly when I felt stressed. Breathing and walking are rituals I now use daily, and just the beginning of new approach to taking care of myself, personally and professionally.
What is mindfulness? In a recent New York Times article, Jon Kabat-Zinn has defined mindfulness meditation as“ the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.” By focusing on the breath, the idea is to cultivate attention on the body and mind moment to moment, and so help with pain, both physical and emotional.
Nurturing Resilience in Educators The Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education( CARE) professional development program was created by a team of educators and researchers working with the Garrison Institute. Developers( Patricia Jennings, Christa Turksma, Richard Brown) implemented and revised the program numerous times during its early implementations. CARE was created to help teachers cultivate the skills they need to promote a calm, relaxed and enlivened learning environment that can prepare children for the future by fostering creativity, innovation, collaboration and cooperation. This sort of classroom requires a teacher who is fully aware and present as they teach and interact with students, colleagues and families. CARE provides teachers with the tools to achieve this and it’ s not just for teachers. Administrators, school staff and volunteers can also benefit.
The CARE program includes three primary content areas presented in a series of four day-long sessions over several months.
Emotion Skills Instruction Emotional exhaustion is a primary contributor to teacher burnout and can interfere with teacher performance. To help teachers build emotional resilience, CARE training introduces emotion knowledge and skills, combined with direct instruction and experiential activities. This knowledge and experience helps teachers understand, recognize, and regulate emotional responses in themselves, as well as students, colleagues, families.
Reflective practices and role-plays support teachers’ recognition of emotional states and exploration of their own“ emotional landscape” – including emotional habitual patterns, triggers, tendencies and reactivity profiles.
! 18