What are the best ways to maintain resilience as a teacher?

I think the humanity in Education for teachers have declined tremendously. I think the lack of support, understanding, humility makes educators less resilient. I think there is a great importance to look after the well-being of educators.

Having a touchstone is vital. For me the use of stoic approaches to the world, to problem solving, to conflict has helped me immensely: the first rule of teaching should always be: never take anything personally. One of my first Headmasters used to ask this question at interview: ‘a student calls you a fool, what’s your response?’ The answer shouldn’t be around the act, but rather the motivation….why did he say what he said.

As one who has questioned her resiliency (and relevance) in these challenging times, I would say that resilience in teaching comes from developing a working “tool belt” that allows you to quickly problem solve without weighing you down. Resiliency allows one to move through situations smoothly and with empathy for self and others. Resiliency is flexible enough to pause and intuitively recognize teaching moments and surface the love needed to share lessons that can be transformative for everyone’s positive learning. I have been in moments of resilience teaching and it is beautiful and naturally harmonious.

Maintaining resilience as a teacher involves cultivating a supportive network, prioritising self-care, and embracing flexibility. Reflect on successes, learn from challenges, and celebrate small victories. Continuously adapt to evolving educational landscapes, and seek professional development. Balancing passion with realistic expectations sustains resilience, ensuring a steadfast commitment to students and the teaching profession.

To maintain resilience as a teacher, it's essential to build a strong support network, set realistic expectations, and prioritize self-care. Regular professional development and reflection help in adapting and growing, while practicing gratitude and positivity can enhance overall outlook. Effective organization, setting clear work-life boundaries, and seeking feedback contribute to a balanced and sustainable teaching career. In challenging times, seeking professional help can also be crucial to maintaining mental and emotional well-being.

These insights serve as a roadmap, highlighting areas where you excel and those that require nurturing. introspection into my past experiences is invaluable. By examining the sources of stress I’ve faced, I can grasp the triggers of my resilience challenges. Reflect on how I coped; what strategies worked and what didn't. Identify the factors that aided my recovery and those that hindered it. In this process, I uncover valuable life lessons and chart a path for personal growth. It's through these self-assessment and reflections that I can build a solid foundation to bolster my resilience, making myself better equipped to confront life's inevitable hurdles.

Before teachers can maintain their resilience, it's important that they know their base level. An emotional intelligence (EI) test is a good tool to find strengths and weaknesses to discover their base level. EI requires teachers to perceive, regulate, and express their personal emotions positively in the classroom. High EI results in a higher level of resilience in teachers. Positive emotions leads to effective teaching, better classroom climate, and improved wellbeing for teachers. Teachers with high EI show more patience and resilience, which improves students' confidence and strengthen trust with the teacher. Teachers should assess their EI skills monthly or quarterly to find areas for improvement, which will improve their resilience.

These scales fit to a very narrow framework. There's a wide variety of mental, social, and physical avenues in which you can be evaluated on. The goal shouldn't be to do a single checklist but to evaluate yourself in a lot of ways. It is very easy for teachers to reflect on others. We need to remember to seriously reflect on ourselves. Be scientific and be holistic.

As a classroom teacher, regularly assessing my feelings and resilience is integral to providing effective and empathetic education. The dynamic nature of teaching can evoke a wide range of emotions. Reflecting on these emotional responses allows me to better understand the impact of my teaching on both students and myself. Furthermore, cultivating resilience is crucial in the face of inevitable setbacks and demanding situations. Assessing my resilience involves acknowledging stressors, identifying coping mechanisms, and continuously refining my ability to bounce back from challenges. By fostering emotional self-awareness and resilience

While researching this topic, I came across an article on the importance of emotional boundaries, compassion vs. empathy: what a great articulation re: emotional boundaries and safety.

Developing a growth mindset can also include finding new ways of solving problems or dealing with stressors that you may encounter. To have more resilience as a teacher you need to be flexible and open minded, don't stick to one way of solving problems, be spontaneous, try different techniques and use the ones that work as tools to strengthen your resilience in the future.

This concept is central to my teaching. I am a life-long learner and I aspire to inspire students to be life-long learners. As a special collections librarian the collections I work with become the basis of my instruction. Working with the collections, I have been writing about them over many, many, many years and growing with them and our campus community. Emma Willard who started female education in the United States developed geographic curriculum during the Early Republic with the premise that girls should learn about their neighborhood then slowly expand outward to greater knowledge… that is what I do. I become part of a greater ecosystem of learning from books, colleagues, and nature around me which gives me resilience.

I have seen first hand how vital growth mindset is to math classrooms in particular. I highly recommend every math teacher begin the year with a lesson not just about what having a growth mindset means, but about the data and research backing up the importance in breaking out of a fixed mindset. I regularly remind students that finding a problem they can't solve is just as valuable as solving it, as long as they use that moment to learn and eventually find the answer. If you haven't ever talked with your students about this, please do it tomorrow! I absolutely guarantee you will start seeing breakthroughs in some of your students that seemed disinterested or disconnected.

Understand that some people around you will use a fixed mindset and that you cannot change it. You can change yourself though. Don't lose sight of your goals even if other people do not see goals. You are in education. You get the unique chance to help other people see that they can work for growth and that as those people evolve and grow they'll reach past all the people who will not or won't. You cultivate your garden and your garden extends past you.

A growth mindset, characterized by the belief that abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work, lays the foundation for building resilience in the face of challenges. When educators embrace a growth mindset, they convey to students that setbacks are not indicators of fixed abilities but rather opportunities for growth.

Resilience is essential for teachers' well-being and effectiveness. Here are a few points to add: -Exercise mindfulness. -adaptability and flexibility - Celebrate success

Relationships and friendships are key. My father spent nearly all of his working life as a welder in the shipyards on the river Clyde in Glasgow in Scotland. This was a tough working environment where you needed a hefty dose of resilience just to survive each day. He helped to build many different types of ships: Big ships, small ships, war ships, and cruise ships including the famous QE2. However, when I asked him what he thought were the most important ships that he ever built, his answer was the relationships and friendships that he had built with his fellow workers.

I can't agree more with the role of positive socio-affective relationships in sustaining teacher resilience. A good example of this approach is the Professional Learning Communities (PLC). By involving the whole-staff in meetings where not only successes but also failures and struggles are openly shared and discussed, teachers may feel reassured that they are not the only ones in that "struggle" phase. This practice builds resilience in teachers as they feel heard, understood and guided by colleagues who have faced similar challenging experiences.

Who are the people you talk to most? Do they help you? There's a tendency to get caught up in a lot of relationships that do not help us. Some people will get upset at your success. Thankfully, tools like LinkedIn allow us to connect to more people than we ever could before. If your area does not serve to help you, reach out. People who have changed my life were outside of the school I was stuck in for many years. But they were also within it. Look everywhere to build your network. This network is the construction of your life as much as you are and your students are.

Building positive relationships is crucial for teachers, particularly in the context of fostering resilience in students. Here are four reasons why teachers should prioritize cultivating positive connections: Emotional Support and Connection: Positive teacher-student relationships provide a vital source of emotional support. In challenging times, students who feel connected to their teachers are more likely to turn to them for guidance and reassurance. Role Modeling Resilient Behavior: Teachers serve as powerful role models for students. By demonstrating resilience in their own professional and personal lives, educators inspire students to adopt a similar mindset.

We are terrible at this!!! We don’t look after ourselves, we think first of the students and look to them and their needs. See friends, exercise regularly, have hobbies, play with your children….you’re a teacher, not a martyr.

All of the elements of self-care should go on your calendar the same way your classes do and your planning does and your work tasks do. There is no lesser value to these elements that you are not directly paid for. You're employed at taking care of yourself. You're paying you for all of this. I want us all to do well and then do better. I think you should want that as well.

The fact that you are gainfully and purposefully engaged in making a difference to a generation is fulfilling and supports mental health, well being or self-care. Enjoying what you do for a living adds to your self worth. Both professional satisfaction and me time are part of self care.

Of all the things we as teachers do to survive the ongoing juggling between teaching and living our own life, there comes a time where one has to pause and reflect. I remember wise advice from a colleague: fill your own cup first (emotionally), then pour out to others who need it. Remember to take at least a half hour after school and just sit quietly. Reflect on what happend during the school day and what can be improved the next day. We can't pour from an empty cup. It's constantly calibrating and regulating ourselves. This is true as we are not just teachers, we are mentors, coaches, supporters of a school community (students and their parents).

Resilience in teaching is often tested and developed in moments when care has to be shown towards others. In educator-learner interactions, it is the educator's role to provide instruction, guidance and mentorship and to create structures for learning. These are demanding tasks. Particularly in those moments when the educator's resilience is being tested and developed, it is a good idea to remind oneself that the emotions that the situation may be bring up are valid. In other words, it is a good idea to show care towards oneself. Resilience speaks to how one responds to situations but it is not an evaluation of the educator's teaching skills.

As school leaders, this should be a huge emphasis for all of us. Teachers shouldn't have to beg to attend workshops, buy teaching materials, or get training on new materials. Here are a few ways to change the PD culture at your school: -Give every teacher a PD budget as part of their compensation package. This allows them to select how to use the funds, and encourages growth. -Bring in outside PD regularly, either in-person or virtually. Create a day of the month or quarter that is dedicated to PD. -Don't forget to offer content-specific PD. There are plenty of great workshops for "all" subjects, but there is nothing better than learning tailored specifically to your subject area.

Again, have a break from teaching. You’ll form a false feeling of superiority over students when teaching the same subject and at worst lose the empathy for students’ problems. Working for a company or in a research team can give you a healthy reality check of your actual skills and/or gives you the possibility of using your skills to full potential.

I couldn't continue to teach if I didn't seek out ways to change, to evolve, in what I do. I feel like that's the only way I can stay truly content, to always push for more. It makes it all the more shocking when I encounter people who resolutely do not want to change. The world changes. The only way we can pass the Flynn effect is if we evolve with the learning tech (and that's not all technology) of the time. We can get the advantages students enjoy in our professional practice to help them do even better.

I am very grateful that my university offered extensive supported training during the COVID lockdown for faculty. It offered anti-racist training, writing across curriculum, how to organize online courses, and a forum for faculty to give each other support. Anytime your institution offers high-quality traing so that staff and faculty are moving in a unified direct supporting student success across all student demographics it makes the institution more resilient to create transformative positive change.

Resilience in teachers is an ongoing and dynamic process, essential for their well-being and effectiveness in the ever-evolving field of education. The teaching profession often presents a myriad of challenges, from diverse student needs to changes in curriculum and classroom dynamics. Promoting self-care practices, helps teachers manage stress and maintain their physical and mental health. Flexibility in teaching strategies clear communication, problem-solving skills, and recognition of their dedication all contribute to a supportive environment ,By implementing these strategies, educational institutions can empower teachers to adapt, grow, and effectively navigate the challenges they encounter, ultimately benefiting both educators.

Resilience encompasses your ability to know your breaking point and being wise enough to pull back before you snap. Afterall the popular saying is to live to fight another day. Going blindly forward, all in the name of being resilient is foolish. Life will quickly teach us that we're not God and not responsible for every event on Earth. Last year, I took 4 days off during term time. When I got back into work, I was so grateful I did. I'd kept going, without realising I was doing myself and my students a great disservice by running on smoke! It was a break I didn't realise I needed until I took it. In resilience, be mindful that you need to remain within the boundaries of your elasticity to continue to remain resilient.

Resilience is like our shadow in the sunlight… it may be in front of you or behind you or on the right or left of you. You may not see it or notice it but it is always with us when we need it. Teachers do challenging work because it calls us. We will never have work that we cannot do if we chose to do it. This is the same with nurses, auto mechanics, and any profession that requires mind and body to serve the greater good.

If resilience partly refers to do not show anger while teaching your students then I would say ‘putting yourself in your students’ shoes’ would help.

The most important aspect is to stay focused on your and your stduents wellbeing. I was luck enough to have had eperienced and strong mentors when i first entered teaching.