What Teachers Need to Know About Personal Wellbeing PDF
Preview What Teachers Need to Know About Personal Wellbeing
What teachers need to know about Personal wellbeing What teachers need to know about Personal wellbeing DE B R A F E R G U S O N ACER Press First published 2008 by ACER Press, an imprint of Australian Council for Educational Research Ltd 19 Prospect Hill Road, Camberwell Victoria, 3124, Australia www.acerpress.com.au Contents Preface ix 1 Wellbeing and stress 1 What is stress? 2 Positive stress 2 Negative stress 3 Stress for educators 3 Workplace stress needs to be taken seriously 4 Our physical reaction to stress 5 What is resilience? 6 Taking personal responsibility for change 7 Being true to your values 8 Making the decision to create changes 11 Failure only comes through not trying anything at all 11 Having the power to change our habits 12 Summary 13 Further reading 13 2 Wellbeing through resilience 14 Taking responsibility for your wellbeing 14 Personal power 15 Feeling in control 16 Moving from your comfort zone into your courage zone 17 Training your mind like you train your body – learning optimism 20 The power of negative self-talk 20 Creating a wellbeing structure to keep yourself safe 21 The power of optimism 22 Finding the balance between optimism and pessimism 25 Reactions versus response 26 v vi C O N T E N T S Summary 27 Further reading 27 3 Wellbeing through energy management 28 Energy and time 29 Important and urgent 30 The question ‘Why?’ 30 Interruptions 32 Your needs versus everyone else’s 33 Oxygen depleters are life depleters 34 Procrastination is a time waster 36 Rumination 39 Finding an energy balance 42 Summary 43 Further reading 44 4 Wellbeing and communication 45 The art of communication 45 Your personal power 46 The types of communication 49 Being passive in life 49 Using aggression to communicate 51 Passive-aggressive behaviour 52 Effective and healthy communication by being assertive 53 Other important forms of healthy communication 59 Communicating under stress 63 Electronic communication 65 Summary 66 Further reading 67 5 Wellbeing and conflict 68 The need for confl ict management 68 The cost of confl ict 69 Power and confl ict 70 Blaming wastes energy 73 Responding to confl ict 74 Workplace bullying – a more serious form of confl ict 78 C O N T E N T S vii Summary 79 Further reading 80 6 Wellbeing and setting goals 81 Setting goals – why bother? 82 Fear and change 83 Regret and mistakes 84 Living in your comfort zone versus courage zone 85 It’s all about you 87 Your challenge 89 Summary 90 Further reading 91 7 Wellbeing and balance 92 The power of being proactive in your life and valuing your wellbeing 93 The power to be guided by your values 94 The power to be honest with yourself 94 The power to learn the art of patience 95 The power to live in the present 96 The power to keep things simple 96 The power to nourish yourself with good food, oxygen, exercise and rest 97 The power to protect yourself from oxygen depleters 101 The power to have more fun 101 The power to be courageous in life 102 Further reading 103 References 105 Index 107 Preface Think of all the times at a celebration when we raise our glasses and toast to ‘health and happiness’; however, for many teachers, this sense is becoming more elusive. Teachers are now working longer hours than ever before and have greater expectations put on them by government, the community, schools, students and parents. No wonder for many, their health and happiness is diminishing. Although teachers may have joined the profession for genuinely altruistic reasons such as wanting to make a difference, investing in the new generation, to inspire and to be part of children evolving and growing, the reality is that additional expectations beyond classroom teaching have left many feeling disillusioned, overwhelmed and stressed. Teachers are renowned for putting their needs last and although this may be a natural response in the short term, the long-term consequences can be damaging to health and wellbeing. If you are feeling this way, this book is a step to help you evaluate what is happening in your work and life. It’s about making your life easier, more fulfi lled and productive. Life is too short to be unwell, unhappy or be negatively affected by other people’s behaviour or expectations. Everybody has both a responsibility for their own wellbeing and the personal power to make changes if they choose. Awareness is the key – of yourself and of others. The benefi ts of this are immeasurable – for yourself, your family and your work. Simply reading this book will provide you with some insight into wellbeing; however, to bring about real change it is suggested that you work through the challenges and decide what you need to practise. Because we are focusing on awareness and prevention of stressors, we know we can do something about them through strengthening our resilience. Deciding how much energy we are prepared to give each situation gives us a sense of control that can be reinforced by healthy communication. Wellbeing ix
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