Developing Resilience

Developing Resilience

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

― Nelson Mandela

When I was teaching in the Educational Psychology unit at UC, I constantly referred to the need to develop resilience. Teaching is a hard job (another thing I said in every single tute, much to my students' amusement!); and time and again I see teachers move out of teaching (or break down) because they are not resilient. As I mentioned in my last post, I left for different reasons, but I could just as easily have quit in my first year.

I truly believe that a positive attitude and resilience will get you through just about anything, and as I promised my nearly-teachers; if they were in teaching for the right reasons, they would be OK if they were also resilient. Below are some points from a handout I gave my students. I will elaborate on these points in future posts, but I hope they will give you some food for thought.

Self-esteem 

Remind yourself regularly of your strengths and accomplishments.

Self-Esteem by Kiran Foster Under CC BY 2.0

Purpose

Do something that you believe in, that means something to you.

Get involved in your community.

Do volunteer work.

Cultivate your faith/spirituality (if that’s important to you).

Relationships

Nurture your relationships with your friends and family.

Find people you can talk to about your problems.

Ask for and accept help.

Change

Anticipate change – especially in education!

Embrace change.

Cultivate a flexible approach.

Learn to adapt to new and surprising situations.

Optimism

Be hopeful.

Be grateful.

Appreciate the good things in life, no matter how small.

Express all kinds of emotions.

Don’t dwell on only negative emotions.

Health & Well-being

Get enough sleep.

Eat well.

Exercise, stay active.

Make time for fun.

Problem-solving

Develop your problem-solving skills.

Puzzle, think.

OK by Horia Varlan Under CC BY 2.0

Goals

Set short and long-term goals for yourself.

Do something regularly that contributes to your goals.

Check in your goals regularly.

Keep learning

Some setbacks can be good learning opportunities.

In future posts, I'd like to share with you some of my experiences in developing these areas. I hope they will be of some help to you.

With thanks to the resources listed below for some ideas.

http://psychcentral.com/lib/10-tips-to-build-resilience/0001146

http://www.flinders.edu.au/current-students/healthandcounselling/self-help/how-to-build-up-your-resilience.cfm 

Do you think they make me look smarter?

Nah, you can still see your face...

Do you remember that line from Grease? In that scene, Rizzo was talking about Frenchie's glasses. I'm talking about degrees. Or more specifically my degrees.

As you know, this semester I started my Masters. A lot of people, when I tell them, say "oh no, how can you study? I hated uni", and stuff like that.

But I actually do like it. I love learning new things, and studying at university is one way to do that. Yes, it takes up some time that I could probably do other things (watch TV? Housework?), but I do quite enjoy it. People talk about how long it takes, and how boring it is, and how they can learn new stuff without getting a piece of paper to go with it. And they probably have a good point. I guess I like that bit of paper. That little bit of recognition (am I still craving my little bit of fame perhaps? Left over from my 'I wanna be a movie star' days?)

Yesterday, Yong Zhao, a well respected educator and academic, came to talk to some of the principals, teachers and office staff here in the ACT. I was so inspired and captivated by him, I watched his presentation 3 times.

And those three times, while there was some of the same content, he managed to spin it around and make it relevant to whoever was sitting in the room. He had everyone in the palm of his hand. He was truly a great speaker. Perhaps one day I'll tell you about some of his ideas about the future of education.

But the reason, I think, that he was so great is that he's a really smart guy. A smart guy that knows how to talk to people. To make them think, to make them laugh. A guy that knows his stuff, and has a good answer to every possible question someone might throw at him.

I don't think I'm that smart. I wish I was, I really do. I'd love to be someone like him, that travels the world inspiring people to do really great things.

But the truth is, I'm not.

It's not that I'm dumb. I know a lot of stuff, and I have experienced many things. But I just don't think I have that 'total package' of above-average intelligence, as well as a knack with words. Spoken words especially (have I told you about my tendency to let my mouth run way ahead of my brain?)

So perhaps that's why I study. Not because I want to be smarter, but perhaps because I feel I need to prove myself (hence the piece of paper). That I can't (like some of the amazing people I work with, and have worked with in the past) absorb new ideas and information or naturally do really amazing, innovative things. For me to really understand things (some of the things some of the people mentioned here seem to grasp instantly and easily), I need to read, to write, to throw all the ideas together on a page and move them around until they make sense to me.
And don't get me wrong, I do that pretty well. I got great marks all through my Bachelor's degree, and so far, so good with the Masters. I'm not trying to put myself down, I just wish that I had a bit more of the....well I don't even know what to call it!

Actually, I would like to be really great at something. Anything. Yong said yesterday that to be really great at something, it takes 10000 hours. I'm not sure if I've put 10000 hours into anything in my life. Perhaps that's why. I've done lots (and lots) of things in my life, taken up lots (and lots) of different hobbies, but there hasn't really been anything that I've been great at, or so passionate about that I would devote that kind of time to it.

Ken Robinson talks about finding your element (great book by the way, if you get the chance, have a look at it). The thing that you love doing and that you do really well. He says that when we find our element, we can achieve great things. I have a feeling that my element is something to do with teaching. I'm just not sure what type of teaching: kids, adults, monkeys...who knows? Or maybe learning. Because I love learning. I do it well. Sometimes in very short bursts, but I always do it well.

All I know is that I walked out of there yesterday with a desire to study even more. Ideas for PhD topics have been popping up in my head all day! But I guess it's best to finish my Masters first!

International Women's Day (and thank you teachers)

I've never been much of an outspoken feminist, but I've never put up with anything (or anyone) that says 'you're not a man, so you're no good'. I've always told off the boys who made throwaway sexist remarks, but that's the extent of my feminist leanings.

There have been a few times in my life when I've done something that I wasn't expected to do because I was female. I was always surprised when I got that reaction, because I was just trying to do things that interest me.

Like when I was in high school. As they still do, in year 9 and 10, schools give you a choice of elective subjects. While I was interested in cooking and did that elective, I was also interested in metal work, so I signed up for that for a while too.
I was the only girl in the class, but got along really well with the boys in there. The girls, of course, gave me a hard time, but I didn't really care. I enjoyed it, and I did pretty well too (god knows what I ever did with the plumb bob that I made!)

And then when I had worked at the cinema for a while, I decided that I'd like to be a projectionist. I was fascinated with the projectors and the way the sound worked, and how everything worked so well together. Plus, at the time it was the closest I was going to get to working in the movie industry (I had vague ambitions of going into film editing, then directing).
When I asked about it, everyone told me that 'women aren't projectionists'. Full stop. They couldn't tell me why, except that the boxes of film were really heavy. They were, but only as heavy as a child. So managable.

Being the stubborn sort that I am, I nagged persevered; putting the pressure on until finally they decided to give me a go. Apparently, I was the first woman in Australia to take on the job.
And, once again, I was good at it. I was really good at it. In a couple of years, I had been promoted to head protectionist, and was training everyone else.
Eventually, I got sick of the solitude. I don't think that was a necessarily 'female' problem, more of a 'Mel' problem. I like people. So I moved back downstairs into management (which I also did very well, thank you!), and then went off to uni.

Funnily enough, I'm now working in one of the most female dominated professions in the world. Teaching.


And today, on International Women's Day, I'd like to salute teachers. Especially female ones, but really every teacher.

As you know, I have moved away from the classroom. For me, it was too big an investment of my time, and most of all, my emotional energy. I might return there soon. But probably not to a primary school classroom.

Secondary teachers have to deal with ratty teenagers and all that's associated with them, but being a primary school teacher is hard work! You are responsible for a group of up to 35 students for a whole year. Their 'life' is in your hands for that whole year. If you don't get them where they need to be by the end of that year, it's your fault. You may have changed the course of their life.

It sounds dramatic, and it probably is (this is me we're talking about!), but sometimes it is like that. There is so much pressure from so many directions: the community at large, the principal, the education department, other teachers, the students, and most of all, parents.

But teachers do it every day. And all the teachers I know do it really well. And it's not just teaching kids to read and write, it's a whole lot more: social skills, appreciation of the world beyond theirs, art, music, performance, maths, manners, ICT skills, problem solving, critical thinking, environmental responsibility, science, languages, construction...etc. For some students, teachers provide their only smile for the day, a compliment, a meal...

I couldn't do it. It was too much pressure, too much responsibility. Perhaps because of Sam. But maybe it would have happened anyway.

So I take my hat off to everyone who can. So often, you're told what you're not doing right. Today I'd like to tell you what you are doing right. You're teaching. You're doing a job that everyone thinks they know how to do, but probably couldn't. Especially not for the money they'd earn for doing it.

Well done teachers. You are awesome.