Teacher wellbeing during remote learning: ideas from positive psychology

As we face into another period of remote learning, well-being must be a priority for everyone in the school community, including teachers. Adapting to distance learning, trying to find suitable resources, worrying about vulnerable students, setting boundaries while working from home and having to juggle unrealistic expectations are just some of the challenges teachers are facing at the moment. Teachers are usually very focused on meeting the needs of their students, both academically and in terms of well-being. This often means that they neglect their own well-being in the process. Yet research shows that teacher well-being is linked to so many successful outcomes for students (McCallum, Price, Graham, Morrison, 2017.)

Eleanor Brownn’s words “Self-care is not selfish, you cannot pour from an empty cup” have never been truer for teachers than at the moment. It is not selfish to prioritise your well-being – in fact, you should think of it as a sign of strength. When you feel at your best – energised, rested and replenished – you can then give your best to your students. Here are some ideas based on the field of Positive Psychology, which is the science of well-being, to help you to do just that.

Connect, connect, connect.

Positive relationships are one of the pillars of Positive Psychology (Seligman, 2011). We are social creatures by nature, and teaching is an inherently social activity. Moments of connection with our students and colleagues really sustain us and bring us joy, fulfilment and fun. The sense of camaraderie in teaching is wonderful and I know it kept me going through many challenges in my own teaching career. Now, just when teachers and school staff need it most, it’s gone. That means making a huge effort to stay connected, socially as well as professionally, in whatever way possible through the weeks ahead. Perhaps consider a short social ‘Coffee & Chat’ session on Friday afternoons to end the week on a positive note, with Zoom or whatever platform your school uses. This could be done in groups or year levels for large staffs. I’ve also heard of some schools that have a Well-Being WhatsApp group (optional to join) for staff to stay connected and share ideas on what is helping them at the moment, as well as jokes, recipes, movie and Netflix recommendations of course! At a management level, consider a daily check-in system for staff, to see how they are doing and to offer support and appreciation. Feeling valued and supported like this is vital for staff well-being, and is particularly important when people are isolated and stressed. Small gestures of kindness, gratitude and support go a long way.

Manage your energy, as well as your time.

We are all very focused on time-management, but maybe not so much on energy management. Yet our energy levels are directly tied into our sense of well-being and vitality. Make sure that you are aware of what boosts your energy, and what depletes it. Have an energy check in every hour or so – pause, take some deep breaths, relax your shoulders and do some gentle stretches. Check-in with yourself by asking yourself –‘how do I feel right now? What do I need right now?’ Maybe you need to drink some water, have a short break, get some fresh air, talk to someone – whatever it is, do it! Failure to check-in on our needs and our energy levels can eventually lead to exhaustion and burnout. Set an alarm on your phone and do an energy check-in every hour. The SHED acronym is also a great way to remember the 4 important ways to look after our physical well-being and energy -sleep, hydration, exercise and diet.

It’s also a great idea to do a brainstorm of all of your current well-being habits that boost your energy and vitality. Make a commitment to yourself to do at least 3 of them daily – your 3 daily ‘non-negotiables’. Set a daily intention each morning and decide on what your 3 non-negotiables are for the day ahead – maybe a walk, meditation and a movie-might. Then, whatever the day throws at you, remember that your non-negotiables are not up for grabs – something else will have to give instead. 

Set boundaries between work time and personal time.

Remote teaching from home can make it really difficult to switch off from work, and many teachers have that feeling of being ‘always on’ which is so detrimental to our well-being. We all need down-time and headspace away from our jobs and we really have to be militant about carving it out. Set working hours for yourself and be clear in communicating them to your students and their parents. Some schools have policies on this which is fantastic, as everyone is clear on it and expectations can be managed. It’s also helpful to have a ritual to end your working hours, just to send the message to your brain that you are in ‘off’ mode now. Maybe it’s a short exercise session, a walk, a meditation, a particular piece of music or a mindful cup of coffee – find something to help you transition to your personal time and respect yourself enough to honour that time. Remember you are doing it for the right reasons – so that you can be at your best for your students the next day. Doing our best does not mean pushing ourselves to the point of exhaustion.

Be self-compassionate

This ties in with number 3, as without self-compassion it is really difficult to set boundaries. Self-compassion is vital for our well-being (Neff , 2007) and it involves treating ourselves with gentleness and kindness, as we would a good friend. Teachers can be so hard on themselves and judge themselves very harshly for not meeting what are often very unrealistic expectations. Social media can feed into this of course, when you compare what you are doing to the amazing things that other teachers are doing. It can lead to feelings of inadequacy and stress. You need to keep reminding yourself that you are doing your best and trust yourself – our students often don’t need huge amounts of elaborate resources at all. Aim to be good enough, rather than amazing, and let go of these expectations. You can’t be all things to all people either, so you also have to accept that not everyone will be happy with your approach and that’s ok. You can’t sacrifice your well-being and health to satisfy the expectations of others. This is hard for teachers, as by nature we like to keep everyone happy and to be well-thought of ourselves. But sometimes the price for this is too high. This is a pandemic and we all need to adjust our expectations.

Notice the good stuff

With so much negativity to cope with the moment, we need plenty of positives to keep us afloat. Research shows that we need at least 3 positives to buffer us against each negative, and this is true for teaching too. Negative events are heavier and stickier than positive ones – they impact on us more and our brains are hard-wired to notice them (Baumeister, 2001.) Think of parent-teacher meetings as an example – if you have 28 really positive ones and 2 negative ones, which ones do you remember and fixate on? So, we deliberately need to focus our attention on the good stuff to help to counteract this negativity bias. Try an exercise called 3 Small Successes at the end of your online teaching day. Write down 3 small things that went well for you, and spend some time savouring them and enjoying a boost of positivity this brings. This activity is based on the 3 Good Things intervention from Positive Psychology (Seligman, 2005 ) where writing down 3 small positive events of the day for at least a week was shown to be very beneficial to well-being. This might be a nice ritual to transition into your personal time after your teaching day.

Always remember that you are the expert on your own well-being, and self-awareness is key. By finding ways to prioritise it, you can equip yourself for the challenges not just of this period of remote teaching, but for the demands of the job over the long term.