Teach Secondary Issue 13.4

FEELING’SMUTUAL What kind of daily support are you and your colleagues experiencing from each other, asks Charlotte Lander – and is it enough? W orking in a school means we’re surrounded by others on a day-to-day basis. Yet the proximity of our colleagues, and the familiarity of our pupils, doesn’t mean there won’t be times when we feel alone. In whichever capacity we work with students, our roles require an element of performance. As teachers, this is most often in the form of presenting – but there are also times when we must mask our own needs to better serve the students we aim to make a difference for. Given the daily emotional and physical demands involved in running a school, the people best placed to offer support are often those in the trenches alongside us. Feeling connected The act of asking for support can be harder than it sounds, though – especially when we’ve worked in education for many years. We spend our days urging students to ask for help if and when they need it, but then see it as a sign of defeat when we do the same ourselves. Often, the greatest resource available to us is the teamwe belong to. Some colleagues will have entered teaching after pursuing careers in completely different fields. Others might have held various roles within education before eventually finding the post that’s right for them. The fact is, we all bring something unique to the table. But withmore demands and less time, those casual reminders you hear regarding the importance of ‘wellbeing’ and ‘finding a good work-life balance’ aren’t always as helpful as they aim to be. Instead, ask your line manager how they manage their wellbeing, and which techniques have worked well for them. Then ask your colleagues how they go about compartmentalising and striving for that elusive ‘work-life balance’. Ask the teacher in the classroom next door what strategies they use to deal with challenging behaviour, and if you can observe them. They’ll feel glad that you asked them. Ultimately, the people around us will all, at some point in their careers, have experienced similar feelings. Someone with years of experience under their belt may still be trying to figure it out even now, despite conveying the illusion that they have everything under control. We know that our colleagues will have tried, tested, succeeded and failed, but still managed to get back up on their feet again. And this is why they can offer us the most relatable, honest and unfiltered advice out there, perhaps more so than any educational book. Types of support The types of support we may find ourselves in search of – and equally, feel able to give – will naturally vary. For those in the earlier stages of their career, or who might have recently joined a new school, the support they require will usually be of an informative and practical kind. Be it through a formal feedback process or via a quick question posed in the corridor, they will be on a constant search for answers, wisdom and experience. They may, for example, be seeking advice on challenging behaviour, or be keen to get a second pair of eyes on their seating plan from the teacher who taught their class last year. Inmany cases, support can be more effective when delivered through tangible solutions. Broadly speaking, there are times when the support we seek will extend beyond the comfort of our workplace. In some ways, the advice we can access online feels easier to take on board because it’s depersonalised. In this digital age, social media groups give us a sense of community. “We urge students toask for help if theyneed it,but see it as a signofdefeatwhenwe do the same ourselves” 32 teachwire.net/secondary