Teachers and school leaders who deal with sensitive situations do not get enough representation. That’s why I commissioned an artist to create the comics below showing two versions of a teacher’s week.
The first comic demonstrates the emotional tension and the challenge of losing time over a moment in class that the teacher was unequipped to deal with. Whether a challenging question, a harmful or discriminatory comment, or simply a point of uncertainty for the teacher, these moments can quickly escalate and involve multiple members of the community.
This leads to a domino-effect where the teacher, the student, and the school leadership all dedicate time and emotional energy that they could have spent creating even more learning opportunities and in their personal lives. Yet, all this could be avoided if the teacher knew what to do or at least had a clear support system to lean on.
In the second comic, we see how this situation could have gone with appropriate systems in place, and a teacher who is confident in their ability to respond to the situation.
This situation is based on genuine experiences of teachers I have coached, worked alongside, and the teacher I have been in the past.
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦?
Research indicates that each teacher spends on average over an hour a week considering and responding to these incidents. That time adds up quickly. (EdChoice 2022 report and Euractiv 2021 report)
If you have put this much thought into trying to get the best outcomes for you, your students, and your colleagues, then it is time to take the next step. Let’s discuss what systems and approaches could work within your community to ensure people can focus on their passions, high quality teaching and learning.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦?
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞?
#SystemicEquity #DEIJItsWhatWeDO #EmotionalWellBeing
