Wellness for Teachers of Multilingual Learners

JavaScript isn't enabled in your browser, so this file can't be opened. Enable and reload.

Self-care sometimes gets a bad reputation because we may experience the concept as a message to address challenges in our profession by "fixing" or caring for ourselves. This module approaches self-care from the perspectives of what we can do not only as individuals at the personal level but also as a collective with our colleagues to impact our institutions and communities. Work through this module by making notes for yourself of what you'd like to use or take-away after each of the first nine resources listed. The tenth item below is optional. Then answer the three short, self-checking quiz items before you move on to print out the Certificate of Completion for the module at the end that is worth 2 professional learning hours. Be sure to enter your own name in the text box before you print out your Certificate to keep in your professional files!

Wellness to Thrive

1. We'll start by looking at two types of ways to approach being well and happy called "hedonia" and "eudaimonia." Author, Chase Mielke in The Burnout Cure: Learning to Love Teaching Again (2019), describes hedonia as feeling good and eudaimonia as feeling purposeful. He writes, "In pursuing more eudaimonia, then, we can increase our well-being while helping people and improving the world around us. But you already know this because your career in education is rooted in eudaimonia. So increasing your well-being is not a selfish endeavor. It's a critical part of your professional development that also happens to benefit your personal development" (pp. 8-9). There are many strategies and exercises in this book written by a teacher for teachers to increase their wellness.

Watch this 3 minute video to hear more about the difference between hedonia and eudaimonia then jot down what comes up for you.

What is Best for Your Health?

2. Chase Mielke in The Burnout Cure: Learning to Love Teaching Again (2019), introduces a myriad of strategies and practical approaches for teachers to work on ideas around curating goodness for themselves, being mindful, having gratitude, practicing empathy and forgiveness, and finite framing--viewing each circumstance with an understanding that it is unique and it will come to an end at some point. In each chapter, he offers "Life Assignments" to choose a practice that works to restore ourselves as educators. Look at the list of examples below to choose one you may want to try for yourself:

*The 24-hour Complain Challenge (to go for 24 hours without voicing a complaint)

*Add a "Peak-End Ritual" (add a ritual to the end of your school day that helps you reflect on something you accomplished or enjoyed)

*Cultivate a Classroom of Gratitude (provide opportunities for students to show gratitude to one another and you to students to grow the climate)

*Create a "Meaning Museum" (moments change lives, so collect evidence of this)

*Conduct "Common Ground Surveys" (the teacher and students take interest surveys and find areas of connection to build ways to relate teacher-to-student and among students)

*Don't be Negative or Naive (to set better goals for yourself, use "WOOP" to list your wish, outcome, obstacles, and plan)

3. Think deeper about how to approach self-care and community-care for educators, especially for educators with challenges of supporting multilingual learners and the trauma they may bring from leaving their countries of origin to settle in the United States. This 9-minute TED Talk is a motivating talk about the importance of self-care for educators and contains many proven practices to implement self-care that are within our own choice and control. Think about what might work best for you to try first. *

Learn to Shine

3. This 12-minute podcast entitled, "10-Seconds Toward a Better Life." It is a conversation with presenters who engage with educators to consider how they may want to take brief breaks during their day to concentrate on their own practices that can enhance their own wellness to be at their best for their students and themselves. Click here to listen to the podcast recording and here to see the PowerPoint and notes from the presentation. If you like this podcast, look for more in the series "BCPS Connects" on Spotify. *

4. Another book with studies from around the world that is specifically focused on the well-being of teachers of multilingual learners is, Teacher Well-Being in English Language Teaching: An Ecological Approach (2023). The editors, Luis Javier Penton Herrera, Gilda Martinez-Alba, and Ethan Trinh, make the statement, "Without a doubt, we have learned through this edited volume, as well as in available research, that wellness looks different in each individual and that both internal and external factors greatly affect teachers' overall well-being" (p. 256). In addition, they conclude with insights gathered by researchers around the world to promote "the concept of teacher self-care as a system of care for teachers. That is, the content in these chapters reminds us that, while promoting teacher self-care practices is appropriate, leaders and decision-makers have the power to improve teachers' well-being by implementing systematic strategies and practices that contribute to the creation of more supportive school environments" (p. 259). An example of this is when the principal intentionally schedules time for professionals to share and problem-solve together about practical ideas they are finding to improve instruction and outcomes--when "help" feels like "help" to the faculty. Reflect on how this system of care might be enhanced at your own school in an authentic way. *

5. Click on this link for an article in the April ED Week publication titled, "Teachers Don't Need More Self-Care. They Need More Self-Efficacy." After reading, consider what take-aways you have to share with colleagues at your own school. *

7. Watch this 13-minute TED Talk full of personal experiences from a teacher about the importance of social-emotional support for the teacher as well as the students. Think about examples that can help be more of a cohesive and resourced effort with time and expenditures to support teacher well-being. *

TED Talk: How Can We Support the Emotional Well-Being of Teachers?

7. Read this short article published by the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development entitled, "Five Strategies for Teacher Self-Care." Then look at the one-page PDF with tips about compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress for educators. Think about what you are already doing for your wellness and what you might want to start or maximize for yourself and your colleagues.

8. View this 3-minute video to see what one school district near Pittsburg did to create a shift to valuing teacher wellness together. See what ideas you have that you could suggest to your school or district to put wellness efforts into action as a more cohesive group at school. *

In This District, Health and Wellness Start with Teachers

9. An issue facing all teachers, and especially important for teachers of multilingual learners and recent immigrant newcomers from some parts of the world, is "compassion fatigue." This concept refers to the secondary trauma that educators feel in hearing and empathizing with the stories of their students who have faced and may continue to face extreme challenges to their well-being and even their survival needs. Watch this 8-minute video that is speaking primarily to mental health workers but is also very relevant for educators.
*

How to Prevent/Overcome Burnout/Compassion Fatigue, Empathy Decline and More

10. You have the option to view this 19-minute video if you are interested in framing a way to shift your own energy and power within the profession of teaching. Reflect on yourself as you watch this video to see how you might work with your colleagues to shift the culture to break the cycles that create teacher burnout.

Sustainable Environments for Teacher Wellness

Clear form

Never submit passwords through Google Forms.

This content is neither created nor endorsed by Google. Report Abuse - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy

Forms