A breath of fresh air

Lynette Virgona Scholarship A breath of fresh air

By Kristy Brown

TAFE lecturer and SSTUWA member Kristy Brown was the 2018 recipient of the Lynette Virgona Memorial Scholarship. Here Kristy writes about what she learnt about herself and teaching from the professional development she undertook last year as part of the scholarship. When I tell people I’m a TAFE lecturer, I always get the same response: “The holidays must be great.” Yes, the holidays are great. Without them, I wouldn’t have the time to pick up the crumbling remains of my mental and physical health to rebuild to face another year of teaching! I think it is fair to say that a majority of teachers give everything to their jobs and receive very little gratitude in return. But teachers don’t teach to receive gratitude, I hear you say. And that is why a half-day of professional development (PD) with Marg Pontin (pictured right, standing left of Kristy) in Non-Violent Communication (NVC) was a breath of fresh air for me and nine of my colleagues. During the busiest time of the year, when we were all feeling burnt out and trying to make it to Christmas before collapsing into a heap, Marg told us it was okay to want to be appreciated. After all, gratitude is a need for people, just as understanding, cooperation, support, pleasure, sleep, empathy, protection, trust, choice and freedom are needs. All of these words have a clear meaning, and when we tell someone this is what we need they usually understand us. Also, clearly defined in NVC are feelings. Feelings include being tired, confused, tense, sad, angry, energetic, excited, engaged, pleased and much more. But do not get these feelings confused with interpretations posing as feelings. Words like abandoned, bullied, overworked, manipulated, let down, taken for granted, unappreciated and pressured are all unclear in meaning and can cause or increase disagreement or conflict with others. Marg called these words faux feelings and, if I’m honest, I may be a tiny bit guilty of using some of those words in the workplace and my personal life (apologies to my husband!). Now that I had the words to communicate clearly, I could move to the next step of NVC: taking the time to think about my feelings, and the feelings of others, and identifying the needs not being met for both. This step naturally promotes empathy rather than anger. Once I was able to identify the needs of both parties, I could then focus on making a connection and finding a compromise or a solution that was acceptable and fair for both. Wow, both simple and clear! But in reality, it isn’t. Especially when my teacher brain is full of so many different ideas, thoughts, stories, methods, content, student needs, time constraints, meetings, emails, events and deadlines … and that’s before I even consider my family or personal life. Recent studies have shown that the human brain is wired to look for what isn’t working, rather than what is. Marg suggested that teachers need to take time to thank ourselves and each other for the work we do. Imagine how inviting a staff meeting would be if we talked about what we did well, rather than what needs to be fixed. So, what will I do, now with this understanding of NVC, that will help find a better way when disagreements or conflicts occur? Well, I could get the feelings list tattooed on my left arm and the needs list tattooed on my right.

Then, I will always have the words with me to clearly communicate in a more empathetic way to find a compromise or solution. Or, maybe I should make a lanyard and hang it around my neck and take it with me to every class and every meeting. It’s a good start, and the lanyard probably won’t hurt as much. The second PD opportunity I attended was a four-day course in Tribes at Murdoch University with Dr Rebecca Saunders. Tribes aims to build community in the classroom and empathy in the individual by following strategies, processes, theory and courses of action. I’m sure that all teachers think that their classrooms are a community and their students have empathy. But do they really? To be honest, I don’t think a teacher can answer that question until they experience Tribes.

For me, Tribes was like being a contestant on the TV show Survivor. Not the Australian version, the American version, because it was so much harder. From the minute I stepped through the door I ran through all the raw emotions our students may experience when building a community. Via the many challenging cooperative energisers, activities, tactics and strategies we (40 participants) completed throughout the PD, I was forced to face my insecurities of meeting and working with new people, finding others like me or those who made me feel safe and accepted, finding ways to have my voice heard in a collaborative environment without causing conflict and dealing with competition as it arose in the classroom. During the PD, I noticed other participants struggling with the Tribes process too, as we questioned ourselves, each other and our choices. Triggered by collaboration, I experienced how not having a deeper understanding of the impact of diversity and difference in the classroom (including personality types, beliefs, background, race, gender, religion, hunger, tiredness, sadness, etc) can affect the community, the individual and ultimately the learning experience. This was a huge wakeup call for me, a teacher who often asks students perhaps flippantly to work collaboratively and expects a successful and equal outcome for all. Before this PD, I didn’t spend enough time thinking about students’ emotional safety and inclusion in the classroom and incorporating practical cooperative strategies to target this. By the end of day three of the PD, the emotions in our community settled as people understood each other and the Tribes process better, displayed empathy and repaired relationships. On day four we reflected and celebrated our Tribes journey proudly. I fully believe that Tribes should be compulsory PD for all teachers, as it develops a deeper understanding of community and collaboration by experiencing all the highs and lows firsthand as well as providing an extensive amount of practical cooperative strategies to target this.

I am sure all who attended Tribes will be much more compassionate teachers because of it. I want to say a huge thank you to the SSTUWA for the opportunities afforded through the Lynette Virgona Scholarship. Without this scholarship the PD opportunities I have experienced would not have been available to me and my colleagues.

The Lynette Virgona Memorial Scholarship is awarded to an SSTUWA member to assist in training or professional development of their own skills and abilities in the areas of student behaviour and instructional strategies. It was named after Lynette, an SSTUWA Executive member, branch, District and State Council representative, who passed away in 2013 from cancer. The 12-month scholarship is open to SSTUWA members and the recipient is named at November State Council annually for the following year. For more information about applications for this year’s scholarship visit sstuwa.org.au/scholarships.