AUGUST 2020 ISSUE 1
DISCUSSING ISSUES RELATED TO WELLBEING IN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL EDUCATION
WELCOME TO WISEDUCATION'S FIRST NEWSLETTER WHY DON'T CHILDREN CHANGE? FINDING PERSPECTIVE POST-PANDEMIC AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!
CONTENTS
3
Welcome to Issue 1 of the WISEducation Newsletter!
19
4
Why don't children change?
21
6
New year, new normal: How to deal with stress
23
Breathe in… breathe out... How EdTech Yoga can support educatorss
Connecting with nature: The silver lining of lockdown
25
The far reaching impact of suicide
10
"I'm 14. I shouldn't be here alone": A reflection on student welfare in international schools
27
The game changer
12
Creating positive, purposeful and sustainable relationships in our international communities
29
Mental Health and International Schools: Towards a greater understanding of cultural and contextual factors
15
Mindfulness in practice: Applying strategies in the classroom
17
Cold water immersion: An efficient wellness practice for teachers
8
31
Teacher self-care and email communications: The importance of setting boundaries
Adapting the teaching environment to maximise student learning and wellbeing
Finding perspective post-pandemic
wiseducationblog.com | @_wiseducation
WELCOME TO ISSUE 1 OF THE WISEDUCATION NEWSLETTER!
By Dr Sadie Hollins, Editor To connect with Sadie: Webpage: wiseducationblog.com Twitter: @_WISEducation Email: sadie.wiseducation@ gmail.com
It is a great pleasure to introduce WISEducation’s very first Newsletter! The hope of the WISEducation newsletter (and blog) is to further add to the new and growing body of literature and understanding on wellbeing in international schools with the focus of the newsletter being threefold; (1) to provide a place for discussion on how international schools can provide wellbeing; (2) to showcase work being done within international schools; (3) to provide a community for school teachers, counsellors, school leaders and parents to come together to support the wellbeing of their students and staff. This newsletter will be broad in its focus and will aim to discuss topical issues that affect the wellbeing of our international school community, to discuss the social-emotional challenges facing our communities, and will pay attention to university school counselling and guidance. Our aim is to ensure that we provide spaces where our students can grow into globally minded, socially and culturally conscious young people, that are equipped with the tools and resources that they require to overcome challenges, learn from failures, and achieve success at school and beyond. I very much hope this newsletter provides you with ideas, contacts and a community that is beyond the words in these pages. Thank you for your support of this endeavour. I hope you find this blog/newsletter useful in your wellbeing journey
WHY DON'T CHILDREN CHANGE?
By Alex The issue's Gunn must-read Alex Gunn has worked as a articles teacher and counsellor in schools and colleges in the UK and Thailand for 30 "Gamified" years. He is aExams qualified trainer of Motivational Homework Central Interviewing, the foremost
motivational counselling approach, and one of the original members of the International Network of MI Trainers. Read more articles by Alex Gunn at https://www.thelifechange people.com/blog/
After 30 years in education I'm surprised there is not more made of the central role that motivation plays in teaching and learning. So much training in education assumes that children and young people arrive in class ready to learn. I have even known colleagues ask for students to be withdrawn from classes as they "are not ready to learn," as though it's something that can just be switched on like a light bulb. If motivation and change where that easy and straight forward the world would be a very different place. There are all kinds of reasons why students in our classes are not ready to learn; some just don't find academic learning easy or interesting, some are distracted by challenging or abusive home lives, some have other external pressures or maybe working in a family business, and some just don't see it as important. There are as many reasons why children and young people are not motivated as there are teachers in international schools. Also, student motivation (not to mention teacher motivation) is not a fixed commodity, it fluctuates wildly depending upon all kinds of things. Students can be extremely motivated in one subject and highly unmotivated in another, or only seem to work really hard for particular teachers. Likewise, how many teachers are able to put 100% into the last lesson on Friday afternoon?
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So where to start? A useful model to understand motivation and change was developed by Prochaska and DiClemente in 1983, and rather grandly entitled "The Transtheoretical Model of Change." So far it hasn't been superseded by an updated version or anything else that comes remotely close to identifying the precise way that all of us change. This model is now widely promoted within health and social care settings but for some reason has yet to really take grip within education. This is how it would be translated into a classroom setting: If you can think of any change that either you, or anyone else, has made that doesn't fit into this model please do let me know. It's a useful exercise to place each of your students into this model, and also yourself! The next big step is to consider what would help students move from one stage to the next. It will vary from person to person, but if students are not in the latter couple of stages of change, all the best and most inspirational teaching in the world will fall on deaf ears.
"student motivation (not to mention teacher motivation) is not a fixed commodity, it fluctuates wildly depending upon all kinds of things."
NEW YEAR, NEW NORMAL: HOW TO DEAL WITH STRESS
By Sarah The issue'sCole must-read Hailing from the UK, Sarah articles has a background in exercise science, health & wellness coaching and "Gamified" Exams a M.Ed in Educational Leadership andCentral Policy. She Homework
has worked as a teacher in health and physical education Internationally for the past 12 years in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Her own passion for health and wellbeing grew from her own health battles and experiences. Connect with Sarah on Linkedin
It’s the start of another academic year, however, this year is a little bit different. With COVID-19 and new rules and regulations, school doesn’t look like it did at the beginning of the last academic year, it feels different too. The only thing I am prepared for (and I use the term prepared loosely) is change. You may have heard people say we live in VUCA times (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) and 2020 has certainly shown us that. We are all impacted in different ways and talking with friends, colleagues and family, one word I hear over and over is stress. Stress is a natural reaction to a trigger, such as, taking a test. Our body, mind, behaviours and moods may change, but once we complete the test our stress levels tend to fade. COVID-19 is not a one off test and if stress is not managed it can impact our health negatively. How we deal with stress is different for everyone, but we can focus on what we can control. As well as, exercising, eating well and getting enough sleep. Here are some more ideas to try out when you feel stress is no longer a short term reaction;
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Breathe
Positive social connections
Take time to bring attention to your breathing. Exhale for twice as long as you inhale (2 to 1 breathing). Exhaling activates the parasympathetic nervous system. By emphasising the exhale you decrease heart rate, blood pressure and muscle tension. Another breathing technique is called 4-78, inhale for 4 counts, hold for 7 and exhale for 8. These can be completed at any time and anywhere, between classes or even supervision duty!
Reflect on who you spend time with, do they bring energy or drain energy? When talking about energy what I am really asking is what mood do they bring? What mood are you generally in? “Human existence is simply not conceivable without accepting that we are inescapably in some kind of mood. Moods are a fact of life and we find them everywhere” (Echeverria, 1990). Days of the week can have moods, ever heard of Friday-itis? I haven’t either, but I certainly have heard of Monday-itis! What is the mood of the country you are living in? The primary mood at work?
Bringing your students attention to their breathing is also a great tool for them to have. I use breathing at the end of each lesson and we build students' toolkits by practicing different breathing exercises and they give examples of when they could use them.
Boundaries Manage your time or someone will manage it for you. Schools are a very structured place, we even need to train our bladders! If you find yourself taking on too much, ask yourself this question taken from Greg McKeown (2014), before saying yes to yet another committee or duty; can I actually fulfill this request, given the time and resources I have? If, like I once was, asking for help or saying no is not an option, lest I be seen as someone who ‘can’t handle it’ or striving to do everything (to the point of burnout and exhaustion) or feeling guilty for not helping out more, I challenge you to look at those habits and ask why? Why is that important to you? Why does that matter to you? What is enough for you? Do this gently without judgement. Another doorway into your inner being may be looking at what your values are*. What are you trying to achieve? When you can answer these questions you can choose to spend your time working from and towards these. It becomes easier to say yes to activities that align with your values and goals and no to those that don’t. This also includes self compassion. Give yourself some love and permission for self care. Set yourself up for success. This kind of reflection is not part of the timetable or built into your workday but I would offer that if you take the time to look inward, the benefits will be there. I have offered this at my school as a type of professional learning group. Although people are willing and wanting, finding the time as a group has been difficult and can be very personal and at times confronting. But having a shared language and understanding beyond educational acronyms, does make for a winning work environment.
The five chimp theory suggests you are the average of the five people you hang out with most (Ravikant, 2016). Ever walked into a room and felt the stress or your mood change for better or worse, as if the mood of one person or group had been absorbed by you? This has been called emotional contagion and has been suggested as a precursor to healthy social development (Prochazkova & Kret, 2017). This theory of emotional contagion is still debated but has been supported by the finding of ‘mirror neurons’ in the brain. These neurons reproduce emotions that are consciously or unconsciously detected (Goleman & Boyatzis, 2008). You might not realise this but students and colleagues will assess your mood (consciously or not) and based on this make assessments of what is possible or not at that time. For example what is possible in a mood of enthusiasm can be different from a mood of resentment. This type of neural resonance influences their actions and reactions to you and work outcomes (Lakomski, 2016; Newberry, Gallant & Riley, 2013). Be aware of who your five people are! We are wired for connection and this time apart has been tough on the human race. When you can, hug a friend, partner, family member, release the feel good neurotransmitter oxytocin and let it fill you up. Myself and Chris from Habitual (more from him later) are running a webinar and two week intervention to support you in building and cultivating positive social connections. Click HERE for more info. Seek support and reach out even if you feel like you’re not stressed, it’s good for your health! *Not sure what your values are? Check out https://www.viacharacter.org/ and complete the free survey.
CONNECTING WITH NATURE: THE SILVER LINING OF LOCKDOWN?
By Mandy The issue's must-read Butterworth articles Mandy is currently the Head of Individuals and Societies at an International School "Gamified" Exams in Switzerland. She has Homework Central taught in schools in the UK, Dubai and Thailand. A passionate geographer she also loves to travel and enjoy the outdoors with her family.
When, I first heard that I was going to be trapped in lockdown, for at least the next six weeks with my husband and two young children, my initial reaction was probably much like most others in my position: despair! I love my kids. I love my husband (most of the time!) Goes without saying. But the prospect of being trapped inside our apartment indefinitely, was daunting to say the very least. I was sure it wouldn’t be long before cabin fever set in and the whole family would be at each other’s throats! What’s more, I am a working parent, my husband too. We are both teachers at an international school in Switzerland. It was clear that when the lockdown was first announced in early March by the Swiss government it would be an uphill battle for us. For the foreseeable future, my husband and I would both be tasked with simultaneously teaching online lessons to our students at school and child minding as well as homeschooling our 6 and 2 year old children. But despite the daunting task ahead of us, in hindsight, the lockdown did have some upsides to it, that helped enhance our wellbeing as a family. Most notably, the time at home allowed us a few more hours a day to enjoy the natural world surrounding our home.
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We were lucky in that the Swiss lockdown, whilst strict, wasn’t nearly as rigid as some of our neighbouring countries such as Italy and France. People were still allowed to engage in one walk/outdoor activity per day in order to maintain their sanity - provided we ventured out in groups of no more than 5 and stayed within the local area. With good old Google to the rescue, we were able to research some fabulous ideas for outdoor learning that were also doing the rounds on the ‘stuck at home with children, please help me from going insane!’ lockdown circuit. Just around the corner from our apartment runs a beautiful creek, rich with biodiversity. The creek would provide the setting for many Geography lessons with our 6 year old daughter. It was touching to see her so engaged, her bucket in hand, standing over the banks observing anything from spiders, earthworms, boatmen, lizards and even the odd fish. Further up from the creek is a forest where she learnt to build her first den, using the surrounding foliage of an old campsite there. Art lessons took the form of sitting on a park bench and sketching the landscape around us. Simple and relaxing, especially if we got a good day of sunshine and fresh breeze. Other activities included a nature scavenger hunt (you can easily download one off Pinterest or just make your own) and constructing a bug hotel from some basic arts and craft materials. You’ll notice that I have only mentioned our daughter’s engagement in these activities, but it must be noted that most of the time our 2 year old son happily tagged along and even helped out - together the two often made a great team. Looking back on these outdoor based activities, I have no doubt they all contributed in their own small way in improving our wellbeing as a family. We are all, by now, well versed in the benefits that even a little sunlight and fresh air a day do for our mental health - so I won’t harp on about that. What I will say is that I had no shortage of endorphins watching our children take such glee engaging with the natural world around them. I still wonder to myself now: did the kids even know that they were learning - or did they just see the activities as simply having fun? Either way - I’m hardly complaining. As for my husband and I, there were multiple benefits as well. As this form of lockdown learning progressed, we found ourselves spending less and less time glued to our phones - something again, I am sure you will all know, has directly been linked to issues of mental health. My husband and I are no triathletes, but the daily walks to the creek and the forest also helped to improve our fitness levels.
I am not going to lie to you. The lockdown period was far from easy and there were days when I, like so many others, banged my head against the proverbial walls, wondering how we would get through. The lockdown never saw my husband write that Pullitzer winning novel he’s always getting around to, I never managed to train for that half marathon (the race was cancelled anyway!), we didn’t even take up a new hobby. Most days we were run off our feet either dealing with our own children, or our students via distance learning. Some evenings, it was well past midnight before my husband and I managed to sit down and attempt a conversation. But every cloud comes with a silver lining. In this case, I truly do believe that the lockdown did, in a strange way, allow us as a family to connect more with the natural world and for that I am sure we are all a little better off. I acknowledge though, that many individuals and families stuck in the lockdown were not in a place or a position to do the same. We were lucky; lucky in that the Swiss lockdown wasn’t nearly as draconian as others, lucky in that we live in a semi - rural area, close to fields and forests. Fingers crossed, touch wood (and any other proverb designed to prevent bad luck from transpiring!), we will not find ourselves facing lockdown again soon. But if it indeed comes to that - try to take some time to enjoy and engage with the natural world - for the sake of both you and your children’s wellbeing.
"I'M 14. I SHOULDN'T BE HERE ALONE": A REFLECTION ON STUDENT WELFARE IN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS
By Benjamin Thornhill Ben worked as a learning mentor and teacher in the UK before moving to Thailand in 2016 to teach English language and literature. He is now the Student Support Coordinator at a British international school. His other passions include motorcycling and fiction writing.
The following piece of writing (I hope) will resonate with those new to the international education environment, as well as those who have mid to long-term experience. The purpose really is a reminder to be vigilant and caring towards your students. You never know what they might be going through, and they might only have you to help. As a teacher or staff member working abroad from your native country, it’s quite easy to see the world through rose-tinted glasses. Just search online for any staff profile page of an international school, and there are a myriad of comments about how excited educators are to be in the country, looking forward to working with such amazing students and what they hope to bring to their role and school. Interestingly, these comments rarely mention wellbeing and tend to focus more on the academic development of pupils, which of course is important, but this does give a little insight into how teachers view their role in schools. More than ever, we need to give our attention to the whole child. Three years ago, I was guilty of the rose-tinted glasses scenario: wow – fantastic, happy kids, eager to learn; small class sizes (compared to the UK); no major classroom management issues. I soon found out that international students are just as vulnerable as students back in the UK, and often have a different set of challenges.
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As I move into my new role in student support at an international school here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, one experience from many is notable
It’s worth mentioning here a study by Pitakchinnapong and Rhein (2019) which explored the perceptions of stigmatization of
about why I am passionate about making the change from teaching English into more of a pastoral and support role:
mental illness in Thailand, from students from a Thai language programme and students from the international college. The study focused on
"I'm 14. I shouldn't be here alone" are the words of a student who was recounting her thoughts to me a couple of days after being in hospital for purposely taking a painkiller overdose. At that time, she was alone in bed in the hospital at
family, education and the media as causes of stigma regarding mental health issues. The results show that the "majority of participants reported feeling uncomfortable discussing their mental health with their family members, especially their parents, due to the students’
night, with her parents living abroad; she was boarding so that she could attend school. I had taught her for a year and was completely unaware of any deep-lying issues with this cheeky, always-smiling, bright young student. As it turns out, she was suffering with depression, suicidal thoughts, LBGTQ+ identity confusion, and
belief that their parents’ generation was not educated about this issue and is more likely to respond with negative comments".
loneliness.
compared to the Thai language programme students, with one participant stating:
I am guessing, for many of us, it is hard to imagine what it might feel like to have attempted suicide (even if just a cry for help), then lie there alone in a strange hospital bed at such a young age - upset and confused - and knowing your parents wo n’t be coming to see you. Aside from our school counsellor at the time, I was maybe the only other person the student wanted to talk to about her problems in a safe, understanding and non-judgemental environment. This was definitely a reminder of how valuable a teacher can be to a student going through a difficult experience. Interestingly, the student had tried to open up to her mother about her depression, but apparently this was dismissed (the student cited a lack of understanding) which resulted in the student’s feelings of loneliness and misunderstanding being amplified. In my experience, often in Asian cultures there can be little acceptance and understanding of depression and other mental health issues.
With regards to education, the international students felt they received more understanding and openness about mental health issues
"Of course, I think International college students are more open than Thai students. I can say this because I went to a Thai school when I was young where everything is stereotyped. When students have mental illness, the school thinks that it is not the health problem, but the problem of the person instead. It is something that is socially unacceptable in Thai schools". Pitakchinnapong and Rhein’s paper highlights some of the cultural challenges which impact the stigmatization of mental health problems in Thailand. Their study can help to remind international educators to take the context of their students’ countries and cultures into account where possible, particularly those working in non-Western countries. We have a huge role to play; a child may need us due to the lack of understanding from the world they experience outside of school. Furthermore, many students are boarding, staying with relatives or moving around from one city or country to another. They don’t always have a stable home environment, or the opportunity to talk openly about their problems.
CREATING POSITIVE, PURPOSEFUL AND SUSTAINABLE RELATIONSHIPS IN OUR INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITIES
By Laura Davies Laura Davies is the Athletic Director and Head of PE at a British International School in Thailand. She has a particular interest in inclusion, and is currently pursuing a doctorate focusing on international school provision for students with SEND. Laura's other passions include travelling, rescuing animals and riding motorbikes. Connect with Laura: Twitter: @LauraD_PE
As a physical education teacher, I have long been interested in the idea of ‘well-being’. Due to the nature of my subject, it is often assumed when I say this, that it is physical well-being which I am most likely to teach, encourage, and advocate for. Whilst I am indeed passionate about this, I often find myself disliking the label of ‘PE teacher’, because of the traditional stereotypes and associations people make with this description. Yes, I do love my subject. But what attracted me to teaching was not the ‘Physical’ part of this moniker, but rather, the ‘Education’ part. I love my job because I get to witness, and in some small way help, students to grow and develop into amazing young people. People who I hope, and believe, will have successful lives, build healthy relationships, and make positive contributions within both the communities they inhabit, and the wider world. When I first left teaching at an inner-city school in the UK, I guiltily wondered if I was taking the ‘easy-road’. I was unsure if I would feel as fulfilled teaching students who, on the surface, appeared to have everything they could possibly need. My assumptions were quickly cast aside when I realised that young people in international schools, whilst sometimes appearing to want for very little in material terms, are otherwise the same as everyone else. And in some ways, the privilege that they have is exactly why it is so important that they gain an understanding of what this means, how it might shape their view of the world, and what responsibility they may wish to take when it comes to understanding (and acting upon) issues of social inequality.
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Many international schools pride themselves on their extra-curricular programmes. Go to most school websites, and they will loudly and proudly tell you about the extensive list of activities they offer; sports, drama, music, MUN, IA, leadership, debate team, community service, etc. and how these will prepare students for entrance into universities, employment, and transform these young people into truly ‘global’ citizens. Whilst I admire schools for creating such amazing opportunities for students, I also sometimes ask myself - what is the purpose of all of this? In a setting where business and education are so closely intertwined, it can sometimes feel as though we have forgotten how to design and implement programmes that truly place the holistic development of students at the heart of them.
Photo credit: Lush Life
"The local communities in which international schools are situated are rich in culture, language and history, and students
An international school is a unique environment. These schools are made up of diverse populations, containing both local and international students. Many of these students live globally nomadic lifestyles, and may never live in the country of their citizenship, yet often fail to truly embrace the culture of the country they are living in, as they mostly remain surrounded by fellow expatriates. Others may be in their ‘home’ countries, but the very nature of their western education ensures that they are taught to view their nation with a very different perspective to their parents and families. As a result, these ‘third-culture kids’ often feel disconnected from the very place they are living and growing up in. Author Danau Tanu, who’s book ‘Growing Up in Transit: The Politics of Belonging at an International School’ explores the cultural hierarchies embedded in international schools, and the impact of these hierarchies on students, argues that young people must be encouraged, and provided with opportunities, to connect with the local community in which they live. The importance of interacting with, and embracing the local community, is similarly underlined by Keith Allen (2000), who states that ‘one of the most important roles of an international school is to encourage its privileged students to develop an appreciation of, a respect for, and an empathy towards their world’. Whilst many international schools pride themselves on creating globallyminded young people, this should not be at the expense of their knowledge and understanding of local issues. I would argue that this should in fact take precedence, and the way in which schools manage this interaction is essential. Whilst many schools do make efforts to engage with local communities, the intention behind this must be considered. The local communities in which international schools are situated are rich in culture, language and history, and students must be given the opportunity to explore and engage with these in a way that goes beyond simple awareness or charity.
must be given the opportunity to explore and engage with these in a way that goes beyond simple awareness or charity." Photo credit: Lush Life
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At my school, we have developed a relationship with an organisation called PlayOnside. PlayOnside work with the Burmese migrant community in Mae Sot on the Thai/ Myanmar border, and use football as a way of bringing together and empowering young people from this community. They aim to spread awareness of some of the issues facing these young people, and are particularly keen to promote equal opportunities and improve relationships between the different ethnic groups that exist within the community. You can find out more about their work here: https://www.playonside.org/ Our collaboration with this organisation has been carefully fostered and built up over a period of time, and has involved a range of mutually coordinated activities. We have taken students to Mae Sot on multiple occasions, where they have joined in with sports tournaments involving teams from local migrant schools, or, in their roles as sports leaders, helped to organise games and activities as part of a football festival being run by PlayOnside. We have invited teams from PlayOnside to visit us in Chiang Mai to take part in friendly tournaments, and have held several fundraising events within our school to help support their projects. You may read this and feel that your school has similar programmes to this, and if so, I applaud you and encourage you to continue these. However, what I feel has been special about this particular project, is the genuine relationships that have formed as a result. Our students, whilst not without problems of their own, do possess an amount of privilege and entitlement that is not afforded to everyone. Without these trips, many of them may never have truly understood the issues faced by migrant communities in Thailand. During our trips, we not only take part in sports events, but also visit the border crossing so students can see firsthand what happens there, and attend presentations delivered by Playonside coaches, many of them migrants themselves, that provide information about the political and economic issues that contribute to some of the difficulties experienced by their communities. Our students are invited to visit homes and schools, and see for themselves the challenges being faced, and the stark contrast between their lives and the lives of the people they are now meeting and interacting with, determined by little other than a birthplace lottery.
"We must seek out and model the interactions and relationships we want to promote, because if we remain safely in our ‘bubbles’, how can we expect our students not to do the same?"
Most importantly, students from completely different backgrounds connect with each other. They become friends, discover the similarities that bind them, develop a better understanding and appreciation for their differences, and build relationships that last beyond school-arranged events. I sincerely believe that this is what will remain with students long after they leave school, and when they are wondering about their place in the world, about their social responsibility and what it truly means to ‘belong’ to a community, my hope is that they will remember these experiences and the relationships they formed, and that it will shape their future actions in a way that is beneficial to those that do not share their privilege. Finally, my message would be this; collaborations with local organisations are wonderful and important, and as international educators, we should be pursuing opportunities such as these for our students. We must seek out and model the interactions and relationships we want to promote, because if we remain safely in our ‘bubbles’, how can we expect our students not to do the same? These experiences will allow international school students to break out of their own bubbles, and engage with the community around them in a way that not only benefits them, but can also be positive for the people they are interacting with. However, these relationships must be genuine, long-term and serve everyone, rather than simply the school or students. The international school community has an unparalleled opportunity to create relationships that positively enrich the lives and wellbeing of people both within and outside of their immediate environments, and I hope that we all will do our best to continue to seek these out both now and in the future.
MINDFULNESS IN PRACTICE: APPLYING STRATEGIES IN THE CLASSROOM
By Scott Cairney Scott Cairney has worked as a math teacher in schools in the USA, China, Thailand, Singapore, and Sri Lanka for 8 years. He has a Master’s degree in Mathematical Education and is currently trying to finish up his Ph.D. of Education in Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction. Connect with Scott: Twitter: @cairney_n
A couple of years back, I was the Advisor to a group of 11th graders at a large IB school. As their Advisor, it was my responsibility to watch out for them as individuals. The year before, I was the 10th-grade Advisor to many of the same students. I noticed a shift in them that started to happen. Over the first semester, they began to become overwhelmingly stressed. While some were managing it well, some of the best students in my advisory were not. At this time, I was also in a high-stress place in my life and I turned to doing mindfulness every morning to help me start my day. I thought that it might be helpful to my advisees to teach them some mindfulness to use when stressed. Luckily, I had time with them after lunch three times a week. I started to use the mindfulness techniques that I learned with them. Once I taught a few lessons on it, I started to use it in my class right before a test. I was surprised to notice that the students who tended to be very anxious before a test seemed to calm down a bit after the quick two minutes mindfulness exercise.
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Seeing the effects the short mindfulness lessons had on my students, I wondered to what degree it could help more students. The next year I found myself moving to a new school. I decided to implement a mindfulness program within my math class. But before I would do something like that, I wanted to find out more about the school’s culture to see how well a change like this might be taken. I went to the school counsellor and asked what sort of things the school has done with mindfulness in the past. She told me that she runs a mindfulness lesson for the 11th and 12th graders, but that was it. She also mentioned she would like to start teaching mindfulness to the lower grades. After a few more meetings, we decided to work together to teach my grade 7th, 9th, and 10th students mindfulness for 5 minutes at the beginning of each class. The goal of the program was to give the students tools that could help them manage their stress and anxiety. The way the program was structured was that we would first start the lessons with the 7th graders. But, it would be a co-teaching model where the school counsellor would be the primary teacher and I would reinforce the elements. We did this for three reasons. The first was that the school counsellor was a mindfulness expert and thus was more equipped to answer any questions the students might have. The second was that it allowed her to get to know the students differently, thus strengthening her bond with them. Thirdly, it made a pronounced separation with the lesson of mindfulness and the lesson of math in hopes that they would use the strategies in other classes. After a month with the coteaching for the 7th graders, I would take over the 7th graders and then we would co-teaching the 9th and 10th graders using the same methodology.
The lessons had several essential elements: 1. No student should feel pressured to do the mindfulness exercises. Mindfulness can only truly help students when the students are willing to do it on their own. For those unwilling to do it, they were to sit quietly and not disturb any of the other students. At first several students didn’t want to participate and even laughed while it was happening. But over time, more and more students were doing it until almost everyone was. Those few students who still didn’t participate remained quiet during the sessions.
2. No religious ties to the mindfulness teaching (or lessons). I teach at a school that has students who come from different religious backgrounds. A key element of mindfulness’s acceptance is ensuring it is presented without religious implications so it remains a tool accessible for anyone. 3. The mindfulness lessons will are taught with the science of how the brain works. Another aspect of the acceptance of mindfulness is that it is grounded in science. Many students can be skeptical, but once they realize that there is a science to back up the practice, they will usually try it. The lessons were taught with each section using a different mindfulness technique each time. The purpose of the multiple methods was not to have the students remember them all but to give the students a variety of choices when selecting mindfulness techniques. The methods ranged from being aware of one’s breath to mindful eating. The goal was for them to use one or two casually in their life daily. Once the classes went through the lessons, I began to implement mindfulness in other ways. I would do mindfulness before any assessment. I would also use the terms that were taught in the lessons to help students come back to the class when they would get off track. I even incorporated it during our annual Week Without Walls trip where the students go on a week-long field trip. I would have loved to have seen the mindfulness sessions through to the end of the school year, but unfortunately, the pandemic made us have an abrupt ending to face-to-face instruction. But, before this took place, I was told by a few students how much they appreciated the mindfulness sessions and how much it helped them before a test to reduce their anxiety.
COLD WATER IMMERSION: AN EFFICIENT WELLNESS PRACTICE FOR TEACHERS
By Bob Evans Bob Evans is a Physical Education teacher and Wellness Leader. He has taught in the United States, Thailand, and South Korea. He is currently based in the United States where he works as a K-5 PE teacher and a District Wellness Coordinator focused on school employee wellness.
As a father of a 2-year-old boy and an infant girl, efficiency and athome are two of the most important aspects of my current wellness regimen. I am always on the lookout for wellness habits to weave into my everyday life. Cold water immersion has been a new habit for me that is efficient, at-home and habitual. To celebrate the New Year back on January 1st, I rallied a group of friends and did a one-second underwater plunge into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Northern Oregon. Doing doing this “polar plunge” was mostly a silly and memorable ritual to start the year, but research has shown a multitude of health benefits related to regular cold water immersion. Little did I know how stressful 2020 would be, but looking back, I’m glad I started this resiliency-building practice to start the year. Of all the theoretical and research-proven benefits, the one I like the most is improved stress response. Immersion in cold water evokes a stress response. Your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate all increase. Your body also releases a cocktail of stress hormones. This stress response is similar whether you are swimming in cold water, being attacked by an animal, dealing with a global pandemic, navigating a difficult social relationship, handling a problem at work, or leading a group of spirited children. As we know, prolonged stress can wreak havoc in the body if it’s not addressed through physical activity and nutritious foods.
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Now here’s the theory of how cold water immersion helps us deal with stress. By regularly exposing yourself to cold water, it is theorized that your body will adapt and the stress response will be reduced for all forms of stress. This is called cross-adaptation, when one form of stress adapts the body to more effectively deal with others. So, by adding the practice of cool showers or cold water swims to your wellness regimen, you can improve your stress response for all the stressful experiences in your life. This makes sense to me and I like the efficiency of it. Thus, as a 2020 resolution, I set out to do cold ocean plunges every month and take a cold shower every Sunday. I started with a 1-minute cold shower for every Sunday in January, increased to 2 minutes in February, and have maintained the plateau of 5-minute Sunday showers since May. For my birthday in late July, I plan on celebrating with a physically active day, logging 38,000 steps (I turn 38) on my FitBit, and then plunging into an ice bath. It’s ironic that giving your body stress is one of the best ways to help your body deal with stress, but in my experience with the cold water immersion, it seems true. If you want to go deeper into the practice of cold water immersion, I highly recommend Googling and exploring the independent work of Ben Greenfield and Wim Hoff. Be well! *Disclaimer: There are obvious risks and reasons to be cautious before wading into the ocean without a wetsuit on a Northern Oregon beach in January, but it’s worth it.
"By regularly exposing yourself to cold water, it is theorized that your body will adapt and the stress response will be reduced for all forms of stress. This is called cross-adaptation, when one form of stress adapts the body to more effectively deal with others. So, by adding the practice of cool showers or cold water swims to your wellness regimen, you can improve your stress response for all the stressful experiences in your life."
TEACHER SELF-CARE AND EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS: THE IMPORTANCE OF SETTING BOUNDARIES
By Jamie Johnson Teacher, author, and life coach, Jamie Johnson, has spent her life exploring and refining ways to teach without sacrificing a high quality of life. Most of her 20 years of teaching were in bilingual elementary classrooms. She has always worked in low income schools and has done everything from serving with the Peace Corps in Indonesia to developing an alternative distance learning program in the rural US. Most recently, Jamie has founded KickassTeacher.com where she serves as a transformational life coach for educators and schools. Her first book, “Teach and Still Have Time to Pee” will be out this September.
In a profession like teaching which requires empathy, kindness and compassion, we need more than professional development. When we are overworked and overwhelmed, we don’t have emotional space to be our kindest and most compassionate self. Our personal development and self-care support are essential for success. In my 20 years of teaching and now life coaching for educators, I have discovered three keys to overcoming work overload; boundaries, habits, and relationships. Today I want to discuss one particular area that many teachers don’t realize will save their weekends; email. We have more and more balls thrown at us to juggle and our reflex is to catch them. One source of a never ending bombardment of balls and things to add to our plate comes from electronic communication like email, text, and the apps we use to keep in touch. I could spend a whole 40 hour week answering the hundreds of emails I get per day! I’m not joking. Email is a major time sucker in most professions and especially teaching. Many companies are even banning emails. Team leadership guru, Külli Koort, shares research on the damage email can have on productivity in her blog, Week Done. “When Thierry Breton, CEO of Atos, estimated that a mere 10% of his workers' emails were actually useful and productive, he instituted a zero-email policy for its 74,000+ team and improved productivity immediately.”
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This is an invitation to set some firm boundaries with yourself and others around email and other electronic communication. I know that waiting for others to change their behaviors based on my expectations doesn’t work. I’m the one who must change my own behavior and the people around me will learn and adjust to my boundaries. That means I am the one who must respect my boundaries for them to work. Everyone else, whether they respect my boundaries or not, will learn them. The first thing I can do to cut down on the barrage of emails is limit the access points through which all of these messages are coming. This helps break the habit of constantly and unnecessarily checking in. I used to be on my computer and that little red flag would pop up notifying me I had a new email, or my phone would buzz with a text message, or my lock screen would show a long list of notification from slack, messenger, email, and texts! AAAAAHHHH! I couldn’t escape because no matter what device I was using, the distracting notifications would not stop! So, I went through and turned off notifications for every single app on my phone, ipad, and computer. I snoozed all group texts. I set texts to only show the red tag notification but removed all banners. I set calls to silent except for my core group of people. This gave me more time to focus on my other work without distractions or being tempted to get into a conversation with someone about anything other than the task I wanted to accomplish. Squirrel… Next, I set a courageous boundary. I set a container around my time spent on email and electronic communication. If I am open at all times of the day for communication, I will quickly be overwhelmed by the “needs” of everyone else and feel like I am not accomplishing what I want to in my day (because I’m not. I’m checking email!). When someone tells me how pissed they are about getting an email in the middle of the night, I can’t help but wonder, what the heck are you doing checking your email in the middle of the night?!! This is where the boundary setting comes in. The boundary I set is choosing a reasonable amount of time in the morning to spend on checking and reading through messages and another time slot at the end of the day. For example, I check messages first thing in the morning from 7:15-7:40 and what I get through is enough. I check emails again at the end of the day from 3:00-3:45. I triage them so I am getting to the most important ones first and leave others for the next day or even...
NEVER!!! WHAAAAAT! That’s right, the “Delete” button is your friend. I let people know that if they don’t get to the point in the first two lines, I hit delete. Be generous with what you let go. Your weekends are worth more than your inbox! Speaking of weekends... Another trick I use is the auto reply feature! This is the relationship part of email boundaries. I communicate clearly what my parameters are for this type of communication ahead of time and frequently. I use auto reply on Friday at 3:30pm until Monday at 7:30am. “I’m out of the office and will get back to you when I return Monday.” To support my colleagues, I send out an all staff email at the beginning of the year explaining when they can expect my responses to emails and invite them come to me in person if they need something midday. I remind them of this in person frequently and I know the boundary is clear and learned when I hear someone say, “Oh right, you don’t check email on the weekend.” If you have policies that require frequent responses to email, I invite you to share some of the research from the article quoted above with your administrators. As we move our classrooms into our very homes and have students and their parents at the dinner table with us, setting these kinds of boundaries will be vital for us to have the time we need to rest and refuel. There is no curriculum or training that will impact our students the way a happy teacher will so keep those courageous boundaries firm and keep on smiling!
ADAPTING THE TEACHING ENVIRONMENT TO MAXIMISE STUDENT LEARNING AND WELLBEING
By Anna Zyla Anna Zyla has worked as an English teacher in Costa Rica, the United States and Thailand. She is incredibly passionate about education and is always looking for new ways to incorporate modern practices into her classroom. She is a member of the National Council of Teachers of English as well as the Wisconsin State Reading Association.
When I began planning to convert my traditional classroom to include alternative seating I envisioned a hippie jazz cafe -- of sorts: low lights, soft music, plushy bean bags, live plants curling around the windows as students casually moved between gathering notes at high top tables to relaxing in soft sofas to do some reading. So when one of my first students walked in, flustered that she had entered the wrong place: Sorry! I’m - uh looking for my English room! I knew I had actually succeeded in my vision. My motivation to transition from the traditional stark-white walls and forward-facing rows came to me when I really recognized how much time we (both students and teachers) spend in our classrooms during the year; far more than we do at home. I wanted students to see the classroom as a place that they would thoroughly enjoy being in; a place that was “ours” versus mine. For a while I had been trying to come up with ways to successfully “flip” the classroom and give students more control. Taking away conventional seating has helped me cross a big “control” hurdle.
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The results? Students seem to genuinely love it. They move around organically, sometimes multiple times a lesson to find a place that works best for them. Students use furniture in an innovative way -sometimes gathering around the low tables and bean bags to brainstorm. Others might opt to stand around a high table, stretching their legs and minds. The classroom has become much more collaborative and naturally shifted the focus from a teacher-centered classroom to a more studentoriented one.
I’m quite proud of the way my unique classroom has turned out. The results have been incredibly positive with an increase in students' moods and productivity alike. In fact -- it’s become so popular of a place that I now have trouble getting students to leave... though that’s not the worst problem to have! Of course, with the world now turned upside down due to COVID-19, our classroom has had a very short shelf life. What we had created has since been reverted back to rows of tables separating students with thick plastic dividers. The furniture has all been removed and it almost looks unrecognizable. My teaching style and classroom organization are deeply connected. So much so that I feel a lot of angst as I approach the new year and look for ways to adapt lessons to accommodate these restrictions. The way my classroom was designed naturally led me to give more control to students; kept us all more relaxed. As I mentioned above, we genuinely shared the space and it wasn’t only “my” classroom. So to now ultimately discourage forms of collaboration, limit choices and move back to teaching at the front of the class seems almost prehistoric to me. I imagine students, too, will have difficulties adjusting to this change. It is my hope, however, that we can move quickly and safely through this unpredictable time and my students and I can still find new ways to be creative and relaxed during our time together.
Student feedback: “Being in a classroom where you are completely in control of your surroundings makes learning easier and a lot more comfortable.”
“I think that other classrooms should be decorated like Ms. Anna's class because it makes it feel like I’m at home rather than school. And that makes me happy.” “I love that there are different seats with different feels. You can decide where you want to sit to be the most productive. It's the most comforting room and it makes us less stressed to be there."
The 'new normal': socially distanced classrooms
BREATHE IN… BREATHE OUT... HOW EDTECH YOGA CAN SUPPORT EDUCATORS
By Fanny Passeport & Caitlin McLemore Fanny Passeport is an international education consultant who supports students and teachers in implementing selfdirected learning so that all learners (children or adults) grow their I CAN power and feel the satisfaction of owning their learning. She is an international educator who previously worked as a French Foreign Language Teacher, Technology Integrator / Digital Literacy Coach and Director of Teaching & Learning. Connect with Fanny: Twitter: @fanny_passeport Webpage: https://noborderslearning.com
While this pandemic forces us all to embrace technology, this is also a time to pause and reflect on what matters and to develop our emotional intelligence, by letting go of the noise and letting come of the new. For educators to regain a sense of control and efficacy, authors Caitlin McLemore and Fanny Passeport recommend EdTech Yoga, a cyclic process that starts with the breath, continues with stretching and is completed with meditating. How does it work?
Step 1 - Breathe As educators, we are constantly busy with lesson planning, assessment, curriculum documentation, emails… but it’s important to invest time in pausing in order to be able to refocus on our purpose, to use our time effectively, and to get to know ourselves better. Self-awareness is crucial to exercising flexibility later on. Some ways we can breathe might include mindfulness meditations (examples here), journaling, writing your manifesto to realign to your beliefs. This is a time to re-empower ourselves and remember our just cause and why we entered the teaching profession.
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Step 2 - Stretch
Make it yours
Stretching is all about going outside our comfort zone, taking risks (with caution) and pushing ourselves gently. 21st century teachers stretch as they experiment with technology and new strategies and practices to constantly refine their craft to serve the students. However, teachers can tend to over-stretch. To avoid a burn-out, we need to remind ourselves to pause before stretching and perhaps to stretch with others so that it may cause us to better monitor ourselves and adjust as we stretch. Everyone stretches with different intensities and we need to personalize learning for ourselves. While we might get started with technology and feel insecure about it, others might be more confident. It’s okay to not be going at the same pace and to challenge ourselves which makes sense to each and everyone of us personally. What matters is that we find the sweet spot that challenges us enough that we want to keep going. Some ways to stretch might be: trying a new tech tool, engaging in a book study, or doing an online course.
The EdTech Yoga process is a cycle that helps us grow. When we want to start with anything new, we intentionally remember to breathe, then we stretch and then we reflect. It allows you to be flexible and effective and each phase allows us to be mindful, self-aware and flexible. You can take this process at a macro level (perhaps you have a long-term goal you want to achieve) or at a micro level (for example when thinking about how to plan a lesson). This Self-Coaching Template might help you to personalize your practice based on your needs, aspirations and context. To go deeper, you might like to check more information here: https://noborderslearning.com/stretch-yourself/
Step 3 - Meditate After stretching, we need to reflect on what we have learnt about ourselves and/or others. If our stretching experience was about trying a new teaching strategy, how about asking student feedback for example? Meditating is vulnerable because it forces us to consider new alternatives, to examine our mistakes and to self-modify. We need to remove the ego and focus on the learning ecosystem. Meditate helps us reconnect reflection to action and relationships building. We talk about the importance of feedback being non evaluative so that one can receive it and take action on it to grow. It is also important to keep reflecting as educators. Often times, we spend time looking for resources and wasting energy in tasks that are busy work and little contribute to a goal we are trying to achieve so, meditating allows us to refocus on our internal sources of knowledge and skills and to also reach out to the human resources around us because no tool can replace the thinking teacher. Further to this, we believe that when we learn something, it carries more meaning when it is shared with others so here is a time to connect to your favorite social media or to blog and let others get inspired.
Caitlin McLemore (Ed.D.) Caitlin McLemore is an educational consultant that works with students and teachers of all ages to implement innovative solutions to the challenges of teaching and learning in the digital age through transformative uses of educational technology. She is a Google Certified Innovator and Trainer and an ISTE Certified Educator. Connect with Caitlin: Twitter: @edtechcaitlin Webpage: http://blankcrayon.com/
THE FAR REACHING IMPACT OF SUICIDE
Suicide and Young People
By Dylan Harper Faith Dylan Harper Faith is a Physical Education Teacher, Athletics Director and Pastoral Leader whose passion, direction and drive for change and for a better world exist equally both inside and outside the classroom.
Suicide is a global phenomenon that affects people at all stages across the lifespan. According to the WHO, almost 800,000 people die every year from suicide and in 2016 it accounted for 1.4% of all deaths worldwide. That is one person every 40 seconds. Further, suicide was the leading cause of death amongst 15-29 year olds globally according to recent WHO statistics. A recent report by the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness (NCISH), University Manchester provided some illuminating findings from a national investigation (UK-based) into suicide and young people, and described the antecedents of suicide by young people aged under 25. The research showed that suicide rates steadily increase each year from aged 13 to 24 and rise significantly in late teens. Suicide cases that were included in this study were disproportionately male (76%) and this difference between male and female deaths increases significantly in individuals aged over 20. There were many common antecedents to suicide in young people between 13 to 24 years which are reflective of the common changes occurring across these ages; academic pressures and bullying were common themes in suicides in people aged below 20, whilst pressures around housing, workplace and finances occurred more frequently in those aged between 20-24.
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It is important to note that the study highlighted that suicide in young people is rarely caused by one particular theme or issue, rather it is often the combination of previous vulnerabilities and recent events. The study outlined the ten most common themes in suicide by children and young people, these are; family factors (such as a history of mental health problems), abuse and neglect, bereavement and experience of suicide, bullying, suicide related internet use, acaedmic pressures (expecially related to exams), social isolation or withdrawal, physical health conditions that may have a social impact, alcohol and drug use, and personal mental health difficulties, history of self-harm or suicidal ideas.
Click here to watch Dylan's performance
About this spoken word Dylan is a 4 x World Record holder, a slam poetry competition winner in 3 countries, a mental health and gender equality campaigner with a number of organisations and a firm believer that it is our personal experiences that enhance our ability to teach with compassion and holistically support students needs, not detract from them. Dylan is passionate about education, sport, young people, mental health AND life in general. As an educator who has worked on five continents and led hundreds of volunteers in education and sports based projects in developing countries globally, Dylan is a walking, talking and action based example of the age old phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover”. With all this on a CV, you may be hard pressed to understand that Dylan has battled a wealth of mental and learning differences throughout their childhood and adult life. They believe that by us all living authentically and vulnerably as adults who have had the opportunity to gain knowledge and understanding to accept the world as it is and step into our truth, is the only way we can reduce the stigma specifically regarding mental health matters and awareness and allow our youth to have more open conversations regarding theirs. They also believe that this is the key to reducing suicide rates in young people. Dylan recently wrote a piece for a spoken word anthology entitled “Missing”, as part of the Bangkok Lyrical Lunacy Poetry Collective which coincided with an extremely difficult conversation they had with a friend whom wanted to take their own life due to losing their son. As teenage suicide is so prevalent yet more often than not, a taboo subject to touch on within the school environment, this piece examines the devastating effects on the people and families that are left behind.
"In French, they don't say 'I miss you'. They say 'You are missing from me'. And that's how I'd feel if she departed this world early. He would miss you. They would miss you. And I would miss you. But most importantly, you would be missing from us."
THE GAME CHANGER
By Anonymous
Disclaimer: This is a fictional piece of writing. As such these characterisations do not represent any specific child, parent, place or event. I had made it almost to the end of my junior year in high school when the virus came and shut it all down. It was the best day of my life. A few years previously, having been "excused" from every learning institution I had ever attended back at home, my mom packed-up our lives, dyed her hair pink and moved us both to Thailand. I was immediately diagnosed with ADD, prescribed medication and welcomed to attend another international school, despite having demonstrated a clearly limited capacity to grasp the English language due to my now properly-documented learning disability. It was during that first year in Thailand when as a new ESL student I was required to board on campus that I was introduced to internet video games and fell totally in love for the first time with no need for spoken language at all. It was a perfect match.
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I quickly learned to play games very, very well the ones in class, where I could hide behind my limited language skills backed by over-prescribed pharmaceuticals which should have made me drowsy and lethargic (but which actually had the opposite effect, especially at night) and the other games played in the boys' dorm, where I could visit places beyond my wildest dreams, places online where I truly soared. By mastering how to circumvent electronics restrictions even under the watchful eyes of our ever-vigilant house parents, I became an acknowledged master of deception both on campus and on the keyboard, a real cyber-hero. I felt powerful. I felt respected and admired. I felt connected. While I was in boarding, my mom rented a house so far away from school that she later had to pay extra for the minibus to pick me up because she didn't want us to live near other families that spoke the same language as us. So, after somehow passing a cursory academic entrance test to get accepted into mainstream classes, my reward was to be banished immediately from the comforting warmth of the only male peer companionship I had ever known, and sentenced to isolation in a stark white cubicle far away. I went from a confident 10 minute head-held-high morning jaunt across the quad to an agonizing commute that made me so nauseous, I gave up eating pretty much entirely. I've always been skinny so nobody really noticed. I also learned to control any need to pee, which later came in super-handy during epic gaming marathons. Early on at home, I gave the illusion of tackling my school work with unprecedented zeal at all hours of the night, soon earning me the reward of a brand new much-coveted super-highperformance Dell. To capitalize further, I cleverly coupled guilt with my now-impeccable sense of perfect timing during the vulnerable wee hours of a random morning to easily convince mom to interrupt her online shopping just long enough to buy me the newest i-Phone in order to properly co-celebrate the dawn of my increasingly bright future. That sealed the transformation of my daily school commute into a well-spring of pure joy; I could game at warp speed totally uninterrupted and around corners. I learned to pray - for traffic jams.
Each morning before boarding the minibus, mom gave me my prescribed medications and each morning, I managed to pocket them for I had discovered that doubling-up at night would render my super-powers nearly invincible. Mondays became truly epic because I could stealthily save all my weekend doses and would swallow them all at once, leveling-up my game more than once every single time. I started my own channel on twitch.com and started to attract bunches of adoring followers. Friends and even anonymous worshippers from all over the world began inviting me to join their teams. My connection with other human beings felt stronger than ever and I felt the pride of achievement as a valued citizen of this world. However, at school, things were rapidly spiralling. To an outsider, my home life during that first year would have appeared peaceful and supportive because my mom's solution to dealing with any issues I might be having at school was simply not to open her email. She rationalized that if things got bad enough, someone would call. One day, they did. Life became immediate hell. My beloved phone and computer were confiscated and I was required to do everything at home. I was even watched closely when taking my medicine. I became lethargic, skinnier and even more outwardly catatonic. My abject fear of missing out by not being online permeated everything. At an attempted intervention, I watched the school counselor's mouth form the word "trust" and just stared at it silently. My mom bought a safe to lock my stuff up. I wished I could crawl inside too. All the degradation of my early years flooded back. There was nothing more to say. I was completely alone again for two and a half years of unopened emails. The next time my mom's phone rang, the school was calling to say the school had closed because of Covid-19, and that all classes and homework would be going online effective-immediately. She hung up, opened the safe and handed over my computer and phone. She calmly went to her room and I to mine. Both locks clicked at the same time.
Elvis, 16
MENTAL HEALTH AND INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS: TOWARDS A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF CULTURAL AND CONTEXTUAL FACTORS
By Dr Sadie Hollins Sadie Hollins is currently a Head of Sixth Form at an international school in Thailand. Prior to working abroad she undertook a PhD in Sociology (focusing on environmental sustainability and the Olympic Games), followed by a postdoctoral research position. She previously worked as a Lecturer in Sport Studies.
In a recent article for another publication, I put forward the argument for the need for a more ‘internationalised’ PSHE (Personal, Social, Health, and Economic education) curriculum framework which better serves our international student body and takes into account the national context of the school. In particular the article called for the need to discuss and understand mental health problems not just through a western lens, which arguably makes up a significant part of the teaching body of international schools. In my personal experience, I recognise that by default I view social-emotional difficulties and mental health problems through a western lens, and in doing this I often feel that I miss the opportunity to better understand the cultural complexities that accompany these issues in the students I work with. The aim of the blog post you are reading here is to delve into this topic a little more deeply in an attempt to better illustrate why it is important to better understand cultural views of mental health problems, which may in turn help us to better understand the difficulties that some of our students may face. As I am currently based in Thailand, this article will focus on the nuances found within different Asian cultures.
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When researching this topic, an interesting paper that I came across was by Gopalkrishnan (2018) and is entitled ‘Cultural Diversity and Mental Health: Considerations for Policy and Practice’. This paper sought to explore some of the key considerations that lie at the intersection between mental health and cultural diversity. In this regard, the author sought to highlight that cultural differences can have a range of implications on how mental health problems are viewed and understood, how and when people seek help, and the nature of the therapeutic relationship. Gopalkrishnan (2018) begins his paper by defining culture to help frame this discussion a little more, and he defines culture (in relation to ethnic identity) as ‘the multidimensional set of ascriptive group identities to which religion, language, and race (as a social construct) belong and all of which contribute to a person's view of themselves’. Culture (and cultural diversity) is an important part of discussions around mental health, and feels particularly relevant to the multicultural makeup of international schools, as ‘culture influences what gets defined as a problem, how the problem is understood and which solutions to the problem are acceptable.’ (Hernandez et al., 2009). Hechanova and Waeldle (2017) provide a useful way of understanding the different ways in which cultural differences can impact on understandings of mental health treatment. These authors highlight five key components of diverse cultures that have implications for mental health treatment: 1. Emotional expression - some cultures believe that an imbalance in expression can lead to disease, and talking about painful feelings can lead to further painful feelings. This in turn could lend itself to a reluctance to engage in talking therapies. 2. Shame (and stigma) - Hechanova and Waeldle (2017) argue that shame and the significant role of the family within Asian culture is why Asian individuals with mental health problems can be slow to seek help. 3. The ‘power distance’ - the power differential between the therapist and the patient in Asian culture can lead to a lack of autonomy on behalf of the client. 4. Collectivism - the collectivist culture in Asian countries can positively impact with resiliency and coping. 5. Spirituality and religion - this can influence what are seen to be the causes of mental health problems as well as how these problems are treated. For example some cultures view the onset of disease as caused by the possession of spirits and as such may ascribe to the use of traditional healers or elders.
It is important to note that much of the work in terms of theory and practice within the fields of mental health, psychiatry and mainstream psychology has emerged from western understandings of the human condition, in particular the dualistic understanding of the body and mind interconnection and reductionism. As such Western cultural approaches to health are often ‘predicated on a model that focuses on individual intrapsychic experience or individual pathology, while other traditions may be based more on community or familial processes.’ (Tribe, 2005). Therein lies some of the tension when applying Western understandings of mental health to the context of non-Western cultures. To bring back our students into this discussion, a paper by Inman et al. (2009) discussed some of the critical issues and challenges facing school counsellors in international schools. Whilst we can understand (to some degree) the many mental health and wellbeing challenges facing young people in terms of navigating relationships, keeping safe online, and addiction amongst many other topics, our international student body experience some unique challenges by virtue of attending an international school. Namely the difficulties experienced as a result of the ‘transient and unfamiliar nature of their educational and geographical experiences’ (Rifenbary, 1997, as cited in Inman et al., 2009). If we take these vast differences in cultural understandings of mental health problems within the host nations that we are situated in, take into account the often Westernised views of mental health and counselling support, and couple that with the complex identities of our students (Danau Tanu’s book ‘Growing Up in Transit: The Politics of Belonging at an International School’ provides an excellent insight into these complexities of being a student in transit), it feels that imposing a purely Westernised understanding onto our students without first appreciating the context may inhibit our abilities to individualise our support to students when necessary. I appreciate that the complex way in which I have discussed how we can help students with mental health problems provides no answers, and instead highlights gaps. However, if we can better understand the cultural complexities of mental health and our student body then ultimately we will also be able to find better ways to support our students and their needs.
FINDING PERSPECTIVE POST-PANDEMIC
By Chris Garvey Chris is the Founder and CEO of Habitual, a health coaching company working with private clients, schools and organisations to develop habits for lasting health. Chris is a former teacher and international sports coach, qualified in sports science, education and psychology. An iron man, ultra spartan athlete, deadlifting record holder, author of the (soon to be published) "When Life Happens" and a public speaker. Connect with Chris: Webpage: www.habitual.hk
This week I had the pleasure to speak to Dr Sadie Hollins a head of sixth form at a British International School in Thailand and a scholar. Dr Sadie is starting the conversation on health with a focus on the international schools section. Often dismissed as privileged, the international community, just like you me and all others come with its own dilemmas, stories and problems. During the conversation, Dr Sadie posed me the question "if you only had 10 minutes, what message would you try and get across to people that would make the biggest impact on their health?" What a question... My immediate answer was "Perspective" Right now we are in the midst of an epidemic. Many of us are potentially scared, concerned, socially isolated, and having to financially take stock. We are also spending more and more time online, whether that's Zoom calls, social media or burying ourselves into work for distraction. Regardless, when we need to connect more than ever, we are forced to distance.
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Right now, more than ever we need perspective. Right now, more than ever we need to ZOOM out and look at life in another way.
Perspective Nothing is ever as bad as it seems. Nothing is ever as good as it seems. No matter how bad your life is, others have it worse. No matter how good your life is, other have it better. When we ruminate on what we don't have, what others do have or what it is we want, we fall into the grass is always greener fallacy. To compare with our next door neighbour, colleague, friends or our future selves creates an environment of illbeing. Boyce et al. (2010) showed after a very modest level, earning more money will only make us happier if we become better off than our neighbours. Olympic Silver medalists are generally less happy than bronze medalists, a finding attributed to being so close but not quite good enough whilst bronze medalists can see they almost went away with nothing (Medvec et al., 1995). When adolescents, move to a more affluent neighbourhood there is a related increase in depression, social phobia, aggression, and conflict with fathers and mothers (Nieuwenhuis et al., 2017). This is all crazy, we compare ourselves into a state of ill-being. Back to perspective.
That said all three of these needs are available in abundance, yet due to a zoomed in view of the world right now we tend to only see what we don't have and what others do have. Now more than ever we need some distance to see clearly. There is a zen story of the two arrows Imagine being struck by an arrow, it would hurt right? Of course. So why do you choose to lie there and get hit by the second and the third? Let's look at the meaning here. This first arrow represents our current situation, COVID-19. It is here, we are isolated, we are no longer seeing life normally, that is out of our control. The second arrow represents how we react to the first arrow, the pain and grief we create through our rumination and comparisons. We can not avoid the first arrow, but with a little perspective distance and action we can prevent further strikes on our well-being. Back to here and now... Creating Distance If we can all zoom out a little, we can see events unfold around us, we can watch from a different place, from a little distance, both physically and psychologically. Psychological distancing comes in many forms: What will this look like in 1 years time (clock time) What does this look like from the sky (physical distance) What can WE do to deal with this (I - We) What does this look like from someone else's shoes (I - You) Physical Distancing comes in many forms:
When I talk of perspective it is not from a place of ignoring where we are at, we all still have fundamental needs for food, shelter, safety and water and even more importantly to most of the world who have basic needs met - connection, love, and control.
What can I do to add to my well-being? Can I move a little more? Can I eat and sleep well? Can I do something for someone else who is worse off than me?
The last three are important issues for all, even in our "privileged societies".
Let's all zoom out a little, we have dealt with hardship in the past, we will again in the future, if it is not this, it would be something else....
THANK YOU @_WISEDUCATION Thank you to all of the contributors for taking the time to write their articles and for you the reader for checking out the first ever issue of the WISEducation Newsletter. Also, a huge thanks to Laura Davies (Assistant Editor) and Joanna Whitehouse (Copy Editor) If you are interested in contributing an article for the next WISEducation Newsletter in December then please send an email to sadie.wiseducation@gmail.com. You can also check out more articles at wiseducationblog.com