It’s easy enough to say, “Okay, I need to focus.” For example, if we want to be more resilient, then it’s easy to say, “I’m going to focus on developing a deeper sense of meaning in my work and life.” The trouble is that focusing takes more than talking about focusing. It takes actually doing […]
How to Build Resilience, Part 2: A Strong Sense of Purpose
He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. Friedrich Nietzsche, Maxims and Arrows Teaching in a perfect world would be difficult enough. But teaching when bad things happen — the students aren’t motivated, the parents are angry, the administrator is out of touch, the colleagues aren’t kind, the policies are […]
"It's All About Relationships": We Can Do Better
If you’re ever in a meeting of educators and want to get heads nodding vigorously, here’s what you say: “It’s all about relationships.” This is one of the most agreed upon maxims of my career. It’s also not all that helpful. It’s not that relationships aren’t important. They are magnificently important. It’s not that relationships […]
Certainties, Not Exceptions
When the lesson plan doesn’t go as planned, or the student comes in and puts their head down, or the stroke of the policymaker’s pen undoes years of curriculum work, or the article of the week response doesn’t get turned in, or the department meeting disorients more than it orients, or the stack of papers gets bigger, not smaller… […]
How to Build Resilience, Part 1: Acceptance of Reality
Last time, we established some basic insights from the literature on resilience: it’s a thing; it makes our lives better; it’s a lot like the serenity prayer popularized by twelve-step groups like Alcoholics Anonymous. Resilient people are characterized by three tendencies: I. Acceptance of reality (treated below)II. A strong sense of purpose (treated in this […]