BUILDING RESILIENCE
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DISCOVER YOUR HERO ABILITIES
We can also boost resilience by building our HERO abilities. These are made up of our states of hopefulness, optimism, resilience and confidence (self-efficacy). Add these things together and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. In other words, although resilience is part of our HERO abilities, it is also boosted if we
can improve our sense of hope, optimism and confidence. Think about what gives you hope right now: Is it your ability to teach? Is it your students’ ability to adapt? Is it the future, maybe? What are you optimistic about? What good things can you see in the future? Remind yourself of your efficacy in the domain of teaching. What skills and abilities are you confident about, whether it’s skills in lesson planning or managing disruptive students? The more confidence and skills you have in a particular area, the easier it is likely to be to find a different way to achieve the same end.
L O O K A F T E R YO U R S E L F I N T H E N E W N O R M A L Follow safety instructions but, more importantly, understand the principles and apply them in different situations so you can be active in keeping yourself and those around you safe Manage your energy. Having to suddenly adapt our behaviour means we can’t run
on habitual lines, so it takes more energy even if you seem to be achieving less Re-prioritise, and then do it again when things change again. It’s very easy to assume the priorities stay the same even as the situation changes. They don’t. So take the time to think about what the highest priorities are now
Redefine your goals so you can succeed in the new situation. This is very important Create and recreate structure for yourself. Structure really helps because it reduces decision-making, which is taxing. Keep evolving new structures to your day or your life as things change
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ADVICE
DRAW ON SOCIAL NETWORKS
Our network contains people who find easy what we find hard. They can be a source of inspiration, uplift, practical advice, useful contacts and many other resources that help us cope. Exchange your strengths across your network. For instance, you might find it easy to use Zoom, Teams and other online resources to create great learning experiences, while your friend, who is not so good with technology, might have a library of short, funny video clips to liven things up. Think of your teaching team as a system of skills and strengths. Within that system trade and barter, swap and exchange, team up and share. In this way you extend your own resourcefulness considerably. In the first days back, you might like to have regular ‘what I learnt about working in this new way’ sessions where you each share your best learning from the day before.
SARAH LEWIS is
principal psychologist at Appreciating Change. acukltd.com
AUTUMN 2020 INTUITION 13
12-13 Advice_Intuition September 2020_Intuition 13
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