ADVICE

2DISCOVER 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 confi dence (self-effi cacy). 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 confi dence.

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 effi cacy in the domain of teaching. What skills and abilities are you confi dent about, whether it’s skills in lesson planning or managing disruptive students? The more confi dence and skills you have in a particular area, the easier it is likely to be to fi nd a diff erent way to achieve the same end.

LOOK AFTER YOURSELF IN THE NEW NORMAL

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 Redefi ne 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 3 DRAW ON SOCIAL NETWORKS Our network contains people who fi nd easy what we fi nd 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 fi nd 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 fi rst 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

hen Sue Pember found out

Wshe was to be awarded the CBE for services to adult education at the end of 2019, to say she was surprised would be an understatement. “It was interesting because for the last fi ve years since working for HOLEX I have been a bit of a nuisance or critical friend of government, depending on how you look at it, always there and always saying ‘what about adults?’,” she says. “It’s given me a green light to be an even stronger lobbyist.”

Since 2015, Pember has been director of policy and external relations for HOLEX, the body for adult community education and learning. The organisation campaigns and lobbies on behalf of adult education community services, centres, colleges and institutions, pushing for greater recognition of their role as providers in the overall further education landscape.

“We’d like to see adult community education recognised for what it does because providers work with people in our society that other organisations often forget about,” she says. “As well as supporting low-skilled adults into work we’ve demonstrated over the last few years that someone with a moderate mental health issue is better off going into adult learning than on a medical intervention programme.” More practically, she’d like to see the Government increase funding to the levels seen around 2011.

The Covid-19 pandemic has only served to highlight the importance of the sector, which Pember believes will play a vital role

INTERVIEW Driving force

Sue Pember CBE has spent her career moving in and out of further education and both local and national government roles. It’s all led on to her current role, championing the cause of adult education