If ever there was a time to boost the morale of staff in schools it is now. Two years into the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and schools are still bearing the brunt of minimal mitigations meaning immense disruption to education, and many thousands of children and staff too unwell to attend.
While morale boosting will naturally form part of your school’s overall wellbeing strategy, this is certainly a time when additional attention needs to be paid to how staff are coping in the face of immense pressure. No one is suggesting that this will in some way remove the pressures; it won’t. But it may help staff to feel more supported while they navigate them.
One thing that is coming over loud and clear in the messages I am getting from teachers is that relatively small gestures really help when the pressure is high. Finding ways to cushion staff, however lightly, is very likely to help. While our heads are down getting through this period, make each day a little lighter. When we emerge from it all, there has to be a commitment to continuing to address the big stuff that must change. Yes, there are many policies and strategies that could support a profession under immense strain. Many more teachers would help right now, as would properly ventilated classrooms and Ofsted keeping a safe distance, and we should continue to express what we know will help the profession to keep education on track.
In the meantime, these ideas may help, offered to serve as a reminder at a very busy time…
Recognition
It is so important to make sure that staff know you recognise how hard they are working under what will be for some, incredible stress. Tell them you see what they are doing and that they are doing it well. Gratitude will go a long way.
Small gestures
Keep up the small gestures. Cake in the staffroom won’t solve the profession’s wider problems but it just might help some staff members to feel the lift that small treats can give us; and that can be powerfully restorative. One teacher told me, “There is often a treat in the staffroom. Sometimes it is cake, sometimes some nice biscuits, sometimes a lovely bowl of fruit or some chocolate bars. No one is claiming this is enough to make us all forget what can make the job so hard, but I do enjoy being treated. It’s a small indicator that we are seen.”
Inclusion
Pay special attention to the inclusive atmosphere in your school. Are there any groups feeling particularly vulnerable right now? Clinically vulnerable staff? Staff with clinically vulnerable family members? Staff who are solo parents? Are they feeling ignored by talk of getting back to normal while high levels of a circulating virus make their lives additionally stressful? What are the ways that you are demonstrating your inclusion of their needs right now?
Flexibility to the fore
The teaching profession is not known for the flexibility it offers staff in terms of hours worked and tasks performed each day. But at times like these, where staff may be facing considerable pressures at home due to the pandemic and rises in the cost of living, where it is possible to give a little, do so. Such generosity and understanding now will almost certainly be remembered (and for many, be returned several-fold when times allow).
Ask: What can I do to help?
It’s a very simple question but opens the door to communication about workload and the kind of relatively minor niggles that, when combined, serve to add considerable stress to a working day. Sometimes it pays to blast through unnecessary problems that you would not have been aware of had you not specifically asked.
Playtime
One Head told me he had put some games and puzzles in the staff room. He said, “Teachers rarely have time to play, but a few minutes on a word puzzle or a game can really take their minds off work. Anything that feels like play can be stress relieving.” Looking at the popularity of Wordle right now, he might just be on to something!
Time to talk
Giving staff the chance to off-load their concerns can greatly help them to feel listened to. Such conversations need not be long, but they can be necessary. For some staff, the lingering stress of Covid both at school and at home if they are trying to protect vulnerable family members means little or no respite. Acknowledging that, and offering mitigations, can help to relieve the feelings of isolation.
Nature to nurture
The power of the natural world to soothe the spirits is well documented now. Time may be short in the school day, but it is always going to be worth grabbing what time there is to spend in nature in the locality. If that isn’t possible, bring some indoor plants into the school, hang scenes of nature on the walls, play films of nature on screens when possible; do what it takes to bring the restoring elements of the natural world into your environment.
Lighten the load
When we cannot literally lighten the load by removing tasks from our to do list, we can at least employ some humour where appropriate. It won’t work for everyone, but laughter can be a great medicine and used judiciously just might ease our days.
Celebrate milestones
Getting to the end of a week or to half term, or the end of a term needs to be celebrated. With recent holidays being dominated by Covid for so many teachers and school staff finding ways to mark these occasions and remind staff of the need to down tools, rest and restore is important.
While not all of these suggestions will work for everyone, everywhere, when staff feel dispirited – crushed even – by the current situation, acknowledging what is happening for them and boosting morale where possible just might make these days flow more healthily.
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About the author
Elizabeth Holmes
After graduating with a degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Reading, Elizabeth Holmes completed her PGCE at the Institute of Education, University of London. She then taught humanities and social sciences in schools in London, Oxfordshire and West Sussex, where she ran the history department in a challenging comprehensive. Elizabeth specialises in education but also writes on many other issues and themes. As well as her regular blogs for Eteach and FEjobs, her books have been published by a variety of publishers and translated around the world. Elizabeth has also taught on education courses in HE and presented at national and international conferences.