The Resilience Institute
Wellbeing (and Resilience) is high on the education agenda. It is an exciting but confusing opportunity. Principals confront multiple options, parental pressure, expert advice and personal bias. If we consider the next decade in education, most accept that wellbeing will become a key responsibility in every school community. We have much to learn but it is a great time to get started. With a history of training minds, a principal may well ask what wellbeing has to do with education. There are many ways to answer this. First, we know that the health and wellbeing of many young people has declined over the past 50 years. Specifically, obesity, autism, ADHD, anxiety and depression have shown sharp increases. This is partly due to a more sedentary, family-fractured and digital generation. Second, schools have a duty to prepare young people for the future. Success in life is increasingly dependent on vitality, success under pressure, EQ and social skills. There is no better complement to strong families than a school that reinforces the life-time skills of wellbeing. Governments may insist on this training when they recognise the healthcare cost savings. Third, when students are calm, energised and socially engaged, their learning, teaming and academic performance is markedly improved. Destructive behaviours reduce. Many school programmes have begun to demonstrate this evidence. See Social Emotional Learning and the Canadian 24 hour activity initiative. Centred on Principal Hauora, we reflect on best practice and the principal’s role in leading themselves and their communities. We focus on four principal deliverables. 1. Clear definition Leaders must be clear on how the school defines wellbeing. Reducing sugar, bullying, mobile use or stress can be mixed with increasing activity, empathy, mindfulness and sleep. Each one is potentially vast in scope and confronts conflicting opinions. It is easy to lose your way. Clarity, specificity and realistic, measurable
goals will help considerably. The Hauora model of wellbeing embraces physical, mentalemotional, social and spiritual perspectives. It is a good framework albeit broad. The perspective one chooses must be guided by need, realism and defined goals. For example, does a school focus on bullying, nutrition or empathy? What is the impact and practicality of each? Our recommendation is a progressive journey that starts with being safe and calm, progresses to physical wellbeing and only then extends into emotional skills. The evidence is that we are dealing with a tsunami of distress – attention disorders, social withdrawal, anxiety and depression. They all have a common theme. People feel overwhelmed and unsafe. We live in freeze, flight and fight states. The remedy is to be deliberate and practical in building daily disciplines in breathing, calming and connecting. Once we feel safe, calm and connected, the physical and emotional layers of wellbeing become much easier to develop. The social and spiritual elements follow naturally. This perspective on wellbeing is clearly articulated by Stephen Porges in The Pocketguide to Polyvagal Theory, 2017. See also https://resiliencei.com/2018/01/safetyplay-paradox . 2. Lead by example Bottom line: the principal and leadership team must walk the talk. As Susan Fiske has demonstrated, influence is set within moments by the balance of warmth and competence you demonstrate. When your presence conveys care, empathy and openness (emotional) first, followed by strength, fitness and power (physical), your influence multiplies. If competence precedes warmth, people will be defensive. If warmth is followed by incompetence, you are met with contempt. The final option is “cold bully”. In practical terms, clearly demonstrate your warmth and kindness followed by posture and vitality. In our experience principals are generally very strong on warmth but may present as overloaded, exhausted and neglecting their own wellbeing. Our recommendation is to be deliberate about mastering the key elements of physical wellbeing. These include open and strong posture, healthy weight, good muscle tone and getting decent sleep. One does not need to be wellness-perfect but rather
to show that you are deliberate in taking care of yourself so that Three achievable goals, in our view, include: you can care for and lead others. a. Teach an entire school to calm, focus and connect. In a flight, Find a way to raise awareness out of the chaos. Education is fight, freeze state wellbeing is a distant fantasy. Anxiety, complex and in rapid flux. Principals have to perceive, reflect depression, withdrawal, bullying and attention disorders are and decide with clarity, focus and flexibility. The risk of overload, symptoms. Help the school community understand this logic and offer a number of different paths or practices to achieve anxiety and distress is huge. Being physically well will help but a success. Many of these symptoms, diagnoses and anti-social or contemplative practice (prayer, music or meditation) is essential anti-learning behaviours melt away. in our view. Strong relationships at home must be nurtured b. Train your school (families are purposefully. You need loving support key here) in the basic science of in your private lives. In our experience principals sleep hygiene. Increase awareness
of how much sleep we need, the 3. Achievable goals are generally very optimal time to sleep and wake, With a clear definition that fits your how to improve quality and how strong on warmth school and is authentically aligned to work with digital addictions. with what you can model, the next but may present as Get this right and health step is to define what you will do. improves, appetite and weight We strongly recommended investing overloaded, exhausted gain settle, anxiety reduces, in a good metrics. This may be selfempathy improves, and learning assessment or a specific biometric and neglecting their own improves. Everyone has a much better day. such as daily activity or waist hip ratio. wellbeing. Select an objective starting point that c. Build intelligent fitness into your focuses attention on securing an achievable goal. school community. Compared with our human need, we are Then, teachers and students are free to select the best path to living a sedentary, posture-collapsed and gadget-invested success. Freedom to choose a path, or practices that fit, secures nightmare. Experts believe the costs of obesity, mental illness, joint failure, and diabetes will cripple society. There is no engagement. Opinionated consultants may be wedded to a place like school to build life-long physical resilience. Include certain practice. For example, “this is how everyone must practice flexibility, posture, strength and muscle balance with fitness. mindfulness”, “do 10,000 steps a day”, “stop sugar/bullying”, or “if you just show empathy everything will be right”. 4. Team New Zealand sport can teach you how to build support teams. Take a moment to research your favourite team. Succeeding in your quest for school wellbeing is not a solo, part-time crusade. You will need a team and this team will need training. Use experts to get started and help you transfer the skills into your school community. Different people will rise to different roles. Make sure that you have a well-rounded contribution in the three areas above – relaxation, sleep and fitness. Nutrition is symbolic and can be rewarding (and contentious). A sport team’s practice embraces a very holistic range of practices in pursuit of winning. In the same way, a class-room can embrace a wide range of wellbeing disciplines that will improve learning and social outcomes. In conclusion, wellbeing is here to stay. The principal has to lead this initiative and negotiate through the fog and resistance to change. The benefits of a well-executed initiative will be profound but some may take time. Work to a five-year plan. Be a wellbeing principal. It is the right thing to do.
How resilient is your school?
Find out with our adult and student resilience assessments. www.resiliencei.com/schools Contact Declan Scott declan.scott@resiliencei.com 027 695 8922
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