A Personal Comment on Wellbeing During COVID-19

The term unprecedented has been loitering in our news reports over the past few weeks. Meaning never done or known before, it is certainly an apt description of what’s occurring globally. With news of Aotearoa increasing our ‘Alert Level’ after only mere days of the models introduction, it was with haste that preparations were made to organise ourselves for working and living in self-isolation.

After a week of confinement in my own home, adjusting to this new normal, and having plenty of time to reflect, the idea of wellbeing has been on my mind. Last year I led the wellbeing initiative, alongside Fe Tomich, for Auckland Central Community of Schools. During this time we attempted to find a robust, research informed definition of what it meant to be well. Many great minds had attempted this task and few stood out above the rest. Throughout the rest of this personal comment, I will be referencing two definitions, both simple yet profound. To be well means/refers to:

“feeling good, functioning well and doing good” 

“the balance point between an individual’s resource pool and the challenges faced”

Some of the challenges that I have faced in this last week were surprising. Before the week began, I was genuinely excited about spending more time at home. It meant being around family, as well as the removal of traffic, early wake times, formal attire and some of the more mundane elements of my day-to-day. This gave a sliver of hope among the uncertainty of what was to come. The first few days were interesting and stressful, requiring more from me than I had anticipated.

After a few more days, it became apparent that an undercurrent of anxiousness was present. Though waves of stress, concern and worry weren’t unexpected, especially in this situation, what was unexpected was how it presented itself. Though details of this are unnecessary, the occurrence (and in this case, the persistence) of said stress highlighted my own need to rebalance my resource pool to ensure that I felt good, functioned well and was able to do good.

My current strategies have heightened my sense of wellness and though we’re not out of the woods, I am certainly feeling more equipped for the coming weeks. Having conversed with colleagues, friends and family, it’s apparent that my experience was not uncommon. With that in mind, I wanted to offer a few thoughts and a couple of questions that may help to motivate and clarify actions you could take in order to rebalance your own resource pool and improve your own sense of wellbeing.

In a meta analysis of research investigating wellbeing, one of the greatest findings was that ‘it’ is highly unique to an individual.  Shin and Johnson (1978) defined wellbeing as a “global assessment of a person’s quality of life according to (their) own chosen criteria.” Following on from this, the world health organisation defined quality of life as “an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns.” Additionally, wellbeing is not a single entity, rather it is a web of interconnected facets that all contribute to your resource pool. Autonomy, environmental mastery, positive relationships with others, purpose in life, realisation of potential, self-acceptance, ability to fulfil goals and life satisfaction are all at play when creating wellbeing. Essentially, the result (of feeling well) we’re hoping to achieve is the same but the path travelled to get there will differ from individual to individual.

What this means for us, is that we are charged with the responsibility to identify what being well looks like for us and take the appropriate action to achieve this. How exactly can we do this? One way is to identify elements of wellbeing that stand out to you e.g. environmental mastery. From here,  think about their importance to you and what it would look like / feel like in your current circumstance e.g. environmental mastery might mean taking control over the physical space you’re working in:

• Could you set-up an office space that is filled with natural light or a breeze of fresh air? 
• Could you adjust the hours in which you work and the length of breaks? 
• Could you spend time practising and exploring online tools that you’re needing to use in the coming weeks?
  
  

Once you’ve ascertained specifics, make a plan to put these in place. Start with something small and allow the momentum to build. 

Unfortunately there’s no silver bullet or quick fix to wellness. This will take time, grace and grit. Remember though, while our current circumstances are out of our control, when it comes to your wellbeing, you’re in charge. Within you is the capacity to enact what it takes to feel good, function well and do good. Some encouragement for you over the coming weeks:

Mai i te kōpae ki te urupa, tātou ako tonu ai

From the cradle to the grave, we are forever learning

Reflection on the first ECE-NE/Year one teachers’ meeting for 2020

Invitation	ECE in our Kāhui Ako area

The first meeting for our ACCoS ECE-NE/Year 1 teachers recently took place on Tuesday the 10th of March at 6:30pm. This first event was hosted by Newmarket School. My name is Sarah Morrison and I am the In School Leader coordinating connections between the schools in our Auckland Central Community of Schools and our local Early Childhood Centres and Kindergartens. In order to ensure all the ECEs from within our Kāhui Ako area were invited, I sent out eighty invitations to centre managers and leaders of junior school teams in our schools. There were fifty respondents from twenty schools and Early Childhood Centres. I received some excited responses from centres that had not attended any of our events before. I decided to start the meeting earlier than last year so people had time to look around the junior classrooms, have a drink and something to eat before the meeting began. Many people came early to look around the classrooms and luckily the fabulous Te Ako Kowhai (Junior team) teachers from Newmarket School were available to show them around and answer questions.

The session started at 7pm. Lynne Keesing, a Resource Teacher of Literacy, was our guest speaker. At our school we have found that many children are starting school without the phonological awareness skills expected of a 5 year old and I thought that this was an area that would be of interest to all the schools and centres in our cluster.  Lynne has worked with our junior team previously and we have found her ideas and activities to be helpful and to have a big impact on the children’s learning. Lynne discussed the different stages of Phonological awareness and the expectations of children when they start school. She provided resources for each school or centre to use and showed several examples of activities that could be carried out with many different age groups. Every time Lynne runs a session, she provides different ideas and resources so even though she has worked with our team at Newmarket before it was great to get some more ideas and activities to add to what we do in class already.

After the meeting I was able to speak to some of the teachers from our local Early Childhood Centers. I found it valuable to continue building these connections and I hope to visit some of the centres in our area in the next little while. There were people that I was looking forward to meeting. However, we had little time to chat and there were so many people there that I didn’t get to connect with everyone. People wore name tags saying where they were from and this was important for making connections over shared children and colleagues. Several people who had not RSVPed came and that there were a few name tags that did not get picked up. Next time I will organise a sign in list so that I am clear on who attended.

Overall this first session for 2020 was well received. I think people took away lots of learning ideas. I look forward to continuing meeting more people in our cluster and developing relationships especially with our local ECE centres.

I will continue to advertise events in order to ensure strong attendance for the rest of the year.  Our next meeting will take place in term 2, week 6, on Tuesday 2nd of June.  Maungawhau School will be hosting the event and the focus for the session will be Transition to School. Different schools and centres have been asked to share what they do around transitioning children and what they find to work well. Discussion time will be scheduled so that people have a chance to share what they do. There will be an opportunity to discuss in groups and connect with staff from the different centres and schools. 

What's Happening in the World of Wellbeing

This week, I had the opportunity to connect and grow at a wellness conference. The focus was ‘wellness at work’ and featured a plethora of presenters sharing their wellness journeys and tips. It was inspiring to hear of all that’s occurring around New Zealand workplaces and the implications this has for our future. It is also heartening to see a nation with strong desires to see it’s people be well. Here is a summary of ideas that appeared time and again across the different presentations:

Remove barriers so that we can talk about our wellbeing

This idea, focused primarily on our mental health. In essence, employers are aware that an individual needs to bring their ‘whole selves’ to work. This includes potential facets that people fear will deter their progression or highlight them in a negative way. Ensuring that people can talk freely and truly bring all of who they are will go a long way to improving our wellbeing.

The use of technology in supporting people to engage with wellbeing practices

There were several cases of organisations who have begun tapping into their technological resources in order to distribute (knowledge), track and improve wellbeing. There were some innovative ideas of how the masses can be reached and educated, as well as incentivised. If you’re looking for a small step: podcasts and webinars are great tools to share ideas that need to be widespread.

Having wellness first aiders, people who have skills and tools to address different facets of wellbeing 

This idea centred around equipping those in the workplace to support one another. A first aider volunteered for this role and was upskilled with the tools and knowledge needed to help those they work with. This took shape in different ways, such as a wellness window, a wellness first aid kit and a centralised place to share information about practices and events. Essentially, it is the next step after forming a wellness committee.

Ikigai: supporting people to find meaning and purpose in their work

Ikigai is a Japanese concept that looks at aligning the challenges and needs of the world, with passion, values, skillsets with remuneration. A quick google image search will display an organiser that shows the relationship between four aspects. If all of these aspects can be met, then purpose and meaning can be achieved, impacting positively on the wellbeing of an individual.

The tension of wellness being a tick box/another thing to do vs. being authentic

With wellbeing making a mainstream appearance, it can be difficult to purposefully and sincerely introduce practices and incentives in the workplace. It can quickly become another thing we need to do or appear as though boxes are trying to be ticked. A word to the wise suggested that weaving initiatives and ideas into the existing fabric and organisation of a company is the best way to ensure that practices are authentic.

Te Whare Tapa Wha: a model of holistic wellness

This model was mentioned several times and for good reason. The focus on ‘health’ and ‘wellness’ within workplaces has evolved throughout the past three decades, eventually settling on a holistic approach. This model captures the essence of holistic wellbeing, using the model of a whare (house) to describe how the different aspects of an individual relate to one another.

People drive, leadership supported

Like a double-edged sword, if wellbeing is to be achieved, there needs to be an alignment between leadership and its people. Effectively, ideas need to arise from within an organisation, validating the voices of those whose wellbeing we’re trying to improve. If leadership are able to support ideas that resonate with our schools, then we have a higher chance of success. 

Understanding the language people use to describe their challenges/pressures and responding appropriatelyThis one also focused primarily on mental health and suggested that the way in which we discuss this aspect of our lives doesn’t use words you may expect, given the connotations attached to them. To use the term ‘anxiety’ to describe your feelings towards elements of your job may not come naturally, but people will attempt to capture this idea using more work-friendly terms. Understanding what these phrases are and responding with care, concern and grace is essential.

Reframing stress and pressure in the workplace through language to improve the culture

The excellent presentation discussed the nuances between conscious and subconscious brains. He discussed how stress arises and how your body and mind respond to certain cues, as well as ways to reframe this. A memorable example suggested substituting the word frustrating for fascinating can do wonders for dealing with more challenging situations and people.

Data-driven and evidence based

This may seem rather obvious but centred primarily around the idea that it’s difficult to quantify something as complex as wellbeing. While no answers were reached, this is an excellent question to consider when trying to improve the wellness of your colleagues: how can we continue to measure success and know we’re doing better than previous years?

Don’t reinvent the wheel

There are a myriad of organisations, toolkits, ideas, initiatives, practices and resources available to us. It is easy to try and recreate the aforementioned, but where you can, use what’s already available.

Centralise our documentation and policies to ensure that wellness know-how is readily accessible and available

While this idea applied more so for larger organisations and corporations, it is still essential. The reality is, this is a call to the ministry of education to provide every school in our nation with what they need to improve the wellness of every person who serves our young people.

As you can see, we are well on our way to ensuring our lives have more purpose, more joy and more health. What do you think?

The Leadership Change: From What You Do to Who You Are

On Thursday, the 5th of September, many members of ACCoS met to engage in two presentations by John Peachey and Chris Bradbeer, respectively, who invited us to reflect on the way we perceive and apply leadership and collaboration in our roles. I believe it is fair to say on behalf of all who attended that we were left challenged to consider how we conduct ourselves as professionals and gained a deeper understanding of the sort of mentality we should strive for concerning these areas.

In the first lecture, titled “We Are Sherpa”, John Peachey took a narrative approach, describing the life and challenges faced by many climbers who have attempted Mount Everest (successfully and not). The ambitions and risk-taking mindsets of these people were inspiring in their own right, as they pushed their physical and psychological boundaries with the full understanding that there would be no help if the slightest mistake lead to their downfall. The success of NZ mountaineer, Edmund Hillary was also explored; not only was his work ethic discussed, but the effective way he used the platform his success placed him on. His leadership in the community parallels with the rules of climbing a mountain: just making it to the top doesn’t count as success. You make it as a team, and the climb doesn’t count unless you make it back down. 

         

Even with the schools he opened, the people he inspired, and other positive outcomes that form his legacy, the key point of Peachey’s message was none of these would have happened if not for his Sherpa, Tenzing. Sherpa are the spiritual keepers of the mountain. Their job is to put their lives on the line so that others can have a moment of glory on the summit. They know the mountains better than anyone else and use their knowledge and ability to lift others into places they can succeed without the spotlight that the hero gets. While there are different leadership styles, and there certainly isn’t anything wrong with having your moment on the summit, as leaders, John’s encouragement is that we seek to be like the Sherpa: humble. Asking ‘how can I help you get there rather than ‘let me show you how it’s done’. A trusted guide.     

 

In a similar vein, Chris Bradbeer discussed the meaning and application of collaboration in the context of education and its significance to leaders. When involving ourselves in projects and initiatives, there are many blockers to successful collaboration, from differing opinions as to what constitutes as progress to the risk of escalated tension. Collectively, we defined collaboration with ideas such as appreciation for others, sharing ownership of ideas, and taking part in discussions. In order for any of these descriptions to be successful in action, the driving component is building trust among those involved; among other ways of building this, they can be well summed up by ensuring there is consistent and effective communication from leaders. This promotes strengthened relationships, which leads to more honest feedback, which results in better decisions made. In order to carry out effective collaboration, it isn’t so much an imperative that everyone agrees; but by taking these measures, you progress in creating an environment where there is an active willingness to support the group’s direction.

While these two seminars were conducted in different styles and focused around different topics, there was a complimentary quality in the way Peachey and Bradbeer encouraged us to be the most effective kind of leader. People lead in different ways, but the tools they presented had a common emphasis on the importance of empowering those that you interact with. By doing so, leadership changes from what you do to who you are.  

By Tim Bartja, In-School Leader, ANI

Our Blog

Connectivity enables transparency for better government, education, and health.

(Gates, 2013)

The importance of transparent communication is vital for any community to be successful. We acknowledge that curiosity is key to the development of collaborative practices that strengthen learning for all, while at the same time maintaining strong equity and quality results.

One of our biggest challenges in our ACCoS Kāhui Ako was working out how our schools communicated with each other. Systems needed to be established and a framework for storing and sharing information online was important. The importance of structure and archiving past information to help with ease of access and for transparency has always been one of our strengths. As well as connecting, collaborating, co-creating and sharing of ideas. As we have evolved and grown so have our structures and systems. Initially we began with google + communities, a site and a blog. However our blog has surpassed all of these online areas for sharing what we do. All of our Across School Leaders contribute to our blog and this helps all our schools keep up to date with what we do as a community.

Our Blog went live on Friday 5th of August 2016 .

So it has been in operation for nearly 3 years.

In that time we have had 12,476 all time views.

This past year I have noticed that we are tracking at nearly 1000 hits per month so there has been greater activity, particularly this year.

Below is a list of the number of blog entries so far.

●       ►  2019 (20)

●       ►  2018 (31)

●       ►  2017 (16)

●       ►  2016 (9)

About us is our biggest hit static page at 403 views.

Regarding our blog posts, the following have been our most successful entries.

Blog Entry	Date published	Number of hits.
Systemic Change	Nov 14, 2017	396
Lessons learned from ASL in a Kāhui Ako	Oct 14, 2017	284
The Currency of Wellbeing	Mar 28, 2019	251

Currently we average 1000 hits each month.

Most visitors continue to come from New Zealand. Recently I have noticed numbers coming from Eastern Europe and have been monitoring our space carefully.

New Zealand	71.60%
United States	10.50%
France	5.60%
Russia	5.50%
Ukraine	2.10%
Germany	1.60%
Singapore	1.40%
Canada	0.90%
South Korea	0.80%

If we track back on blog posts we can see how far we have come as a Kāhui Ako. The entries are like a narrative of our journey. As a team we are becoming better at tagging our blog entries and at sharing updates via Facebook or Twitter.

Where to next, I believe our blog represents who we are and what we do, that it is important to continue to share our URL in all our communications and to remember to link it into any presentations we give.