Author and teacher Adrian Bethune shares his experience with stress in his career and how this inspired him to find ways to support teacher self-care and wellbeing.

Key talking points

• Normal versus chronic stress he has experienced in his career

• The difference between passive and active stress management strategies

• How to create a bank of wellbeing activities for better self-care

• How to build new habits using the Easy, Attractive, Social, Timely (EAST) framework

To learn more about Adrian’s publications and work on teacher wellbeing, visit teachappy.

To watch this episode with closed captions, click on the video below or scroll down to view the transcript.

References

• To explore Dr Tal Ben-Shahar's work on happiness, go to: https://talbenshahar.com/

• Behavioural Insights Team (2023) EAST Four simple ways to apply behavioural insights. Available at: https://www.bi.team/here/east... (Accessed: 20 September 2023).

Transcript

00:00:00:02 - 00:00:24:14
Laura: TESOL Pop Season six Episode nine Hello and welcome to TESOL Pop; the mini podcast on busy teachers. My name is Laura and join me today to talk about teacher wellbeing and self-care is Adrian Bethune. Adrian is a part time primary school teacher in Aylesbury. Associate Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University. Deputy Chair of the Welsh Schools Strategic Board. And the founder of Teachappy.

00:00:24:16 - 00:00:59:00
Laura: In 2012, he was awarded a Happy Hero Medal by Lord Richard Layard at the House of Lords for his work on developing wellbeing in schools. In 2015, he was invited to speak at the Action for Happiness event, creating a Happier World on stage with the Dalai Lama. Adrian is the author of Award Winning Wellbeing in the Primary Classroom A Practical Guide to Teaching Happiness First and Second Editions, Co-author with Dr. Emma Kell of A Little Guide to Teacher Wellbeing and Self-care and lead author for the Oxford International Curriculum for Wellbeing.

00:00:59:02 - 00:01:02:14
Laura: A very warm welcome to the show, Adrian. Thank you so much for your time.

00:01:02:16 - 00:01:04:24
Adrian: Thanks for having me. Laura. I'm really pleased to be here.

00:01:05:01 - 00:01:25:00
Laura: In today's episode, we're going to talk about how we can better identify and manage our stress as well as build helpful little habits into our daily routines to support our wellbeing as busy teachers. So I think a good place to start, Adrian, is to find out a bit about your experience. What inspired you to write about stress management in the teaching profession?

00:01:25:03 - 00:01:48:10
Adrian: Well, I didn't always used to be a teacher, so I used to work for several years in the music industry and had various roles in that industry. One of my first jobs was a tour manager and a sound engineer for a band and we travelled the world and you know, that was my first proper job. After leaving university.

00:01:48:12 - 00:02:09:24
Adrian: And the nature of that job is actually very much like teaching. It's life, like there's an audience and they can hear, you know, especially as a sound engineer, they can hear any feedback, they can hear, you know, if the sound isn't quite right. So that that job was quite stressful, stressful and pressurised. But but the interesting thing about that kind of stress, it was short lived.

00:02:09:24 - 00:02:28:15
Adrian: Like we'd have a tour, lots of pressure stress. The tour would go hopefully successfully, and then the stress went and you can kind of relax again until you build up for the next gig or the next tour. Fast forward to like 2008 and I was working music publishing then, so kind of office space, not touring the world or anything like that.

00:02:28:17 - 00:02:58:23
Adrian: And the job in itself wasn't particularly stressful, but at that time, 2008 was a world financial crisis. I'd just taken on my first mortgage. I was worried about keeping my job and being able to pay for my mortgage. I had a serious relationship at the time that kind of fell apart and all of these things. Yeah, just the kind of stress of it all started to really build and it led to me experiencing a period of anxiety.

00:02:59:00 - 00:03:25:11
Adrian: So, you know, whereas that tour management, job anxiety, stress built the stressful event past and then you relax again this period in 2008, the anxiety and the stress just wasn't dissipating. I just felt constantly on edge, unable to sleep properly at night, couldn't really lost my appetite, wasn't really eating well, losing weight, and I just stopped enjoying things. I used to normally enjoy.

00:03:25:16 - 00:03:50:22
Adrian: And basically I learned loads about mental health in that period in 2008 because as well as seeing a counsellor, which was hugely beneficial, I started to research causes of stress and anxiety and depression. And as part of that research I also discovered that there was like a science of wellbeing. So not just if we're struggling with a mental health, how do we make help ourselves kind of get back to a level playing field?

00:03:50:24 - 00:04:13:07
Adrian: Science of wellbeing is described as a scientific study of what makes life worth living, and it was looking at how can we experience positive mental health? How can we experience flourishing? So fast forward to 2010 when I retrained to be a teacher and again, as anyone knows, that first year, first couple of years of teaching stress just goes through the roof.

00:04:13:07 - 00:04:39:19
Adrian: Because you're a novice, you're in the deep end, you don't know what you're doing. And I noticed some of the similar symptoms to 2008. So I was not sleeping as well. I was starting to lose my appetite, but because I spotted the signs early this time around, because of my previous experience, I was able to do something positive and proactive to prevent this decline down into kind of anxiety and depression like before.

00:04:39:21 - 00:05:00:00
Laura: What I'm hearing as well, the strategies, when you are in those situations where you think, you know what, I'm I'm going to do this tonight, I'm going to look forward to doing this because today's been really intense. So having the balance of the two habits woven into the day also strategies, those extra, extra TLC days that you need.

00:05:00:01 - 00:05:02:13
Laura: Yeah. Is really nice and balanced.

00:05:02:15 - 00:05:37:01
Adrian: Definitely a psychologist who I really like is called Dr Tal Ben Shahar. He says, yeah, that small things consistently done is a key to wellbeing. And so that's about our habits and our routines and our behaviours. So that's an important aspect of it. And he also talks about when he's in quite intense, stressful periods in his life, whether that's family issues or whether that's kind of work or a mixture, he actually increases the amount of time he spends on kind of self-care activities.

00:05:37:03 - 00:05:58:17
Adrian: So he says, you know, if I'm, if I'm saying really intense work period, maybe I've got book deadline and I've got marking assignments, you know, he might actually set his alarm half an hour earlier just to do an extra 30 minutes of meditation or just to do an extra run around the block before another intense day. And I really like that.

00:05:58:17 - 00:06:32:18
Adrian: It's because the inclination when you're stressed is to do less and including less self-care activities because you just I just I'm just too tired. I just want to crash out on the sofa. And although crashing out on the sofa might come across as a self-care activity. Actually, again, research shows your self-care activities, your responses to stress can kind of fall into passive responses to stress or active.

00:06:32:20 - 00:06:54:18
Adrian: Passive responses are things like ruminating on a problem. So you're just overthinking the stressful situation. You're not really solving anything. You're just thinking about it, or you go the opposite way and you suppress thoughts like, Oh, the work is stressing me, I don't want to think about it. I'm just going to do something completely different, which can be helpful.

00:06:54:18 - 00:07:19:03
Adrian: But typically we go down avoidance techniques, so we might notice our our social media use goes up when we're really stressed because we're literally just trying to stop thinking about anything else. Well, I'll let you know. And other passive responses are like self-medication. So we might notice our alcohol intake goes up. We might start to rely on recreational drugs, we might even our caffeine intake.

00:07:19:03 - 00:07:45:01
Adrian: We might just be like surviving on coffee just to get through the day. Um, so passive responses in the long term are not good for us. Like they don't help us manage the stress and in fact, they can be kind of self-sabotaging, particularly self-medication and avoidance techniques. Whereas active responses to stress are things like looking for solutions, so being solutions focussed.

00:07:45:01 - 00:08:13:18
Adrian: So you recognise you're in a stressful situation. It's like, what can I do about this to help me or to help the people around me manage it better? Um, active responses are proactive, so you're physically doing something so passive. You're kind of like, you know, watching telly. It's very passive activity, whereas proactive is, I'm going to go for a run or I'm going to pick up the phone and call my friend because I'm stressed or need someone to talk to.

00:08:13:20 - 00:08:47:07
Adrian: Active responses: you typically seek social support so you don't try and cope with it on your own. You yeah, you socialise or you talk to a colleague because you’re worried about something and typically you also talk to trusted others. So you're worried about something. Know I'm going to speak to Jo, my best friend, because he'll understand I can just offload and he'll listen and, you know, be non-judgemental, etc. And again, the research is really clear that active responses to stressful situations typically lead to better mental health outcomes.

00:08:47:09 - 00:08:51:16
Adrian: Passive ones, you're more likely to develop a mental illness in the long run.

00:08:51:20 - 00:09:08:23
Laura: When you were describing passive actions, the packet of crisps and turning on Netflix, I kind of imagined, I think I'm referring to myself there, and it can be quite difficult to break that habit or that extra cup of coffee that really you shouldn't have because you know it's going to keep you up for the rest of the night.

00:09:09:00 - 00:09:23:06
Laura: I've certainly been that situation where I've found it very difficult to break those habits and to move myself into more active strategies to support my wellbeing. Do you have any insights on how we can get out of those negative loops?

00:09:23:08 - 00:09:44:01
Adrian: So one thing that we can do is and this is an activity it's a good to do when things are calm, is literally reflect on what are the things, what are the activities that I know nourish me, re-energise me, increase my sense of perspective, or just generally make me feel glad about being alive and literally write them down.

00:09:44:03 - 00:10:10:04
Adrian: So mine would be going for a walk in nature playing football. I played football last night with a group of friends, cooking, meditating for me, journaling, talking with people I trust, going out for some drinks or some food with friends, you know, just make a list. So that's one thing we can do. You've got you've got a bank then of activities, you know, work for you that are active responses to stress.

00:10:10:06 - 00:10:34:13
Adrian: The second thing we can do with those bank of activities is start to think, how can I weave these into my habits and my routines so I so that I am just doing these things every day and every week and a really nice framework to use comes from the UK Behavioural Insights team and it's called EAST and it stands for Easy, Attractive, Social, Timely.

00:10:34:15 - 00:10:56:10
Adrian: It's quite easy to remember. Step one is most important. The habit, the new habit has to be easy for you to do, okay? Otherwise, you're not going to do it. So if you wanted to do let's say you wanted to increase the amount of physical activity, you do whatever that looks like for you, whether it's running, cycling, yoga, walking, whatever.

00:10:56:12 - 00:11:16:20
Adrian: You have to make that new habit easy to do. So if I wanted to go for a run before I went to school, it's little things. I put my running kit out the night before, so it's on my end of my bed or my bedside table. So literally wake up in the morning. That's what I put on and I just go for a run.

00:11:16:20 - 00:11:47:03
Adrian: So I've just paved out the path of least resistance. I haven't had to go into the cupboard where my socks and my trainers are outside. I, I've just made it easy. So that's number one. Number two is attractive. It has to be appealing and attractive for you to do this habit. Otherwise why would you do it. So little things that remind yourself of how good you feel from having done that run or that yoga or that meditation or whatever is, you know, for exercise, it increases your energy levels,

00:11:47:03 - 00:12:11:07
Adrian: you sleep better at night, increase your body image, you're stronger, you're fitter, you tend to live longer, stronger immune system functioning. You know, to remind yourself of the benefits. The S stands for social. So human beings are a social creature. We tend to copy the behaviour of others. So if you are able to find a buddy to do that exercise with, you're more likely to do it.

00:12:11:09 - 00:12:29:20
Adrian: And it would be more fun to do it with a friend. I'm doing it by yourself. The other aspects of social is if you tell someone you're going to do something, research shows you're more likely to actually follow through and do it. And this has been shown in research with people quitting smoking. If you tell someone you're going to quit, you actually increase your chances of quitting.

00:12:29:22 - 00:12:57:09
Adrian: And that's because that person you tell becomes like an unofficial accountability partner. They kind of check in with you to see how it's going. And finally, the T is for Timely. So when you do things at the same time every day, you just you don't even have to think about it because I just meditate at eight in the morning because that's when I do my meditation or I go for my run at 7.30 before I then jump in the shower and brush my teeth and go to school.

00:12:57:11 - 00:13:25:03
Adrian: So see if you can make these habits and routines at the same time every day or every week, because you've then made it easy. It goes back to E because you're not having to think about it or plan it. The other aspect of timely is we're shaken out of old habits and routines during major life changes such as moving house, changing job, getting married, having a baby, etc. And those are the perfect opportunities to start new habits.

00:13:25:05 - 00:13:53:10
Adrian: And so I was think with teachers like the holidays are a great kind of reset. You know, the school holidays, we're out of our normal habits and routines of the working week, so the holidays can be a great time to start some new habits and routines and then hopefully just keep them going as the term starts or the beginning of a new term is a great time to start a new habit routine because you've just had six weeks off or two weeks off, and so you're out of your old habits and routines.

00:13:53:12 - 00:14:09:22
Adrian: So yeah, that's what I would say is have those bank of, of proactive activities to do when you are stressed. So in response to stress, but equally use EAST: Easy, Attractive, Social, Timely just to make these part of your daily and weekly habits and routines.

00:14:09:24 - 00:14:21:19
Laura: Adrian It's been so inspiring and helpful talking to you today. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and these useful tips to help us manage our wellbeing and our self-care better as teachers. Really appreciate it.

00:14:21:21 - 00:14:23:08
Adrian: Cool. Thanks for having me.

00:14:23:10 - 00:14:51:01
Laura: You can find Adrian on Twitter and Instagram and also the website Teachappy.co.uk. I've included all the links to his socials on the website in the Show Notes below so you can find them easily. And lastly, you can support the work that we do at TESOL Pop by leaving a rating and review wherever you listen to the podcast, or by sharing today's episode with your teaching community or by even buying us a coffee at ko-fi.com/tesolpop

Hello teacher. If you are experiencing high levels of stress, then there are organisations that can support. The Samaritans is an example of a charity that listens without judgment. You can call them anytime, email, chat, write a letter or use their self-help app.

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