Creating Happiness and Well-being in TEFL

Paul Bress

Paul Bress freelance and works for Trinity College London, the University of Leicester,UK, - International Study Programmes and the London Tests of English; paulbress@tiscali.co.uk, www.bemycoach.co.uk

Menu

Introduction
TEFL: Stress and rewards
Causes of teacher stress
Research
Increasing teacher happiness
Actions which principals/directors of studies can take
Actions teachers can take
Basic things
Keeping your self-esteem
Handling deeper anxiety: The method acting strategy and The 'letting-it-be strategy'
Increasing student happiness
Handling conflict
Conclusion

Not so many years ago it was quite rare to talk about happiness at work. Employees were thought only to want to work for 'extrinsic satisfaction' (i.e. money), and the emphasis was on giving financial bonuses for producing more, and better quality, goods and services. Nowadays, though, it seems that employees want a lot more from their workplace. They expect to lead more fulfilling work lives than they used to. In short, they want to feel happy at work. In this article I want to bring together some of the things I have written about happiness over the last few years. I will focus on the increasingly stressful nature of TEFL, how both teachers' and students' lives can be improved, and how conflict can be dealt with in an effective way.

NB. I should mention, at this point, that the following contents are of particular benefit to teachers based in the UK, working in private establishments.

Despite the fact that EFL teachers expect more from their workplace these days, they are working in a significantly harsher environment than they used to. Why? Because a) students, who see themselves increasingly as consumers, have higher and higher expectations of teachers, b) students have generally shorter attention spans as a result of rapidly changing technology (e.g. digital TV, broadband), and c) many EFL establishments have rigorous quality control procedures in place; some of which are more effective than others!. All these three factors combine to make an EFL teacher's job much more arduous. The teacher is likely to feel pressure coming, often simultaneously, from a number of different sources.

In 1998 I conducted some research into stress and reward in the working lives of 27 EFL teachers in Kent, UK. The main findings were: a) teachers thought there was not enough time to do their work properly, b) teachers were not happy with staff meetings (because of their irrelevance and slow pace), and c) teachers were not happy with lesson observations (because they were conducted in the 'wrong spirit', and d) there was no overall culture of praise. The results of this research led me to consider ways in which EFL teachers could become happier.

If principals/directors of studies are serious about providing very good conditions in for teachers to teach in, they can try to ensure all of the following:
" a reasonable number of contact hours (I suggest a maximum of four 'clock hours' per day)
" staff development meetings once a month (these are meetings in which teachers learn ways of becoming better teachers - and are therefore different from meetings which deal with the day-to-day administration of teaching)
" an opportunity for teachers to take up further responsibilities (e.g. pastoral or administrative ones)
" remuneration that reflects qualifications, experience, and performance
" a reasonable vacation entitlement (e.g. a minimum of three periods of three weeks every year)
" a genuine understanding of what makes each teacher 'tick'

In addition to providing this general framework for teacher happiness, the skilled manager can also help each teacher to coach him/herself towards greater fulfilment in life. First, the manager needs to be aware of any signs of unhappiness, then offer help, and, if the offer is accepted, ask the teacher in question to fill out a 'life satisfaction' questionnaire. In this, the teacher has to rate his/her degree of fulfilment in the areas of physical health, mental health, relationships, friendships, work/study, money, and leisure time.

If the teacher's results suggest that he/she is not as fulfilled as he/she wants to be in one area, the manager can help him/her to make progress by using 'reverse psychology'. For example, if the teacher is having difficulties making friends, the manager can ask the teacher: "How can you absolutely guarantee that you will fail to make new friends?". This reverse psychology, for some reason, liberates creativity (try it for yourself!). Once the teacher has answered the question, he/she then needs 'translate' it into its positive counterpart, and then do the action (until he/she feels it is a part of him/her). This should produce a 'halo effect', which means that the teacher in question should experience greater fulfilment in other areas of his/her life too.

The key advantage of this facilitation of self-coaching is that teachers are encouraged to take control of their lives. They should feel very empowered. And powerful teachers should be a benefit both for the teachers themselves and the organisation too.

There are some basic things that teachers can do to alleviate the pressures referred to above. They are:
" always check classroom equipment before using it,
" try to be a 'good enough' teacher, rather than a perfect one (you'll never be the latter!),
" tune in to each student's linguistic ability and personality,
" always keep 'fillers' up your sleeve,
" always write a plan, but always be prepared to modify it,.

I want now to focus more on psychological aspects of being a teacher - and being human too! We are constantly reading about mental problems these days, and we are all aware of the importance of self-esteem. Now, I suspect that it is quite common for teachers to experience the occasional crisis of confidence when they're in front of their class. What can teachers do when they find themselves in such a situation? They could try the following procedure. When they return home that night they can compose their own 'SETUC' (= 'Self Esteem Top Up Card'). To do this, you need to write down all the unique things about you, and make sure you always begin each sentence with 'I'. When you have finished, word process the sentences, and print them so that they fit into a credit-card shape. Her is an example of what a 'SETUC' might look like:

When you have finished your SETUC, read it through whenever you feel anxious. You can even read it aloud, if the situation permits.

SETUCS work for two main reasons: firstly, their physical presence is comforting, in the same way as a gold medal, a fat cheque, or a degree certificate might be; secondly, there is considerable evidence to suggest that we tend to believe things we say or write (and especially so when we really consider them to be true).

Sometimes, of course, anxiety can be deeper than a temporary loss of confidence, and a teacher needs to implement different, or additional, strategies. I want to look at two here: the method acting strategy and the letting-it-go strategy. 'Method acting' describes the kind of acting in which the actor completely 'gets into role' and experiences the character he/she's playing deep inside him/her. Dustin Hoffman and Robert de Niro and examples of such actors. Now, if someone is suffering from deep anxiety, there are a number of therapeutic routes that person can take. One is psychodynamic therapy, which involves an understanding of how painful events in one's past affect one's life today. Another is cognitive-behavioural therapy, which challenges the client's 'faulty thinking'. Method acting, meanwhile, means behaving as if you are a happy, well-adjusted, person all day, every day. How does it work? The client usually has an image of what 'functional behaviour' is (e.g. assertive, composed, honest, caring), and then, quite simply, behaves as if he/she has these qualities. He/she should the go on to identify with the new behaviour - and, ultimately, there will be genuine, long-term, changes. This method-acting strategy is special because a) it is so simple, and b) it encourages the client to develop responsibility for him/herself. I would say, though, that it probably needs to be phased in while other, complementary, therapies are phased out.

Another response to deep anxiety is the 'letting-it-be' strategy. Our blueprint for responding to stressful stimuli is the 'flight/fight' response, which is not usually very helpful in today's developed world. For example, anxious clients may run away from difficult situations, get involved in self-blame, become impatient about their condition, and use a 'mask' to shield their suffering from others. All of these actions will tend to exacerbate an already difficult situation. Instead, sufferers can try to use the 'letting-it-go' strategy. This means that they keep doing the same things they have always done, they accept the fact that that are suffering form a degree of anxiety, they yield to the suffering, and, most profoundly, they allow themselves to experience their suffering in front of others. All of these actions are counter-intuitive, and yet, they are much more likely to help the sufferer overcome his/her condition than the flight/fight response.

So far we have focused on teachers' happiness, but, of course, teachers have a huge responsibility as far as their students' happiness is concerned. If a teacher can help a student become happier, then this will probably have a positive effect on both his/her language competence and on his/her life in general. I want, now, to point out here five things teachers can do:
" In my experience, students hate it when their teachers cannot remember their names - and feel special when their names are remembered. So teachers need to find a way of getting to know names fast. The best way to do this is to use mnemonic devices to learn students' names efficiently.
" Teachers can get students to contribute in equal measure in class (during the course of the whole programme). It is very easy to fall into the trap of thinking that reticent students are happy just listening - but such students may well complain about not having been granted the same speaking time (once the course is over). There will, of course, always be exceptions to the above, but this situation needs to be closely monitored (preferably by simply asking the reticent students how happy they are with the lessons).
" Teachers can create successful conditions for language learning (by paying attention to, for example, the level of the target language, the clarity of the context, and the unique characteristics of the class).
" Teachers can give public encouragement and praise. I know that this is a contentious area, but I feel that there is more to be gained from acknowledging a bravura performance than pretending that all the students are doing equally well. Students always know there are differences between them, and each should be given the chance to do well and be acknowledged for having done that. In my experience the aggregate progress in communicative performance will increase if such an approach is taken.
" Teachers can help students feel good about themselves as people (e.g. by referring to their endearing qualities).

So far we have looked at the lot of teacher and student, and we have looked how the actions of managers and teachers can be beneficial to the happiness of these two groups of people. But I think it is important to take a wider perspective at this point. Let's now look at how we handle conflict (something that has always existed and will probably continue for ever). There can be conflict between students, between teachers, between teachers and students, between teacher and managers. In short, there will always be potential for conflict between any two people whenever they come together. In a conflict situation, there is nearly always a degree of anger experienced in at least one party. The problem is: what to do when you experience this anger? In my view, the best thing to do is to a) distance yourself (you can actually imagine yourself being another person observing the conversation), b) be aware of your feelings, and c) refrain from expressing your anger (if you do express it, you'll feel even angrier, and you'll cause a long-term personal rift with the other person). Then, after the conflict event, fill in an 'anger log'. Record the type of situation, the strength and duration of your anger, what you said (precisely), and how you might have been perceived by some fictional observer.

Another thing that you can do to help you get an objective perspective is to write down what you think are your good and bad qualities - and write down the likely effects of the latter when you communicate with other people. You can also record the good and bad qualities of the people you like and dislike (this should help you realise that everything is grey and nothing is black and white). Eventually, you should be able to see things a little more clearly and you will be able to use language effectively - to help ascertain what the conflict is about and what both of you can do about it. Here are some examples of useful language and the 'force' they have in a conflict situation:

If you feel that you are in the middle of a conflict situation, remember the acronym 'DRAW'
D = distance yourself from the situation
R = remind yourself of both your positive and negative qualities
A = adapt your language according to how the other person communicates
W = win (i.e. make sure both of you come out of the situation with your 'face' intact).

To sum up, we (and I repeat that I'm referring here particularly, but not exclusively, to teachers in private institutions in the UK) are clearly living in a more demanding age now. Everyone has higher expectations. People want greater fulfilment, and they want it now. Against this background, It is important that each EFL teacher tries to take the responsibility for their own happiness and tries to help others (teachers and students) to do the same. But the actions of managers will always have the most profound effect. They need to not only look after their own happiness but also to create the right conditions for happy staff and students.

References

Bress P. Minimising stress and maximising reward for the EFL teacher (IATEFL Teacher Development, April 1998)
Bress P. How to combat stress in ELT (EL Gazette, November 1998)
Bress P. Happy, students, happy students (IATEFL Issues, January 2004)
Bress P. So what makes you so special? (English Teaching Professional, January 2004)
Bress P. Don't worry - be happy (Personal Relationships Groupwork, June 2004)
Bress P. Attitude and mental health (Personal Relationships Groupwork, July 2005)

Please check the The Humanising Large Classes course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the The Expert Teacher course at Pilgrims website.