Author: Dawn Mitchell
Hello everyone!
Resilience is a characteristic highly sought after in the workforce of 2020. By definition, it is “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness, the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.” As educators, we want to cultivate our own resilience as well as foster it in our colleagues and across our schools and districts.
In her blog post 12 Ways Teachers Can Build their Own Resilience, a review of Elena Aguilar’s book, Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators, Jennifer Gonzales provides a month-by-month guide of tips for educators to build resilience over the year along with practical tips for applying them into practice. January’s tip is CULTIVATE COMPASSION. Gonzalez suggests, “When we practice compassionate thinking for others and ourselves, we become better equipped to handle difficult situations."
Aguilar says in her book that "Cultivating compassion, broadening our perspective on how we see a situation, helps us to empathize with others, to see the long view, to take ourselves out of the drama of the moment."
"So when students misbehave, a colleague is short with us, or a parent challenges one of our decisions, being in the habit of viewing these situations through the lens of compassion can help you not take that behavior personally, which leads to smarter, less reactive decision-making.”
South Carolina ASCD Vice President of Programs Dr. Abbey Duggins, who also serves as the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for Saluda County Schools writes, “As I have focused my professional learning on the social and emotional health of students, I have discovered that the social and emotional health of the adults I work with is equally as important. This guide has supported me in my work with colleagues.”
If you want to improve your resilience and the resilience of those around you, consider this guide from Jennifer Gonzalez, and join us this month in cultivating compassion in our communities.
Please join us at our South Carolina ASCD Spring Conference on Thursday, March 5, to hear Jennifer Gonzalez in person! Come network with fellow educators who learn, teach, and lead together in supporting the Whole Child. Visit this www.scascd.org for conference registration. Early bird pricing ends February 1!
Sincerely,
Dawn
Dawn Mitchell
South Carolina ASCD President
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