5 Ways to Restore Your Passion of Education

Even the best life work can strain and weaken us. So, how can we find inspiration and purpose again? What  gives you a sense of meaning in your work, even on hard days?

Note: This article is based on blogger AMY L. EVA, who tells us about her personal experience in regaining her passion for education.

When I asked this question to a group of teachers recently, no one focused on the curriculum. Instead, their responses focused on their students' engagement, the sense of involvement in things beyond their abilities, and the deep satisfaction they gained from building relationships.

A college professor says, “Knowing that the work I do is beyond my abilities is what motivates me.” A veteran kindergarten teacher says, “It's still the relationships I develop every year that give my life more meaning, so now I get in the car at the end of the day and ask myself: What's the best thing happened to me today? What  was so hard? How  can I improve tomorrow?”

If you're feeling overwhelmed right now, and need some inspiration, here are five practical ways to stop and think about your work and reclaim your role and purpose in life. These tips are for educators and can be applied by anyone who needs to rekindle their passion at work too.

Five practical ways to stop and think about your work and reclaim your role and purpose in life:

1. Reconsider your story:

Researchers remind us that having a purpose in life is critical to our health, longevity, and well-being. At the Summer Institute for Educators, we invite teachers to think deeply about their purpose and identity in the following activity, which you can do at home:

• Create a brief timeline of the many primary events, changes, and events that have made you the person and professional teacher you are today.
• Choose two or three of these events and think about each one. What emotions do you associate with the event? What lessons did you learn? What  obstacles did you face? What  support did you receive? Did you know anything about your strengths, weaknesses, motivations, and values from this event?
• Overall, what story does your timeline tell about who you are?

According to psychologists, we all have an inner story that explains how we became the person we are today and where we will go tomorrow. When we revisit our story, it can help us understand how and why we became teachers, and it may help us answer the question, "What do I want to be?"

2. Describe your favorite teacher or mentor:

Here's another simple exercise you can try at home or a staff meeting. If you've tried this activity with your colleagues, lean your back to your colleague's back and listen to every question that comes up out loud, turn around, and answer those questions. This process of stopping and thinking may help. Then, listen to your partner while you're close to focus more on the shared words and emotions.

• Describe the teacher or mentor who has had the most influence on you.
• How did you feel when you were with this person?
• How have you changed because of this person?
• How did this person help you shape your life as a professional teacher?

Reward:

If we rely on each other for social support and inspiration, we will be less prone to depression and more resilient at work.

3. Connect with like-minded colleagues:

When I talk to teachers, I often remember myself during my first year of teaching in high school. I would run to my office at lunchtime and lie on my back and turn off the lights. I was confused and isolated that year; I was doing my best to meet the needs of 163 students every day, and I was physically and emotionally exhausted. The principal only entered my class once that year, and the teachers in the neighboring classes were introverts.

There are plenty of opportunities to connect with others, especially if you feel like you don't have enough time. I know groups of teachers who meet weekly at a restaurant or café to proofread test papers and talk to each other, and I know teachers who run, meditate, and camp together.

There are also many formal opportunities for professional and personal development, meeting new colleagues, and developing a supportive network. For example, you can join online courses or participate in our Summer Institute for Teachers, and there is a new year-long program called Transformational Educational Leadership.

The bottom line is connect with others even when it's hard, make new friends, and expand toward new career development options.

4. Prioritize your health:

If you are a teacher, there are likely to be many obstacles preventing you from taking care of yourself, and teachers are known to resist helping themselves, so the argument below may convince you that your health should be a staple of your life.

A recent report by the Aspen Institute, “Evidence for the Way We Learn,” explains that “for social, emotional, and academic development in schools to flourish, teachers and administrators need support to recognize and model these skills, behaviors, knowledge, and beliefs.”

Children learn social and emotional skills by being exposed to the behavior of adults. In her book, Mindfulness for Teachers, Professor Patricia Jennings writes: “If a teacher doesn't have a good level of social-emotional competence, the ideas they communicate to students will be confusing.”

In addition to seeking social support, there are many other research-based strategies for self-care, including exercise, mindfulness, self-compassion, cognitive reassessment - reframing your thoughts in response to a difficult discussion with a student - and a technique that psychologists call behavioral activation, such as forcing yourself to get up and go to that party, even though you'd rather sit down and rest.

Author John Norcross and James Guy wrote, “Self-care is not a luxury; it is a human demand and a professional and moral imperative.”

5. Develop a resilience plan:

Sure, developing social and emotional skills takes time, and adaptability is an ongoing and dynamic process of adaptation and growth, so why not make a plan for it?

• Try some of the practices mentioned in this article.
• Notice what looks attractive, fun, or helpful.
• Think about how to use one of these things in your life.
• Choose one self-care strategy or practice to apply in your daily - or nearly daily - life for at least 5-10 minutes, and keep it simple.
• What kinds of obstacles and barriers might you face? How can you handle them? How  will you encourage yourself to prioritize this plan?

When you stick to a plan, keep sticking to the parts of your work that give you meaning in life, and remember these words: “Take care of yourself as much as the children you teach.”