Teacher Wellbeing: How coaching (and positive psychology) can help

“Wow, I feel like I’ve just been through therapy - thank you!”

“I feel SO much better about things than I did two months ago.”

“You are a really good listener.” 

The purpose of the Teaching & Learning Coaching program at ISB is very clear: to maximize student learning. However, after five years of hearing comments like the above from educators I’ve coached, I have come to notice that coaching has a very common side-effect: improving teacher wellbeing.

If you know me well, you probably know that I have developed a bit of an obsession with wellness over the past couple of years. I regularly listen to podcasts like Feel Better, Live More with Dr. Chatterjee, Unlocking Us with Brene Brown and Delicious Ways to Feel Better with Ella Mills, and more often than not I find myself reading the books of the authors they interview. During Spring Lockdown 2020, I took the Science of Wellbeing course by Yale professor Laurie Santos, and since then I’ve added her podcast The Happiness Lab into my rotation. Compared with three years ago, I eat more vegetables, I do more yoga, and I track my sleep with an app. Along this personal quest to improve my own wellbeing, I have also stumbled upon the tools of positive psychology.  Recently, I started thinking about how the work I do as a coach actually aligns really well with the principles of positive psychology, and that’s what I’ve decided to write about today.

PERMA+: A Wellbeing Model

The founder of positive psychology, Martin Seligman, has developed a theory of human wellbeing, and a model to help us think about the components that help us flourish; It’s called PERMA+.

 

Let’s think together about the PERMA+ model, and how a coaching cycle might be working on several of these elements and thus helping bolster teacher wellbeing. 

P is for Positive Emotion

One thing humans need to flourish is to feel positive emotions. Some of the key words here are: comfort, optimism, pleasure, resilience. Emotions are always present, and a good coaching cycle recognizes and names them. Coaching training gives us practice in naming emotions, both the positive and negative ones. Interestingly, studies have shown that many people have a very limited vocabulary of emotion words, and that naming our feelings (even negative ones) can help us feel more in control. Here's a podcast episode called Why Emotions Matter More Than You Think that talks about how being better able to express and regulate our emotions can benefit multiple facets of our lives, including creativity, problem-solving, learning, as well as our physical and mental health. It’s not uncommon for tears to show up over the course of a coaching cycle - not because of anything I’ve said, but rather because the reasons the teacher has sought me out are emotional. Teaching is a complex and challenging calling. I think saying out loud to your coach how you are feeling (or hearing your coach paraphrase your emotions) is quite cathartic. 

There are other ways that have been shown to create positive emotions, like savouring something pleasant, gratitude practice, and spending time in nature. Lately, when the weather is good, I’ve been inviting the educators I’m coaching for a ‘walk and talk’ in the forest near our campus. I have definitely noticed that this tends to lift both our spirits. 

(BTW - the podcast about emotions talks about a study that showed that teachers in a good mood marked student work considerably more generously than teachers in a bad mood. Food for thought.)

E is for Engagement 

The E in PERMA+ is about finding that feeling of “flow” when you are totally engaged in what you are doing. The Science of Wellbeing course taught me that as humans we tend to feel that “flow” more when we use our own character strengths, and when we do activities we enjoy. During a coaching cycle, I often give feedback about what I notice as particular strengths after observing a lesson. Another approach could be asking a question like, “What strengths do recognize that you bring with you to the classroom?” or "What moments with the students do you enjoy the most?" This character strength inventory could also be an interesting tool to explore.

R is for Relationships

Do you know what several studies have determined is the number one predictor of wellbeing? Social connectedness. 

“Healthy relationships may be the single most important determinant to happiness, according to research...People who feel more connected to others have lower rates of anxiety and depression. Moreover, studies show they also have higher self-esteem, are more empathic to others, more trusting and cooperative and, as a consequence, others are more open to trusting and cooperating with them.” (Psychology Today)

There is lots of evidence that good relationships support wellbeing, and coaching is in its essence a type of relationship. A lot of coaching training is about how to be a good listener, so that might be why so many people tell me it feels like therapy. (To be clear, coaching is not therapy, just like a really deep conversation with a friend is not therapy.) Beyond listening, as coaches we learn to ask questions to help you remember and access your own inner resources, rather than give you advice. A really good coaching conversation helps YOU figure out the solution to your own problem, which is really a pretty satisfying experience.  When I listen to experts, such as Dr. Ethan Kross talking about how to help someone who is experiencing unhelpful mental chatter, I think, “Hey, that’s just like what we do in coaching!” That’s how we develop open and trusting relationships with the people that we coach, and these open and trusting relationships are good for wellbeing. 

M is for Meaning

The M in the PERMA+ model stands for meaning. It’s about having a sense of purpose, of fulfilment in doing something near and dear to your heart. A coaching conversation can help you remember why you choose to teach. 

Some of the questions we tend to ask are:

• “What is most important for you in this unit?”

• “How do you want your students to feel in your classroom?”

Some of the paraphrases we might say are:

• “It sounds like equity (or student leadership, or collaboration) is really important to you.”

• “I can tell you really care about making your lessons meaningful to your students.” 

 

A is for Achievement

Some key words when it comes to having a sense of achievement are: goals, success, and mastery. This is really at the heart of instructional coaching. The whole point of a coaching cycle is to help an educator describe a desired outcome they want to achieve, and then support them in getting there. The secret to a really good coaching cycle (and often the hardest part) is coming up with a goal that feels meaningful and challenging, but is achievable. Jim Knight suggests writing goals that meet the PEERS criteria: Powerful, Emotionally-compelling, Easy (as in: I can see a way to get this done), Reachable and Student-Centered. 

I also find it helpful if it is measurable, or at least specific enough that we will know when it is achieved and we can celebrate together, perhaps with some kind of sparkling beverage.  I think often as educators (and maybe in life in general), we forget to stop and take a moment to celebrate what we have achieved. A coaching cycle has this built in, and it's definitely gratifying to celebrate the achievement of a goal together.

The Plus in PERMA+

The Plus in PERMA+ is about the physical health and vitality that research has shown impacts our wellbeing and our happiness. We have a certain amount of control over these through tools such as nutrition, exercise, sleep and stress management. These don’t really play into your average coaching cycle, but I do have a ton of podcasts and books I can recommend if anyone is interested. 😂

The Impact of Teacher Wellbeing on Students

I started this post by saying that the purpose of the Teaching & Learning Coaching program at ISB is to improve students' learning. As I was writing this, I started wondering about how teacher wellbeing impacts on student learning. I mean, it must, right? If the teacher is feeling engaged, purposeful and achievement-oriented, that must be better for students than that same teacher when they are feeling overwhelmed, lost and unmotivated. (We’ve all been there from time to time, right?)  I did find a study that confirmed this, noting increased teacher wellbeing was linked to:

• improved teacher-student relationships,

• more positive feedback given to students,

• more encouragement of student voice,

• greater recognition of students’ needs,

• and improved student behaviour. 

Therefore, in a successful coaching cycle, students are getting a double benefit. They are benefiting directly through the student-centered goal that we work on together, and they also benefit indirectly in lots of other ways when their teacher's wellbeing goes up.

When you know about PERMA+, there are lots of things you can do to help yourself and your students flourish, but if you feel like you could use a wellbeing boost, why not reach out for a coaching conversation or a coaching cycle?

Tricia Mowat

mowatt@isb.be  

Works Cited

Vrainwaves.simplecast.com, vrainwaves.simplecast.com/episodes/the-power-of-joyful-teaching-a-compilation.

Knight, Jim. The Impact Cycle: What Instructional Coaches Should Do to Foster Powerful Improvements in Teaching. Corwin, A Sage Company, 2018.

Kross, Ethan. Chatter. CROWN, 2021.

Mel. Discovery in Action, 7 Mar. 2019, discoveryinaction.com.au/the-perma-theory-of-wellbeing/flourish-model-perma-plus-vitality/.

“The PERMA Model: Your Scientific Theory of Happiness.” PositivePsychology.com, 15 Mar. 2021, positivepsychology.com/perma-model/.

Seppälä, Emma. “Social Connection Boosts Health, Even When You're Isolated.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 23 Mar. 2020, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/feeling-it/202003/social-connection-boosts-health-even-when-youre-isolated.