Creating Value In Schools
Listen to the recording (32 minutes) or read an edited version below.
Nicola Harvey of Harvey Heals is an education and mental health consultant, trainer, author and podcaster. Liz Worthen: Nicola – how about we start with hearing about some of the needs and priorities that are coming up for you, working with schools around staff mental health and wellbeing at the moment? Nicola Harvey: Hi, Liz. It's great to be here. And yes, lots going on in schools. As we are speaking, it's towards the end of the academic year. So there's a lot of tired teachers and children. A lot of the things that I'm working on are anxiety, stress, and burnout. Transition, particularly the transition from year six into secondary or key stage one into key stage two, and helping children as well as staff navigate through this change. My background is in special educational needs, so I have a real passion for working with neurodivergent children as well as supporting the teachers. Because as we know, there's not enough training, particularly when it comes to working with children with special educational needs. And of course there are children with protected characteristics and teachers with protected characteristics, particularly in terms of race and ethnicity, that are experiencing discrimination. But one of the common themes that I'm seeing at the moment is burnout. Burnout is something that seems to be happening quite a lot. It’s really important to be recognising the signs early, and practicing self-care. Liz Worthen: I feel like burnout is a term I hear a lot. What does it really mean? Nicola Harvey: Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion. And it can be caused by excessive or prolonged stress, over a period of time, and it's often related to work. Stress every now and then is absolutely fine. We all experience stress and sometimes, you know, if we have a day when we are not experiencing any sort of rumbling, it can be a bit boring. If we are repeatedly experiencing stress, anxiety and overwhelm due to workload, work-life imbalance, staff dynamics, or things going on within the environment, it can actually result in burnout. Burnout can be overwhelming. An individual can become quite cynical or ineffective in their work. And you know, it's really difficult at times, particularly when you are in busy school environments, to spot the signs and actually recognise that in yourself. Teachers are overwhelmed by workload, by culture, and this Ofsted pressure to be perfect. Burnout can also be seen as an iceberg. This is the image I love to use when I'm delivering training or doing one-to-ones with teachers. Beneath the surface we have these rumblings of anxiety, or doing additional marking or just feeling a little bit tired, or insomnia – and we don't see this. There's that inner critic, those voices, that sense of guilt for saying no and having that presenteeism when we are feeling poorly. However, above the iceberg, what we do see is the teacher or educator who's overwhelmed, who has those mood swings, who is visibly tired, visibly exhausted and needs a break, but can't, and is just pushing through until they snap. So it’s really, really important to be recognising the signs early. And practicing self-care. Liz Worthen: What's making schools or education such a difficult place at the moment? Why are educators so at risk of burnout? Nicola Harvey: It’s definitely connected to work-related stress. The most recent Teacher Wellbeing Index found 46% of staff experiencing insomnia, 50% saying staff culture impacts wellbeing. So many different things. 77% with symptoms of poor mental health. When you are in that environment, you do get sucked in. You know, you are constantly on the go. There are schools that are doing incredible things. We have the government’s whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing. It starts with the leadership and there's all different elements that you can do to support whole school mental health and wellbeing. However, often it is a tick box and when you are on the ground, teachers are overwhelmed by workload, by culture, and this Ofsted pressure to be perfect, to get good grades. If you are a teacher from a global majority or black background, you will experience a different working life. So there's a lot going on. We’ve changed governments recently. There's a lot of funding cuts, there's a lot of pressure. Special educational needs, a lot of confusion now around EHCPs and whether that's going to continue. I could go on. But all of this is impacting staff wellbeing particularly. Hence teachers are leaving; there's high levels of burnout. Sorry to give such a cynical answer! Liz Worthen: But it's true, isn't it? There is a lot going on, and a lot of pressures. You mentioned teachers with neurodivergent characteristics, as well as race and discrimination. How can those protected characteristics add an extra lens to what’s happening? Nicola Harvey: If you are a teacher from a global majority or black background, you will experience a different working life. There's not many within the profession. Very small percentages, particularly at senior leadership level. And the education system was, is, basically a very white structural system and doesn't allow for the complexities of race, ethnicity, diversity, and inclusion. So, if you are an individual that comes from a black background, particularly, there are extra things that are in play. There are textbooks that are quite dated with racist terms that can impact how an individual is experiencing that lesson. There are microaggressions, for example people asking ‘where are you really from?’. Those sort of subtle comments that can impact individuals in terms of their emotional health and wellbeing. There's a lot of misunderstandings and we are finding again that many teachers are leaving the profession, which is leaving black and brown students with not much representation. And representation matters. It's so important. However, what we're finding is that that is a phrase that often gets bandied around, and the systems and structures are not in place to actually support that representation. Children are not seeing individuals that look like them in teaching roles. For instance, in my case, I was a black SEND teacher, in a private school at the time, and that's how I started out my career before I moved into mainstream. The only other black members of staff on the team and the only people of colour were the chef and her assistant. And they were fantastic. They were Jamaican, so they'd often give me a little bit of extra food. It was brilliant, just lovely. But what I did notice is that when I made it into middle management, when I wanted to create changes, I worked very hard. I was often in first, stayed late, and I was put through the mill. So I worked really hard, but it wasn't always recognised. It was recognised by the parents and recognised with that additional responsibility, but I noticed my peers were getting those extra opportunities, that extra leg up. And at the time there weren't as many incredible organisations out there to support black and brown members of teaching teams. And whilst there are now, we still have to go back into our schools, which are predominantly white. So a lot of teachers are leaving the profession. Children are not seeing individuals that look like them in teaching roles. So when we have things like EHCPs, special educational needs diagnoses or just general behaviour management, those complexities that come with diversity and race and understanding, those cultural nuances, are not always taken on board. So I have a real passion. Because often people think of mental health as one thing, and race and ethnicity and global majority as something separate. I often bring them together, because if you are experiencing a lot of racism in the school environment, that will impact your mental health. Booking a wellbeing day where staff get to choose an activity is not going to solve systemic issues. Obviously, behaviour management systems need to be in place, which is fair enough, but it's really important that we are treating everyone in a fair and equitable manner, and it's inclusive. And unfortunately that’s not always the case. Liz Worthen: Can we just take a moment as well to check in on terminology when talking about race? Because I feel like there has been a shift – there was a time, for example, when we would talk about black minority ethnic staff or students. But using that word minority isn’t so helpful, and we'd rather talk about black or global majority. Nicola Harvey: I totally agree, but unfortunately in many texts it still says black, Asian, minority ethnic, or black minority ethnic, particularly in research texts, and I think because it's quite a research terminology. But it's more correct and more inclusive to state black or global majority. What does global majority mean? When you look at the world at large, and you see individuals that look like me, individuals that may be South Asian or East Asian, we are in the majority globally. And often when we are in countries, we are perceived as the minority. But if you think about it globally, we are in the majority. So that is why that term has been brought in, to have more of an inclusive lens. Liz Worthen: Thank you, that's really helpful. And as you've intimated, a lot of this is about culture. So what steps can school leaders take to take care of their staff? Nicola Harvey: You know, I love things like yoga, mindfulness, the whole shebang. I love all of that, but it doesn't work for everyone. Booking a wellbeing day where staff get to choose a wellbeing activity is not going to solve the systemic issues when it comes to mental health and wellbeing, particularly for those individuals with protected characteristics. So it’s really key that we are looking at it from a whole school approach. Rest is really important for our emotional health and wellbeing. Rest should be normalised. So there are things like PERMA, which is a positive psychology model, developed by Martin Seligman. PERMA stands for positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment. PERMA is a really nice model that you can use with both children as well as adults. And of course it's evidence-based. For an explanation of the five elements, see The PERMA wellbeing framework. Liz Worthen: I feel the PERMA model is something quite practical, something you can apply in small ways on a daily basis, isn't it? Nicola Harvey: Absolutely. And there’s another framework I wanted to talk about. So, Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith wrote a book called Sacred Rest, and within this, she highlighted seven areas of rest. And often, particularly if we're in the teaching profession, we feel guilty for having a break, for having a rest. But Dr. Saundra speaks of rest as a form of resistance. Rest is really important for our emotional health and wellbeing. Rest should be normalised. Her seven forms of rest start with physical. So this is obviously like resting the body, being in that state of pause and easing. We've got mental rest, and again, when we are working in school environments, our minds are so busy, we are on the go. So having ways that you can just offload, whether it's journaling, or talking to a friend, or just letting go. We've got emotional as well, and I spoke about that within the PERMA model; having a way of regulating your emotions and really recognising those. She's also got social rest, which I really like. I think it just acknowledges this sense of having a balance between me-time, but also connecting with others, that you have good, positive relationships with. Sensory is the next one. I love sensory, because coming from a special educational needs background, we had these sensory toolkits and things that I'd use with the kids, but how often as adults do we say, gosh, I'm so overstimulated. Then we've got creative rest, which could be a form of art therapy, could be whatever you like, doodling. It could just be finding a way to be creative in a way that works for you, because again, this will ignite parts of the brain to help you rest. Then the last is spiritual. And it's not saying that you need to go out and be religious. It is connected to this sense of meaning, this sense of finding something that gives you a purpose and drive. So whether it is a spiritual connection, just finding something that's greater than yourselves to really make a difference. Liz Worthen: And something else that you have been doing quite a bit with some schools recently is also work around mental health first aid. Can you tell us about that? Nicola Harvey: So, mental health first aid. I am an instructor and associate trainer and I love it, because I focus on the youth model and I do a lot of work with schools, with individuals. We know that waiting lists for CAMHS and other mental health services are ridiculously long, and we know that early intervention is key. So that first early support can help that young person recover, and also adults as well. So mental health first aid itself is a way of early intervention. It’s really important that you're getting that support and finding other mental health first aiders. It's like physical first aid, but it's spotting the signs of anxiety, low mood and other conditions, and working with that young person to create an action plan. And obviously if they are at high risk of suicide or self-harm, then we need to get the urgent professional support and care. But it's early intervention, so it's meeting the child where they're at, and giving them some practical tools and strategies, but also signposting. Because we don't know everything. Particularly if you are an educator, you're not a mental health professional. So it may be that you are giving them that listening ear or holding space, and then signposting them to the correct sort of service or individual. The training is valid for free years, and then you can do refresher training for another three years. So similar to physical first aid. I deliver that training, online and in person, in Sussex or London. And I think what's really important once you've done the training, is to seek community. So what I'm going to be developing as well is reflective practice for mental health first aiders. Because often in schools it’s just one or two people doing it (because budgets are tight), so it’s really important that you're getting that support and finding other mental health first aiders. Liz Worthen: That's wonderful. Thank you, Nicola. Any other useful tools or frameworks you wanted to mention? Nicola Harvey: There's lots of different things out there. I would basically say: take time for you. Because I could list off lots of different evidence-based frameworks. But I would definitely say – sit back and reflect. You could take the PERMA model or the seven ways of rest, and map out each of those letters. Do a personal reflection on each of them, and see how it lands with you. I would also invest in diversity, equity and inclusion training, particularly anti-racism training. It’s really key that we're keeping the conversation going. Really focus on making sure children feel seen and that they feel that they belong. One school I worked with, I delivered two twilight sessions in anti-racism training linked to mental health. And then they called me back a few months later to work with the children, so they were all singing from the same hymn sheet. They were really invested and from the receptionist to the head teacher, the training was compulsory for all staff. So I would say to schools to invest in good training, mental health, anti-racism, DEI training, but make sure the messaging is consistent across the whole staff team because it will impact the children. Liz Worthen: It's so important actually, isn't it, for all staff to have opportunities to access the training and the development. Nicola Harvey: Absolutely. And if budgets are tight, there's lots online. Obviously professional CPD accredited training is key, but if you don't have access to that, there's lots that you could read. The methods that we've spoken about today can be a really good starting point. Liz Worthen: And that's a lovely segue to the last thing I wanted to ask you, which was about any recommended reads or listens. I guess one of your recommended listens would be your podcast, the Mindful Wellbeing Podcast, which people can find on Spotify and other platforms. Anything else you are listening to or would recommend for people to read, or something that's been inspiring you recently? Nicola Harvey: I'm really lucky in the sense that I have some incredible guests on my podcast. Dr. Poppy Gibson, who is a senior lecturer at the Open University and does loads of different things, has written a few books. Her recent book, Who Am I Teaching?, is a nice read and it gets us to think about the young people in front of us, particularly in the primary classroom. Thinking about who our learners are and really coming from their lens. There's my book as well, Mindful Little Yogis, which is targeted at teachers and parents, and is more based on mindfulness. It’s particularly for children who've got special educational needs and there's lots of different breathing activities and therapeutic things that they could do. But it also gives the therapeutic benefits of each, so it’s targeted at teachers as well as parents too. Another book that I would mention is The Therapeutic School Approach, by Shahana Knight. She's doing some incredible work and uses an approach called therapeutic classrooms. There'll be an episode released in the next few weeks with me and her on my podcast, highlighting that and unpacking that in more detail. How to build an anti-racist classroom is a good book as well. There's lots of different things out there. I would definitely say do some research and really focus on making sure children feel seen and that they feel that they belong. But also teachers, because it starts with us. And if we feel seen and we belong, and we feel equipped with really good training and research that we've embodied, it does make a difference on the children and the community as a whole. Liz Worthen: Thank you, Nicola. I really hope people take away that encouragement to take time for yourself, and to better understand what works for you as an individual. Something to take into the next school year! Thank you very much for sharing these strategies and your thoughts with us. Nicola Harvey: Oh, it's been great being here. Thank you so much for having me on board. Top takeaways
What is burnout?
Why are educators at risk of burnout?
The impact of protected characteristics
Talking about race
A whole school approach with the PERMA model
Seven types of rest
Mental health first aid
Train and reflect
Recommended reads
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