Resilient Classrooms

Emotional Wellbeing

You may have heard the phrase 'put your own oxygen mask on first' being used, and this refers to the need to consider our own wellbeing and emotional safety before being able to attend to the needs of others'. This will be especially important during stessful or challenging times and we have created a separate page on staff wellbeing.

Supporting our pupils' emotional literacy is key to a resilient classroom. Children process and make sense of what happens to them by creating a coherent narrative, and this is only possible if they are supported to talk about their thoughts and feelings. We know some pupils find this harder than others and this may be especially true depending upon individual circumstances. What we can do is make discussions about feelings a regular part of the school day. We can use regular emotional check-ins, and normalise emotions through discussing our own feelings or linking with stories we are reading.  Classroom displays or topic work based around emotions are also useful ways to increase opportunities for emotional literacy. Consider ways to support children to talk about their experiences and provide opportunities to normalise a wide range of emotions. See our page on Emotion Coaching for more information/ideas.

Considerations for Promoting Resilience:

Focusing on the attitudes that build resilience is a positive and easy way to support the wellbeing of both staff and learners:

• Do simple gratitude exercises, make learners (and modelled by the adults) gratitude trees, notes, postcards, diaries etc. For example what are they grateful for about returning to school, what were they grateful for during lockdown, who are they grateful to see again? (obviously use discretion around individual circumstances for any activities like these)

• Model responding to things that go wrong or are stressful with humour. Show learners when you make a mistake or something goes wrong that humour helps you cope with it.

• Talk openly about change and the positive aspects of any changes during the recovery phase and return to school. Spending more time with family, being able to be outside more or anything else relevant to your cohort of learners. By talking openly about accepting change and the positive benefits of change, encouraging learners to consider positives, you help them embrace change in their own lives. 

References:

Clarke, J., Nicholson, D. (2010). Resilience: Bounce Back from Whatever Life Throws at You. Crimson Publishing, Richmond, Surrey.

Goleman, D. (1996). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, Bloomsbury, London.

Seligman, M. (2007). Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realise Your Potential for Deep Fulfillment, Nicholas Brealey, London.