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In most UK secondary schools, change is a way of life. Most teachers say that they embrace change, but the reality is that some change – what we inevitably cite as 'too much change' – just really, really messes up our lives. It doesn't have to be a major change – our school becoming an academy, or a new exam board; it may be something minor – being moved to a teaching room with an old-fashioned teachers' PC.
Change, in other words, can be stressful; it always has that negative potential. Most of us, regardless of how flexible and forward-thinking we like to appear, don't really embrace change – we simply cope with it. Some of us just cope well, some of us, well, just cope.
Coping is a process (not a state). It is how an individual tries to minimise the negative emotions that come from negative events. It describes cognitive and behavioural efforts (that is, what we think and do) to deal with the crap life throws at us.
Research suggests that the key to coping with change is attitude. If you view change positively (usually as an opportunity) we cope better than if we view it negatively (usually as a threat).
At the risk of stating the obvious, it's important to know how to cope with change, because schools are rattling with it. You are likely to suffer from considerable stress if you don't cope with change well.
Teaching is different to other professions – estate agent or doctor or whatever – in several ways; but one of the most important differences is familiarity. Almost without exception, we are all familiar with the job even before we begin our training. We have maybe ten years of sitting in a classroom, passively assimilating the role, before we even consider career choices. Later, someone will explain to us what a job in marketing involves, or the challenges of packaging technology, but no-one really has to tell us what a teacher does; we have seen that for ourselves.
Big problem. In most jobs, people do not have a fixed baseline perspective of what the job should really be about... but frequently teachers do – their experiences as a child offer deeply rooted insights into what teaching is about, what teaching should be. Consequently, as our jobs evolve; as our jobs change in the same way that society changes, we tend to question and resent it more than, say, an estate agent or a packaging technologist.
How to Cope with Change
Change can lead to new opportunities, or it can result in misery; it is the uncertainty of the outcome, as well as the disruption, which inevitably leads to stress, and we need ways to cope.
Organizational behaviourists identify two ways of coping, which are labelled 'control coping' and 'escape coping'.
'Control coping' means that you do whatever you can to take charge and take part. It is positive and proactive; it typically involves doing what is best for the organization – the school – and this includes managing your own feelings.
'Escape coping' is an avoidance strategy. Consciously or subconsciously, you think or do things which allow you to escape the reality and consequences of change. Frequently-cited example involves not reading e-mails, arriving late for briefings, 'being too busy' to complete forms.
In terms of stress, control coping is clearly best.
The Transactional Model
The Transactional Model of Stress was proposed by Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman in 1984 and it is one of the cornerstones of stress management. It offers a step by step guide to control coping.
The central idea is that stress is not a direct result of some stressor (in this section we will use the example of a new school computer system being introduced). The diagram below shows one way of viewing this situation – in this model the stress is a direct result of the new computer system, and the stress is directly affecting the teacher.
An alternative way of viewing the situation is shown below. In this model – which corresponds to the transactional perspective – you the teacher appear twice. You are still affected by stress, but the stress is dependent on how effectively you mediate the work demands caused by the new computer system.
The transactional model has three stages: Primary appraisal, Secondary appraisal, and Coping. Before we look at them, here's a summary of the example we'll be using (that pesky new computer system).
J's classroom is going to be seriously disrupted by the electrical work being done for the new computer system. A new power cable is being laid in the corridor, so students won't be able to use the usual door; instead coming in via the muddy playing field. The classroom PC and IWB will also be out of action for a week. When the power supply and server is upgraded, new PCs will be available round the school, and a new administration and course management software will be rolled out. The leadership team have also vaguely promised exciting interactive Web-based learning resources. To make things worse, J is being assessed and has an important lesson observation scheduled shortly.
Jack
Jack is furious. This is yet another example of money being wasted on a pie-in-the-sky vanity project, at the expense of students' learning. He writes a letter of complaint to the governors and raises his issues with a few influential parents. Jack doesn't attend the briefing on how the project will work, as this is a meeting which exceeds the agreed out-of-hours maximum. Jack manages to follow his scheme of work as planned, but his classes are disrupted by noise and distractions. His lesson observation results in an 'unsatisfactory' rating, partly because Jack did not read the e-mail telling him in advance about the observation (he must have missed it). Jack objects to this, and there is to be a meeting with the Head teacher and the Union representative shortly.
Jill
Jill is frustrated. She can see some value in the project, but doubts whether the leadership will deliver on its longer-term promises. Jill attends the project briefing and asks questions. She realises that she will have to rearrange her scheme of work, and brings forward her end-of-term written assessments, so she doesn't have to do too much real teaching in the middle of a building site. She formally asks that her lesson observation is re-scheduled and this is accepted. Jill feels stressed by the whole thing and starts taking Yoga classes after school.
The Three Steps
Step 1. Primary Appraisal
Evaluate the change and how important it is to you personally, how it will affect your circumstances and your sense of well-being. Assess whether – on balance – the change is going to be positive or negative or somewhere in between. You might want to use a SWOT analysis to get a balanced view. Changes are almost never all-bad or all-good, and their outcomes are rarely entirely predictable.
The intention here is twofold: first of all, you should feel more in control and informed when you can see both the positive and negative consequences, and this will also prepare you to consider action in the next step.
All of this logic is good, but it is also important to be aware of your emotions. If you are feeling angry, upset, frustrated, whatever, you need to be sure that you don't take it out on others. Teachers sometimes bottle up a load of emotions, and take exquisite care not to inflict them on their students in the classroom. Colleagues in the staffroom, and family in the kitchen, however, are not always so lucky.
Example (based on the example of a new school computer system):
Good things:
It will make our PCs and e-mails and everything faster
We will have more PCs in different places and we can use laptops and pads and stuff
<quote> The data we input will provide useful information to inform management decision-making <unquote>
Longer term: easier to use teaching resources
New skills look good on CV
Bad things:
They will rip up the floor outside my classroom
The kids will tramp mud all over the floor
I won't have a PC or interactive white board for a week
The kids learning will be affected
I am supposed to be getting observed that week
I will have to spend time figuring out how to use the new software, with boring, boring training
I'll have to key in more student performance data (instead of teaching)
Step 2. Secondary Appraisal
When you've thought through what the change means to you in practical terms, and how you feel about it, you can appraise how to mediate the demands which are likely to cause you stress.
Ask yourself 'What can I realistically do about this situation?'. You also assess what resources you already have to cope with the change, and what resources might help you. We used the waffly word 'resources' because this includes absolutely anything. It could be books, or offices, or it could be skills, knowledge, or friends, or religion, or money or....
You should always seek to find out more about each change. Be proactive, ask questions, and share any obvious concerns – other people frequently have solutions and resources that you haven't considered.
Example (based on the example of a new school computer system):
They will rip up the floor outside my classroom: Nothing I can do about this.
I won't have a PC or interactive white board for a week: I can ask to move classrooms
The kids learning will be affected: I can switch the scheme of work round
I am supposed to be getting observed that week: I can ask for it to be postponed
I will have to spend time learning to use the new software, boring training: I can focus on the bits which are going to help me.
I'll have to key in more student performance data (instead of teaching): I'll monitor how much time this takes and decide what to do
Step 3. Coping
'How well you cope' is another way of saying 'how much stress you experience'. If you cope well, your stress reduces. In the previous step, we identified what could and couldn't be done to deal with the negative work demands of a specific change.
You might wonder why we bother to analyse this and write down what we are going to do. Well, as far as I know, no one has ever looked at a page and written down 'drink excess alcohol' or 'lash out verbally at colleagues' but these are in fact some of the more common escape coping strategies.
By appraising the situation, you should find it easier to focus on control coping strategies. The logic goes like this.... structured appraising leads to greater control leads to positive outlook leads to less stress.
You may recognise the last bit of this causation chain: most people recognise that having a positive outlook helps (chin up, keep smiling, etc...). However, empty exhortations and plucky determination don't really cut it; you need to have some rational basis for your positive outlook, and this generally comes from having a greater sense of control.
In Step 3 you need to follow through on your control coping actions (from the previous Step) and modify them and extend them if they're not working. You should continue to be proactively engaged in the change process and monitor whether circumstances are changing.
Example (based on the example of a new school computer system):
They will rip up the floor outside my classroom: Nothing I can do about this, but I can make the kids come in the French windows and take off their shoes so the room doesn't get muddy.
I won't have a PC or interactive white board for a week: They won't let me move classrooms (typical) but I'll warn the kids that they'll be doing tests that week for their end-of-term grades. I'll bung in some fun stuff too.
The kids learning will be affected: I need to replan things; I'll do that at the weekend. I've got loads to do, but I'm going to try and fit Yoga in. Keep calm and all that.
I am supposed to be getting observed that week: Postponed. Good.
Again, in the midst of all this logic and control, you need to consider emotion too. Actively schedule some 'you' time to relax, enjoy and forget work. Be aware of your colleague's emotional state (just because you don't yell at them is no guarantee that they'll reciprocate)
Remind yourself that all change represents an unknown – no one really knows how it will turn out. It might turn out to be the best thing ever.
Example (based on the example of a new school computer system):
I'm glad I juggled the scheme of work round; I think I'll do it the new way in future. Yoga is going great. My appraisal went well, and the kids don't seem to have been affected by the disruption. The new systems are much faster and easier. I've decided to move on, though; the computer system fiasco made me see how badly this place is managed. I'm starting at a new school at the end-of-term.
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