TM4T Stress Armoury 08 - Positive Thinking

A lot has been written about 'how to cope with teacher stress' and most of it can be boiled down into two tips: stay physically fit and maintain a positive outlook.

OK, OK, stop sniggering at the back. I know what you're thinking : how can a teacher stay positive with so many issues going on?

Well, it can be done.

First of all, let's talk to the cynics. Positive Thinking is a very well-known and pretty old hat concept; as a result its image is a bit 'David Brent'; a bit dated.  However, lots of research has been done, and the conclusions are pretty conclusive – which is unusual in the wacky world of stress management: positive thinking will let you do just about everything better than negative thinking will. Positive thinking increases the odds of getting positive results; Negative thinking, on the other hand, is much more likely to lead to outcomes we don't want.

In many fields of human activity, both positive and negative thoughts have been shown to become self-fulfilling prophecies: what we expect to happen, actually happens.  If you start off thinking that you will mess up a lesson, the chances are that you will: you may subconsciously not try hard enough to succeed, you might not inspire enough engagement from students, or – even though the lesson is productive - you may not perceive the results as good enough.

Positive thinking, on the other hand, is often associated with positive actions and outcomes. You are drawn to, and you focus on, the positive aspects of a situation. You therefore have hope and believe in yourself - and in others - and you invest both effort and emotion to prove that your optimism is warranted. The more you enthuse others, the more they will pitch in to help. This works in the classroom with students (some students anyway) and works equally well with adults (some adults anyway). This makes constructive outcomes all the more likely, which inevitably reduces stress.

At the risk of being simplistic, it does appear that positive, optimistic people are happier and healthier, and enjoy more success – regardless of how you measure it - than those who think negatively.  Which is lovely, of course, if you are by nature one of those positive people; not so lovely if you are – like me – a touch on the cynical side.

However, there are a number of things you can do to reduce stress by positive thinking, however gloomy your basic outlook might be.

1. Recognise negativity and practise turning negatives into positives

The first step in changing negative thinking – in fact the first step in dealing with most of these stress management issues - is to become consciously aware of it. For many of us, negative thinking is a bad habit, and like most bad habits, we are not aware of doing it.

This takes practice and some people like to allocate a specific time for monitoring their own attitudes. For example, on the way to work, you may watch out for instances where you assume the worst. For example, did you assume that a driver shook her head because of your driving? Did you assume the school receptionist deliberately ignored you because she is annoyed at you? Maybe you saw a little crowd round the kettle and assumed it was broken and that you wouldn't be able to get a coffee. Maybe the Headteacher was standing outside your classroom and you thought 'Heck, what have I done now?'. The knack here is to recognise these negative assumptions and visualisations, realise that reality is much less consistent in its negativity, and practice re-casting these assumptions as neutral or positive viewpoints, using humour where necessary.

Head-shaking driver? Probably listening to something on the radio (or impressed by your driving skill).

Aloof receptionist? Maybe had an argument with her boyfriend (or concentrating on some treat for the teaching staff).

Crowd around the kettle? Just happened to gather (or gathering to welcome you)

Headteacher outside your classroom? Just passing by (or had some great news)

2.  Understand the P dimensions

Humans interpret events in their lives according to three 'Ps', according to the ideas of psychologist Martin Seligman.

Seligman says there are dimensions of Permanence, Pervasiveness and Personalization, with optimists consistently placing negative events at one end of the spectrum and pessimistic people towards the other.

Permanence: this dimension describes whether the ill-fortune we are experiencing is seen as either permanent or temporary. Pessimists think bad times will carry on forever. Optimists shows confidence that things will get back on course quickly.

Negative: I lost my job and I'll never find one that good again.

Positive: I lost my job. I'm sure I can find a better one soon.

Pervasiveness: this dimension describes whether an ill-effect is seen simply as a local one-off, or if it reflects a more general, widespread problem. Pessimists think that if you've experienced a problem in one place, you'll experience that problem wherever you go.

Negative: I lost my job. Schools are all the same; all they care about is money.

Positive: I lost my job. Shame this school is short of money; there'll be other schools hiring staff though and I have learned some useful skills

Personalization: this describes whether it was something about you that caused a bad outcome, or whether it was some external factor. Pessimists tend to blame themselves for bad things, rather than more general factors.

Negative: I lost my job. If I'd been any good at my job they would have kept me on, regardless of those reasons they gave.

Positive: I lost my job, even though I was doing well; I understand from the reasons given that the school had to let me go.

If you can start to recognise these dimensions in your thinking, you can become more aware of the effects they have on your life. You can use positive situations to your advantage, and re-shape the negative situations to minimise bad outcomes

3.    Moderate triggers of gloom

The classic example of this principle involves watching an old funny movie instead of watching the TV news.

You should be able to identify fairly easily which triggers (romantic films, school concerts, poems) appeal to your positive side, and which triggers (news, governors reports, war movies) prompt pessimism.

You should moderate those which tend to make you gloomy, and expressly avoid them if you are tackling a project which requires you to be on your best form.