Читать книгу The ITT Core Content Framework - Samuel Stones - Страница 14

Teachers play a crucial role in fostering good well-being, motivation and behaviour in their pupils. If your own well-being is poor, this can impact on the well-being of your pupils. As professionals, we recognise that life is not always easy. There may be circumstances in your personal or professional lives which impact on your well-being. Looking after yourself is important, not only for you but also for your pupils. Many children experience adverse circumstances at home. School should be a place where they can consistently enjoy learning, be happy, feel safe and experience a sense of belonging. If your own well-being is poor, it might be more appropriate to take some time out and get support rather than attempt to continue teaching when you are not well. Your teacher education provider has a responsibility to support your well-being.

Research suggests that there appears to be a causal relationship between teacher and pupil mental health (Harding et al., 2019). Positive teacher–pupil relationships support children and young people to be mentally healthy (Kidger et al., 2012; Plenty et al., 2014). These relationships help children to feel more connected to their school (Harding et al., 2019) and improve their well-being (Aldridge and McChesney, 2018) through fostering a sense of belonging. Research demonstrates that teachers with poor mental health may find it more difficult to develop and model positive relationships with their pupils (Kidger et al., 2010; Jennings and Greenberg, 2009).

School is also a place where pupils can be exposed to high expectation in relation to their behaviour. Some pupils will experience inconsistent boundaries from parents, and they will need time to adjust their behaviour to the expectations of the school context. Supporting pupils to recognise their emotions and regulate them is one of your responsibilities as a teacher. Addressing the consequences of poor behaviour is rarely enough. Children’s behaviour is often a response to an unmet need. You should therefore aim to understand what the child is trying to communicate through their behaviour rather than interpreting poor behaviour as a sign of weakness. Demonstrating empathy and patience will serve you well in teaching.

You will naturally seek to provide lessons that motivate and inspire your learners. Planning tasks that are stimulating and provide opportunities for learning through collaboration and investigation will help you to foster motivation. In addition, planning opportunities for pupils to engage with a broad curriculum will ensure that they can develop interests in a range of subjects.