Helpers in the Classroom
I really love birds. I also really love watching birdcams. One of my favorites that my daughter introduced me to is this one of the albatross Tiaki on the cliffs of New Zealand.
Tiaki and the other fledgling albatross are facing some pretty strong wind as they try to take off and fly. However, they learn quickly to ride the wind and use it to help guide them safely back to the ground and to their nests.
Watching this video, I thought about what teachers are still going through even as a new school year has begun.
Even after a year of teaching in a pandemic, teachers are still struggling in this new school year with all the challenges, stress, obstacles and Herculean demands that are being made on them.
So many teachers I know are having major physical and mental health issues. Addictions are on the rise. Every day is an emotional roller coaster of frustration, disappointment, anxiety, anger and guilt.
Teachers feel as if they have the proverbial “albatross” around their necks.
What does this mean?
The expression comes from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, in which the narrator Captain kills an albatross – a large white bird deemed by sailors to be an omen of good fortune. This act is thought to curse the ship, so the Captain must wear the albatross around his neck.
The expression has found its way into our lexicon and, according to Idioms Free Dictionary Online, it can be used to allude to the following:
- “a burden that prevents one from achieving success” or
- “a heavy burden of guilt that becomes an obstacle to success” or
- “a burden that causes you great problems from which you cannot escape or it prevents you from doing what you want to do” or
- “a burden or stigma brought on by one’s actions”
This seems like a teacher checklist of what is going on in the classroom for them these days!
There is no doubt that overwhelmingly teachers are feeling a great BURDEN in the classroom.
They feel there is so much that prevents them from achieving success…not enough resources, not enough time, not enough support, not enough autonomy to do what they professionally believe is best.
They feel a heavy burden of guilt for not getting done everything that is being demanded of them, for not being able to reach and teach and make a difference for every child, for spending too much time on schoolwork at home and not enough time on family and friends and self-care.
They feel a burden that causes them great problems from which they feel they cannot escape or that prevents them from doing what they want to do. Problems with health, well-being, making ends meet, taking care of their own needs and those of their loved ones.
They feel a burden or stigma if they are not the last car in the parking lot at the end of the day, or if other teachers are doing more or if parents complain about them or if they are not always upbeat and positive and willing to do whatever is asked of them by parents/admin/etc.
Teachers are burdened and feeling more like Eric Burdon singing his famous song with The Animals:
“We gotta get out of this place
If it’s the last thing we ever do
We gotta get out of this place
‘Cause girl, there’s a better life for me and you.
To relieve yourself of the teaching albatross around your neck, try some of the SPIRIT affirmations and practices that I have available here on the website.
Check out some of the resources too that can help you become less burdened and carry a lighter load so you don’t feel like you have to leave the profession.
We need you!
Children need you!
Society needs you!
Teachers: YOU are the helpers that Fred Rogers refers to in his famous quote:
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping. “
Thank you for all you do and for being a helper... but don't forget to reach out for help too!
Inspirational song: Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd
“Albatross” by AdeRussell is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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