During high school, an often tumultuous period of life which every person must face, it helps to know that wellbeing is something that is truly valued and respected. As a mentor teacher, I am privileged to be able to facilitate dedicated time for wellbeing at St Luke’s Catholic College.
Let’s face it if we haven’t already: being a teenager is hard. I certainly remember the choppy and unforgiving seas of puberty, and the ebb and flow of my personal development, as I drifted haphazardly on my way to the all too distant shores of adulthood. The peer pressure was suffocating, to the extent that seeing things clearly and rationally as they were was hard at times, especially when your survival depended on “fitting in”. Sitting quietly and reading meant you were a nerd; drawing in your art book meant you were the weird art kid; being by yourself made you a loner; while laughing with your best friend a little too loudly made you a loser all the same. Forget “sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me” - words pack a powerful punch, and those kinds of bruises fade slowly. With a wavering sense of self, “just ignore them” was not a viable option - every little jab and criticism cut sharply, and tore at the fraying seams of my fragile ego. I disliked cliched phrases you’d hear from the occasional half-listening adult, that in 5 years, what you are crying about will seem so funny that you will be laughing at it; that you shouldn’t make a mountain out of a molehill; and that you should simply “buck up”, as the real problems happen when you are an adult… but the problems were real, and they were happening when I was a teenager.
When I knew I wanted to retrain to become a teacher, I also knew what sort of teacher I needed to be. By this, I don’t mean an English teacher (that would also be true), but a teacher who truly cares for each individual student in their class. When I look back on my personal experience as a high school student, I remember the teachers who saw me as a person rather than just another kid. There were teachers who really wanted to know what I liked, and who inspired passions I hadn’t yet discovered; who would say hi to me in the yard, and made coming to them with a question a safe and non-threatening feat. While I certainly had my fair share of good and bad experiences growing up, I cannot remember ever hearing the word “wellbeing”. I remember much talk about “self-esteem” (something that can be hard to maintain even as an adult) and “resilience” (to roll with the punches: #whatdoesntkillyoumakesyoustronger), but it was not often that I was prompted to stop and reflect on my inner wellness. I remember when I was in Year 11 and going into Year 12, a favourite teacher of mine warned me of study burnout, and he worried that I was burning the candle at both ends. Maybe I was, but at the time, I wasn’t sure of how to not be doing this. Sometimes in school, especially when the stakes are raised when you become a senior student, It can be hard to escape the tunnel vision that can come when your heart is set on academic success, grades, and the highest ATAR possible. As they say, “something’s got to give”, but now as a teacher at St Luke’s, I can provide students with the tools they need to make sure that the “thing given” is not their mental, physical, and/or spiritual wellness.
Before I begin to describe being a mentor teacher, I would like to start by saying that it is a highlight of my week, and as I have been told by a few students, is a highlight of their week too. If you are reading this and you are from a different school context, being a mentor teacher is similar to being a homeroom teacher, except it is not:
Something that happens at the beginning of the day,
Something that happens every day, or
Something that only involves reading the announcements, and administrative check ins.
Instead, mentor class:
Happens on Tuesdays and Thursdays after recess (as students at St Luke’s who are part of Stage 5 and 6 have the option to have a “late start” to the day. This helps students catch up on much needed rest, and provides them with learner agency around when, where, and how they study).
Involves check-ins around uniform and sometimes features some key announcements, but instead is focused wholeheartedly on wellbeing, and getting to know the students as individuals.
Allows students to reflect on concepts such as gratitude, empathy, mindfulness (van Cuylenburg, H. 2019), how they can approach each day with a growth mindset (Dweck, C. 2006), and have a strong focus on the dignity of the human person (Caritas Australia 2022 on the Catholic Social Teachings) by treating themselves and others with kindness and consideration (I love to have my students write handwritten affirmations to each other, while I play my number 1 favourite song: Affirmation by Savage Garden).
When I first pondered the idea of being a mentor, it was during my time in corporate banking and finance. As part of a previous role (in another life), I helped facilitate and promote executive coaching programs, and a very popular mentor/mentee program, that allowed for professionals from different banking and finance companies to meet and learn from one another. While each program had their similarities and shared benefits, there are key differences between being a mentor and being a coach. According to Zust, “Coaching is more performance driven, designed to improve the professional's on-the-job performance. Mentoring is more development driven, looking not just at the professional's current job function but beyond, taking a more holistic approach to career development” (Zust, 2017). The below video also makes an excellent point I would like to highlight about the difference between executive coaching and mentoring programs; that coaches do not usually expect to learn from their coachees, while a mentor and mentee relationship is one of more mutual growth, as it relies on both parties to relate to one another based on their unique life experiences and perceptions of the world around them.
I cannot begin to fully express the amount of things I have learnt from my students, and that I continue to learn every day. Whether it is how to skip an ad on YouTube (thanks, Sally*), setting up my Macbook so I can log in using the fingerprint button (thank you, Gerald*), or how to look at a text or topical issue in a whole new light, it is this day to day learning that makes my job beautiful. It also certainly reinforces the idea of each student having a “virtual backpack”, and bringing different strengths to the classroom. According to McGregor and Mills, “For some children, their virtual schoolbag will be bursting with confidence-building memories; familiarity with texts and new technologies; and nascent skills in reading, writing and music; and, as a consequence of all these things, they will be ready for many of the expectations and routines of formal schooling. Other children, however, may not have had opportunities to fill their schoolbags with the kinds of knowledges and skills valued by formal schooling. They may have learnt many other valuable life skills at home in terms of their family or ethnic cultures, but these may be far removed from the formal rituals of mainstream schooling environments” (McGregor,G. & Mills, M., 2017). To extend on this, I believe this is similarly the case for teachers, in what I will call our “virtual briefcases”. While we may be the experts in our KLAs, I believe that approaching teaching with the attitude of a life-long learner is the best way for us to feel fulfilled, and for everyone in the community to continue to learn and be truly well, in our minds, bodies, and souls.
*Aliases have been used in place of student names
Articles:
McGregor, Glenda and Mills, Martin (2017). The virtual schoolbag and pedagogies of engagment. Powers of curriculum: sociological perspectives on education. Edited by Brad Gobby and Rebecca Walker. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.373-392.
Books:
Van Cuylenburg, H. The Resilience Project: Finding Happiness through Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness. Penguin Random House Australia: Ebury Press, 2019.
Dweck, C. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Ballantine Books: New York, 2008.
Websites:
Caritas Australia., (2022). 'Dignity of the human Person'. https://www.caritas.org.au/learn/cst-toolkit/dignity-of-the-human-person/
Zust, C, (2017). 'Know the Difference Between Coaching and Mentoring'. https://www.kent.edu/yourtrainingpartner/know-difference-between-coaching-and-mentoring
Videos:
Grace VanderWaal. 2017, Grace VanderWaal - So Much more Than This, online video, viewed on 31 August 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48qcnpCWBq0
LeanVlog. 2017, Coaching vs Mentoring, online video, viewed on 31 August 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fFQiLOtDkc
Savage Garden. 2011, Savage Garden - Affirmation, online video, viewed on 31 August 2022,
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