Common Sense — i.e. self-efficacy

No, please. I don't want to pivot no more.

Let me tell you about the Pivot survey:

• It set me up to completely wrong expectations (refer to the gif).
• It comes with something called a heat map,
• which sounds really neat -- until you read it.

But let's not skip past Ross Geller just yet. I feel like the joke above deserves a bit of context for the millennials who have yet to catch up with this on some or other streaming service. It will also explain why I chuckled when I first heard someone very seriously say, "Pivot" in a staff briefing and was soon relieved that no one had noticed.

Clearly, Friends is whence I gain my teaching wisdom. 

Now for the serious part: what they were actually refering to was this other thing:
a fuzzy surveying critter from Australia that we recently adopted as the newest
pet at my school.

And to the right you can see the results I got from the first cycle of feedback we ran not very long ago. If you're not sure how to read it, do not worry, suffice it to say that my results far exceed those of every other teacher. I am sure you will not question my words.

Clearly, I also don't know quite how to interpret them, and neither did anybody else. But one thing I do know: the first thing I did was look at my lowest scores. And I quickly discovered that you can click on them and get further ellaborations on the areas where "you are failing" and even read the whole list of questions with the number of students for each degree of their scale. What you cannot do, not even with the help of your best friend, the hacker, is see who precisely rated you how. The survey is always and forever annonymous. In fact, other teachers and the management team are also unequivocally oblivious to your results -- unless you post them on your blog, that is.

Needless to say, ever since reading the heat map in detail I have been looking at my students in the eye trying to uncover the fiend who strongly disagreed with "I feel like can approach the teacher when I have questions."

The really funny thing is how they told us straight up, "no matter how tempted you are, we want you to focus on your strenghts," and -- just like students do with my instructions -- I ignored it completely and did the exact opposite.

Me for a week after Pivot

Is that natural? Is it healthy?

For now I will assume: yes... and yes. 

My professionalism dictates that I look at the areas where I need to grow in order to be an effective teacher. I am supposed to take constructive criticism and I should have a thick skin after twenty-odd years around teenagers. So, yes, anyone would expect me to look at it and take it in stride. 

But here's what. I was able to bear it --and tell you all about it-- because I have done it many times before. Because I have faced my mistakes and my short comings and I have cried and fret and worried and felt inefficient and discussed it and read about it for longer than this sentence has been running. That, coupled with the many successes I have experienced too, the encouragement from colleagues (and students) and anchored in the belief that I can figure this out helps me to shoulder it and even make it public. It helps me to take it for what a pivot truly is: a turning point.

"Learning to teach is a very complex undertaking. Resilience, linked to the development of teacher efficiency and underpinned by emotional competence appears to play an important role in new teacher success." (Tait, 2008, p. 71). This is true for novice teachers, but also for veterans. Especially in a proffession that changes as rapidly as the world is spinning and where the persistent pulls of the workplace can wear out one's initial zeal. "Excessive paperwork and heavy workload were key hindrances to their perceived effectiveness. However, a distinctive group of teachers in the final phase of their teaching continued to demonstrate a high level of motivation and commitment." (Day, 2009)

This thick skin you see -- and the drive that lies skin deep -- are what keeps a teacher sane over the years and still willing to learn. Still resilient. It is common sense and sense of self. Self-efficacy, is what it is. It doesn't make me look away when presented with a Pivot Heat Map but allows me to look into it. And I don't enjoy being judged any more than the next neurotic person but it is self-efficacy that brings in the perspective; what reminded me, for instance, of these facts:

1. That over 60% of answerers were Year 9 students who had been with me for just over a week when they did the survey.
2. That, even if I figured it was obvious that I should know my subject well (though it isn't) the other very high score I had was about the respect students feel from me. Isn't that neat?
3. That other teachers had similar scores for respect and such values, which means that I can feel proud of the environment I work in.
4. That they also thought my classes were creative and provided support (even if they also said that they were not always sure what I expected from them in each task).
5. That they rated me high in expecting them to go farther and explain their reasoning, which is twice as challenging when there is a language barrier.

And so on. The truth is that as I began to pull it appart, to shake off the ego-driven shame of not being the superteacher of the year, I could see many positives. I could decide how to use it for the benefit of my practice. Because another way I identify with Ross Geller is how I draw plans, and boss people around, and pull and lead, but I am also bummed when students do not pivot towards learning, and self-efficacy is the saving grace that makes me -- and all truly efficacious teachers -- try again and again with optimism and hope.

Ultimately, self-efficacy is about fostering wellbeing through the pressures of working in education, the sleepless nights, the lack of resources, the politics of the workplace, the frustrations and constant changes we face. We are self-efficacious when we are aware of the feelings we experience, use healthy emotional outlets and find wellsprings of hope in other areas of our lives. It is also something we can do for ourselves and for others, for newer teachers and for students, because "social and emotional support is extremely important in developing resilience and mediating the negative effects of stress." (Tait, p. 70). 

And since it is about emotional wellbeing, I would imagine that owning and sharing our fears and our strategies is probably more important than sharing our heat maps. So, here's the personal bottom line: few years have so trialling as 2020. I was teaching in Mexico during AH1N1 and remember vividly the fear of going to work and the heartbreak of a pandemic that decimated the youngest most of all. The relief of not being there now is only matched by the heartache of friends and family in Latin America being at such high risk. This new world is asking us all to be resilient through and through. For our students, for our children, for ourselves. My antidote? Laughing. With laughter I can actually pivot. And stay sane. And carry on.

So, thank you Ross Geller.

References:

Day, C., & Gu, Q. (2009). Veteran teachers: commitment, resilience and quality retention. Teachers and Teaching, 15(4), 441–457. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600903057211

Friends | Ross’ New Couch Pivot FULL SCENE. (2020, February 29). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_PWbnHABsM&feature=emb_logo

Pivot Professional Learning | Transforming Teaching Practice. (2020, May 22). Pivot Professional Learning. https://www.pivotpl.com/

Tait, M. G. (2008) Resilience as a Contributor to Novice Teacher Success, Commitment, and Retention. Teacher Education Quarterly, 35, 57-75. 

               https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ838701.pdf