Well, Teachers... teach well

Well Teachers

Well teachers: we are international educators who recognise that teacher wellbeing & professional development are both connected & vital. In other words: well Teachers... teach well! Join us as we explore topics relating to keeping well as a teacher (not as straightforward as it seems), mastering your teaching skills, and navigating your career in international education. We are facilitators, teachers, education professionals and lifelong learners who understand that learning and teaching well necessitates that you feel well too. #international #education #wellbeing #teachertraining #pd

Episodes

  1. 10/22/2024

    #9 [Interview] Securing international work independently from Pakistan, upskilling, career pivots & the CELTA - with teacher Sabahat Farooq

    1️⃣Developing skills and profitable qualifications for international work 💡-how she pivoted into teaching from law to pursue a career that felt more meaningful and fulfilling for her 💡-the qualifications she pursued in order to become a tutor for international students (of course, it's the CELTA!) 💡-how she overcomes any challenges with teaching English when it is not her first language 2️⃣Securing and retaining remote, paid international work 💡-the challenges and details of how she secures payments internationally from Pakistan 💡-how she got her first paying student and secures new ones (without using social media at all) 3️⃣Wellbeing and taking care as a teacher 💡-her philosophy on wellbeing and what she does to keep well amidst her workload (both life and tutoring) 💡-how bearing witness to and resisting the atrocities taking place in occupied Palestine, Lebanon and across the Middle East and Africa has had a bearing on her work and lifestyle choices this year. Sabahat is someone who is very much walking the talk - quietly building a budding teaching career on her own terms. And I specially wanted to talk to her about these topics because they are so pertinent for teachers who wish to pivot out of full time school teaching and build a career with more flexibility over time, earnings, and energy.

    54 min
  2. 06/21/2024

    #3 [Wellbeing]: Navigating wellbeing in the face of oppression, genocide & conflict (+how to thrive)

    Well, teachers - it seems strange to bundle things like oppression and genocide and wellbeing into one space. But it's all connected: facing - not avoiding - atrocities, taking action, while showing up strong for your learners and communities. It's why I often say teacher wellbeing is complex, hard and even gritty. We recorded this several weeks prior, wishing that the atrocities would have stopped. Yet they became horrifically worse. Upon re-listening, we hesitated to share this. The ideas we talk about here can seem so futile. But then we were reminded that every effort helps. And that part of how we keep well as a collective is giving each other gentle nudges, and showing up for each other. So, in the third part of this chat I had with Margi, we share ways to channel moral outrage about the genocide(s) taking place currently. To accompany the watch, here’s a summary of the ideas: 1: Children can see hypocrisy We must recognise that children are far more sensitive and open to what is happening around them than we may believe and be responsive to this. Avoidance will not do. 2: Celebration of culture = outlet for sadness Holding cultural community events can help involve children and adults in preserving the culture of people being oppressed but also in recognising the sadness of what is happening. 3: Prayer for spiritual communities Many teachers in the region we are based in - Middle East & North Africa - have family and friends affected or killed in Gaza, the West Bank and across the Global South. Margi has found that daily nudges to pray has been important for community and solidarity. It is also something that joins people in coping and responding to collective sadness, grief and horror. 4: The power in preservation Taking care over protecting heritage & traditions can be one of the mechanisms an oppressed community in diaspora uses to survive, and sometimes thrive, like I’ve seen in Uyghur communities. 5. Re-channelling money helps We can play a part in activating change by recognising the connection between intention, energy and money. In the video I share a bit about the efforts we went to buy the dress I am wearing and what happened when me, my colleague Ahmed Shalabi Abdelghaffar and his wife and family made the effort to go and pick it up. Skip to 5:23 for the story. 6. Document, document, document Companies like Meta are censoring entire accounts, removing & deleting fact based posts without notice. Backing up the work, particularly the evidence of war crimes and malpractice is vital. If I recorded this now, I would add that we need to make efforts to proactively address what is happening through education. This could be through collating ways to teach and deconstruct the root of the problem - settler-colonialism - and weaving in strategies to teach this right now, and in the longer term. Is there anything you would add or include? #teacherwellbeing #copingstrategies #endoccupation

    11 min

About

Well teachers: we are international educators who recognise that teacher wellbeing & professional development are both connected & vital. In other words: well Teachers... teach well! Join us as we explore topics relating to keeping well as a teacher (not as straightforward as it seems), mastering your teaching skills, and navigating your career in international education. We are facilitators, teachers, education professionals and lifelong learners who understand that learning and teaching well necessitates that you feel well too. #international #education #wellbeing #teachertraining #pd