The importance of gratitude for school staff
Your Journey of Life, one of TAP's newest supporters, was invited to write a guest blog about their work in the education sector.
At Your Journey of Life, we work closely with experienced teachers to produce our PSHE lessons, so we know how hard all school staff work. And somehow, every year, their workload seems to keep increasing. Whether it's larger class sizes, new themes added to the curriculum or new school incentives it all takes time and effort from the people who keep the school going. Yet the appreciation they receive seems to be going in the opposite direction and this can have a detrimental effect on the mental health of staff.
We've created several lessons about mental health that focus on how we can make changes that make ourselves and others happier, and although society's perceptions of mental health have improved massively over the last 100 years or so it's still a huge part of our overall health. So, we should all be doing what we can to promote positive mental attitudes for ourselves and others.
Bringing positivity into people's lives has a much larger impact than just short-term positive feelings and that's why TAP's Thanking Platform for schools is such a refreshing concept.
A little bit of appreciation can reduce stress, improve sleep quality, and make us feel all-round more positive and ready to take on the next challenge, which is vitally important in a busy classroom.
So, putting a smile on a teacher's or other school staff member's face is never a bad thing.
As small business owners trying to make a difference in education, we know how good it feels to receive positive feedback from happy teachers, and so we're confident of the effect positive feedback can have on teachers themselves.
Teachers have a huge influence on the young minds they're educating, and when a teacher feels respected, valued and appreciated in the classroom, not only are they going to have greater job satisfaction knowing what they're doing is really helping people, but they'll likely do an even better job going forward!
Showing gratitude to others can make a positive impact on everyone involved, but we all have those days where we're just not feeling at our happiest, so here are some simple ideas that we can all try that can improve our mental health, and make that positivity come naturally:
- Practice mindfulness - This has been shown to improve mental wellbeing by allowing people to appreciate the world around them, and can relieve stress, anxiety and depression.
- Being in good physical health - Eating healthily and regular exercise has been scientifically proven to improve mental health, not just your physical health.
- Take time out to do what makes you happy.
- Spend time with people whose company you enjoy.
- Take part in local activities or join a club.
- Express gratitude -- The TAP app is the easy way to say thank you to school staff!
By Brett Adam, co-founder at Your Journey for Life
You can hear more from Brett on TAP Radio: https://soundcloud.com/thankandpraise/brett-adam-interview-with-music