“Don’t look back, you’re not going that way”
I consider this saying at around this time of the year, every year. It is a time when I acknowledge that I feel unsettled, anxious, nervous; a time of change - again.
Teaching is a profession that can appear to be both dynamic and static. Dynamic in the sense that it requires a constant evolution; static in that people in education are often resistant to change. Change can be exhilarating - it is opening up to the unknown; embracing uncertainty - but it can also be threatening, scary … anxiety inducing.
I am a teacher. I am a part-time teacher on a fixed-term contract. This means I work full-time for part-time pay, over a pre-determined period of time (usually 12 months). There is no job security; no promise of the opportunity to build on the relationships with the students I care about, and no chance to “settle in” to the school community.
It is unsettling, stressful and transient.
After a life-time of travelling and living in other countries, I have accepted and come to love the benefits of constant change; I think I am able to look beyond the negative aspects of having no job security, to the opportunities this context presents to me. To mitigate the feelings of uncertainty (and therefore powerlessness), I have had to create a new paradigm of being a teacher in New Zealand, for myself. By taking hold of the transient nature of the work as I have experienced it, I have had to harness it as a catalyst for what I want to do with my ‘spare’ time and in fact for the rest of my time on this planet. I have had to work with change; be flexible; yielding to the ups and downs of the floods and droughts of my life in recent years, in order to see a clear a way forward. Bring it on.
In no way am I suggesting that people on a steady trajectory towards job security and stability are in some way afraid of change or dynamism; however, I do suggest that there exists a level of flux which encourages growth and resilience, thus forcing people into a position of looking outside their current situation in order to find solutions. Problem-solving is perhaps an area within education which should be given priority for our learners.
And so, I find myself yet again, on the precipice of change; staring down into the mouth of uncertainty. I do not feel powerless; I feel nervous but excited, encouraged and as if I have too many opportunities to consider, rather than none at all. I do, however, lament at the prospect of leaving behind the kids at my current school, my work colleagues, routines I have grown familiar (and feel safe) with. I worry about learning new names, fitting into new routines, having to move towns in order to find a teaching job - the job requires I change, if I wish to remain in this profession.
So, what are some ways that we can use change as a positive construct in our lives?
Try to see change as an opportunity for new beginnings. It is a chance to head towards where you want to be.
Change brings possibilities. When a change seems imminent, this can present multiple alternatives towards a new direction.
Use change as a vehicle for progress.
Change can seem daunitng and can also force us to re-evaluate our lives and how we live it. Use it as a platform to re-set or re-affirm your life values.
Sometimes we have no idea about our own strengths (or weaknesses) unless presented with a change. Major changes can throw us completely off our path - for example - a marriage break-up, death of a family member or a job loss. Some changes may appear small from the ourside but carry a large ripple effect. What ever the change is, it can build resilience.
Being able to habituate to change, reinforces one’s flexibility; it enables us to adapt and move forward.
Change breaks ruts; it re-fashions entrenched patterns of behaviour and kicks us out of engrained routines. They say “a change is as good as a holiday”.
Here I am about to enter term four; the machine of teaching goes on, no matter what. Teachers come and go. Some stay an entire life-time in the same school and are applauded for their stoic stability, whilst others, like myself, experience more schools and open themselves up to multiple ways of being in the school ‘system’. Change is constant and as I head into this term with the expectation of new exciting things developing by the end of the term, I repeat the mantra
“This too shall pass …”