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Sin\u00e9ad McBrearty, Chief Executive of mental health and wellbeing charity Education support, spoke to AGM on Saturday and delivered a humorous, and very well received, presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is no one solution to the challenge of teacher health and wellbeing. There just isn\u2019t enough money in education to do everything that teachers are supposed to achieve \u2013 that\u2019s just the long and short of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cStress has such a negative effect, on you physically. We need to reflect on the emerging data about health and wellbeing. It just is not professional to work in an environment that is habitually overworking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need to ask ourselves the question, \u2018How do I do this job AND stay well?<\/p>Sin\u00e9ad McBrearty<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Sin\u00e9ad continued, \u201cWe need to ask ourselves the question, \u2018How do I do this job AND stay well?\u2019 We are always thinking about the first part of that question, and hardly ever thinking about the second part. Stoicism is not the greatest gift that the Romans ever gave us \u2013 the roads were good, the stoicism not so much. Just putting your head down and keeping going can be deeply damaging.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSometimes experiencing stress is feeling wired, and it can feel good, but that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s not damaging. There is a productivity paradox, and we must change our relationship to it. We have to do this collectively in order to make meaningful change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She added, \u201cRest and recovery are not soft and fluffy propositions \u2013 they are essential elements in allowing you to do your job well while being well. We need to break out of the concept of overwork. What you all do matters enormously \u2013 you change lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n