about sustainable teaching
Teaching may be the toughest job you'll ever love. This perhaps explain why the teacher turnover rate is at an all-time high nationally and why 1 in 6 Colorado teachers leaves the profession in the first five years. So if you're feeling burned out as a teacher, you're not alone.
Despite the challenges, CSUWP teachers still love teaching deep down. So for the past year, a small community of educators in the CSUWP Institute for Sustainable Teaching has been researching how to stay in the profession. Together, we've developed a theory called "sustainable teaching."
Despite the challenges, CSUWP teachers still love teaching deep down. So for the past year, a small community of educators in the CSUWP Institute for Sustainable Teaching has been researching how to stay in the profession. Together, we've developed a theory called "sustainable teaching."
Sustainable teaching is fostering compassion for self while supporting the growth and development of our students. The goal of sustainable teaching is to create a collaborative community that values a balanced approach to education and enables all participants to thrive.
Components of sustainable teaching include:
- Cultivating a gracious mindset toward self and others
- Embracing our vulnerability as teachers
- Setting boundaries so that we don’t exhaust our resources
- Developing practices that will build resilience
- Establishing a repertoire of mindfulness practices and actually using them
- Reserving space for self-care, play, and laughter
- Creating and actively participating in a support system that fosters personal and professional growth
- Modeling for our students how to live and work sustainably
To learn more about how we developed this theory, check out this blog post.