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 two years, a 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 two years, a 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 the process of fostering self-compassion and renewal in educators who support the growth and development of students in turn.
The goal of sustainable teaching is to create a collaborative community that values
a balanced approach to education and enables all participants to thrive.
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 self-compassion and a gracious mindset toward others
- Acknowledging and embracing our own vulnerability
- Recognizing limits and stressors, then setting boundaries so that we don’t exhaust our resources
- Developing a repertoire of mindfulness practices and actually using them to build resilience and longevity in the professional life-span
- Reserving space for self-care, play, and laughter
- Creating and actively participating in a support system for personal and professional growth
- Identifying allies who will advocate on our behalf and help us locate and leverage resources to enable our professional longevity
- Modeling for all stakeholders, including our students, how to live and work sustainably
Want to know what sustainable teaching looks like in action? Check out the CSUWP blog.