Episode 4: Compassion Fatigue - BLaST Intermediate Unit 17

Transcript

Welcome to BLaST the Airwaves with BLaST Intermediate Unit 17. Here at BLaST Intermediate Unit 17, we strive to transform lives and communities through educational services. On this podcast, we will provide you with educational solutions for all, no matter the learning environment. So teachers, administrators, caregivers, what are you waiting for?
What would happen if we started questioning, what if? What if we had a positive perspective on education? What if we flip the switch on education? What if we were the solution?
Hello listeners. We are excited to BLaST the Airways with you today and provide educational solutions for all. My name is Rebecca Gibboney, and I am the Curriculum and Online Learning Specialist here at BLaST Intermediate Unit 17. I am thrilled to welcome you to episode four of BLaST the Airwaves. During this episode, we will discuss one of the toughest parts of education, especially for me, compassion fatigue. We have spent our first episodes discussing self-care, but now how do we find that balance between work and life so we avoid compassion fatigue? Why don’t we start blasting the airwaves to find out…
In education, there is data and there is curriculum, there are students and there is content. Yet, there is so much more. To educators, behind that data point is a student and behind that specific curriculum, there is an even richer content. Behind every student, there is a story; and our content goes deeper than what is written on those pages. No, our content is written by life.
Today’s episode is a tough topic to discuss for me, because quite frankly, educator friends, I do not have the answer. Compassion fatigue, defined by Douglas, Frey and Hattie as the “combination of physical, emotional, and spiritual depletion associated with the work we do with others.” In other words, the high cost for caring.
And, boy, do we care; as educators, we care. We care way more than ever imagined. These students, your students, they are like your “kids”. Right?! In fact, when I first started teaching, my friends would always catch me referring to my “kids”, and they always would ask, “Becky, when did you have kids?” It always brought about a good chuckle. But, in all seriousness, my students were my “kids”.
So, sure, we care about the grades, and we care about the rules. But, we care about the grades because we care about our “kids’” futures. We care about the rules because we care about their safety and well-being.
We simply care, and sometimes way more than we should. Or not?
As an educator, there is where I fight the inner battle. Where do you draw the line? Can you draw the line? Are you a bad educator if you aren’t as compassionate as your team teacher or the teacher down the hallway?
My answer to all of these questions: absolutely not! I believe that everyone has their own way of reaching their students and their own ways of showing they care. Some find a better balance than others, but the missing piece is raising self-awareness of compassion fatigue.
That point when you take on the stressors and trauma of your students as your own. When you are constantly thinking and wondering about their safety, if they ate dinner that night, if they had a warm place to sleep that night. All of those ‘if’s’ that you just cannot control, but you wish you could. Instead of compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue takes over. You wish you could carry their baggage for them. Right?
I know I am not alone in this struggle of balance. There are thousands of you educators out there in the Commonwealth. It does not matter if they are current students or they’re former students. Once your student, always your student.
I had a colleague once tell me she completely lost it on a Sunday morning. She left work Friday feeling broken, as she watched one of her mentees, a student, walk out of her classroom door; because she knew that no matter how many ‘life talks’ she offered, it was going in one ear and out the other. Once a mind is made up, it is made up. My colleague felt hopeless. She spent Saturday night restless and mentally exhausted until Sunday morning hit and she crumbled. She cried out tears of worry, tears of fear, tears of exhaustion to her friend. My colleague had nothing more left to offer. She had hit her point and compassion fatigue overwhelmed her.
My colleague learned the hard way and luckily she had that support system–her accountability partner there to pick her up. But, my question is, how do we, as educators, not let it get that far? Because, in my honest opinion, compassion fatigue is a cause of burnout. I know that I have personally experienced this. I have given so much of myself that I forgot to give to myself, and I was left exhausted.
So, how do we become aware of compassion fatigue in our colleagues? In ourselves?
Douglas, Frey and Hattie include some signs of compassion fatigue such has emotional outbursts, signs of apathy, the impulse to rescue anyone in need, hypervigilance, and so on. Plus, they also include a nice self-assessment tool from the American Academy of Family Physicians that they have adapted for educators. I recommend checking out this resource in our show notes.
But, step 1, let’s recognize these warning signs before it is too late. Then, let’s rally around one another. It’s not a crime to care, and we are not alone. We are educators. We often, like I said, care too much. Rely on your accountability partner to tell you when to let it go. It is okay to let it go, to unpack the baggage. Lastly, let’s focus on what we can control. I recently shared the Sphere of Influence with my instructional coaches and, wow, it was an eye-opener for myself, too. Write down everything you are carrying, not literally carrying but carrying in your heart. Write it down. Your baggage, your student’s baggage, your child’s baggage, your significant other’s baggage. Your friend’s baggage. Write it all down. Then put it up against the Sphere of Influence. What is in your control? What is in your influence? Recognize what is out of your control and learn to let it go…
Because, like Elena Aguilar questions in her book Onward, what matters most? Where do you want to spend or need to spend your energy?
Again, I must confess. I do not have the answers. I am stuck right with you in this balancing act myself, but I know I can count on some of these strategies to fight compassion fatigue.
I used to think I could save the world. Who knows, maybe I can? Maybe you can? But, I am learning that I can settle for just saving someone’s world. Someone’s day. I’m okay with that. I cannot do it all. Neither can you. A warm cup of coffee. A note of thanks. A simple smile. Sometimes that is all that is needed.
So, do what you do. Do what you can, because what you do and what you can is enough. You are enough.
Speaking of self-care. Feeling overbooked? Don’t miss out on BLaST Intermediate Unit 17’s asynchronous book study that will focus on building a relationship with yourself and your peers, while traveling on a guided journey of self-exploration. There are four books in the series, but you don’t need to join them all. The first one, Find Your Why by Simon Sinek, David Mead and Peter Docker begins October 5th.
For more information on how you can join the overbooked community, visit our website: www.iu17.org/professional-learning/.
We would like to thank you for blasting the airwaves with us today. If you like the show, please subscribe or leave a review. If you want to know more, check out www.iu17.org for further resources and show notes. As always, we want to thank you for what you do every single day. Remember, keep shining. We’ll be back next episode to provide you another educational solution for all, as we continue to transform lives and communities through educational services.