Resilience Training for Head Teachers

“This course has given me ideas to change my behavioural thinking at the right time.”

This was one of the many comments we recently received when we provided some Resilience Training for Head Teachers.  We were asked to deliver a one-day “Developing Resilience – Training for Managers” course to a group of head teachers who had all been in post for around a year or less.

Resilience Skills
The course includes an exercise which helps participants to consider their resilience skills and highlights those aspects of resilience where they are strongest and those in which they could improve.  Interestingly, following our regular process of scrutinising the feedback received, we found that, although expressed in many different ways, the two most common areas that participants would be paying particular attention to following the course would be their boundaries and their self-talk.

Work Life Balance
The emergent areas for how the training would improve their work performance, were an awareness and improvement in their work life balance and more effective time management.  It was discussed that practice would be required in order to develop new skills and strategies but head teachers are more aware than many others of the fact that habits don’t change overnight.  They really valued having a day away from their offices to have, “a real chance to visit some core values”.

Inspirational Leaders
Of course, as is widely acknowledged, a good head teacher is an inspirational leader of not only the teachers and auxiliary staff in their charge but of the pupils as well.  Therefore, a head teacher who displays honed resilience skills is in an excellent position to help increase awareness of the benefits of these skills to all those within their charge.  One head teacher believes the course will help them achieve, “Better time management, less firefighting, a more strategic view”.  Who wouldn’t also wish this for each and every school student with exams on the horizon?

Enlightening and Thought Provoking
Another head teacher who attended our Developing Personal Resilience course with their  team during an inset day commented, “This course will allow me to help team members reflect on their/others behaviours and impact, and I will reflect on how to switch off at night.  It was very enlightening and thought provoking.”

In Equilibrium are delighted to play our part in helping develop resilience for anyone involved in the education sector.  We can deliver:

• Short workshops at Head Teachers’ or Teachers’ Conferences
• One-day and half-day training courses for inset days, as well as longer programmes
• One to one coaching sessions

If you would like to discuss your individual requirements or would like any further information, please contact Alastair Taylor on 0131 476 5027, email [email protected] or complete our contact form online.