Have you ever prepared to go to work in the morning and wondered how you will ever get through the day? Perhaps you’ve felt weighed down by stress, trials or traumatic events that are occurring in your life outside of school, or maybe your role as an educator has become more difficult because of the myriads of challenges your students are enduring? Possibly, you’ve carried both the burden of adverse experiences in your personal life and those that you recognize in the lives of your students.
The truth of the matter is that adversity is central to the human experience.
So, if you have ever felt this way, please know that you are not alone. More importantly, know that there is hope in the knowledge that like our Intelligence Quotient (IQ), we also possess an Adversity Quotient (Stoltz, 1999). According to Stolz, the adversity quotient (AQ) is a person’s ability to face situations, problems, and obstacles in life. A person with a higher AQ is more apt to effectively manage difficulties and turn obstacles into opportunities. The good news is that there are skills we can develop- and help our students to cultivate- to elevate our ability to persevere in the face of adversity.
Here are three reminders for educators to apply to their own lives and to model for their students when confronting adversity.
- Recognize your realm of control. Situations occur in life that are frustrating, challenging, or even devastating. Know that in those situations, although there are likely pieces that are completely out of our control, there are also aspects that are within our realm of influence. We possess the ability to choose to be intentional with our thoughts, words, and behaviors. We can choose to look for opportunities within a challenge, rather than focus on the challenge itself. We can also consider our strengths. We all have them; we are intuitive, organized, flexible, patient, diligent, creative, or countless other traits. Choose to identify a strength in yourself that you can leverage, as you approach obstacles.
- Set goals. Another skill that educators possess is the ability to set goals. Like we scaffold instruction or behavior expectations for students, we can set attainable goals for ourselves. For example, setting a goal to take two intentional breaths when we begin to feel anxious or frustrated, is within our control and can nourish our well-being and center our focus. Finally, it is within our control to offer ourselves grace. Teachers can be extremely forgiving of others, and very hard on themselves. Be as compassionate with yourself as you encounter hardships, as you are with your students. If this is challenging for you, visualize someone you love and imagine they are going through a difficult situation. Think about what you would say to them, how you might treat them and then apply those words and behaviors to yourself.
- Create connections. Brain science indicates that positive social interaction can create a release of hormones into our bloodstream, specifically the pleasure -inducing hormone oxytocin, which immediately reduces anxiety, improves concentration and focus, and causes us to feel more positive or hopeful (Achor, 2018). We will be more able to respond productively when faced with adversity if we choose to reach out to others for support, guidance, and/or resources. Many of us have servant’s hearts and are typically the person others reach out to when in need. It may be uncomfortable to admit when we need support, yet it is also courageous! Because adversity goes hand in hand with being human, there are going to seasons in our lives that are more difficult than others. Building and sustaining healthy relationships is a valuable skill that empowers us to seek support and assistance when life gets tough. Feelings of isolation, overwhelm, or depression typically grow when we push others away. Please don’t hesitate to create a network of your people, so that you can all be there for each other in the face of adversity.
Our students encounter adversity as well. Some have lived in the reality of adversity or been exposed to traumatic experiences, consistently, throughout their young lives. Others may encounter many smaller challenges, or one significant life calamity, that can create dysregulation or a disregard for routine activities, such as school expectations. We can model for our students, strategies that we leverage when experiencing adversity. We can also create situations, instructional and behavioral, for them to practice agency at various times throughout their day to empower them to make choices within their realm of control. As they engage in these opportunities, they are more likely to develop self-efficacy and a growth mindset. Both of which will serve them well as they confront substantial troubles or tribulations.
Maya Angelou reminds us, “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” Let us keep her wisdom in our hearts and minds, as we strive to elevate our adversity quotient, so that we, and our students, are more prepared to thrive through adversity.
For more insights, reflections, and strategies, please check out recently released, Teaching and Learning in the Face of Adversity, which Michelle Trujillo co-authored with Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey.
References:
Achor, Shawn. The Happiness Advantage: How a Positive Brain Fuels Success in Work and Life. Currency, 2018.
Stoltz, Paul. Adversity Quotient: Turning Obstacles into Opportunities. Wiley, 1999.
