Leadership / First Year of Teaching

The importance of gratitude

In my last article, I spoke about the importance of that one special teacher.  Most educators never realize their personal significance in the lives of their students.  It is just natural for them.  I was surprised by the amount of positive feedback that I received on this post.  I hope this week’s article causes a similar self-reflection.

I would bet that we very rarely think about the role of gratitude. Specifically, are we thankful for our jobs?  Our colleagues?  Our supervisors?  Our students?  I know when I reflect I rarely if ever show gratitude.  I rarely woke up in the morning being truly thankful for my job. I think globally this concept doesn’t cross our minds.  However, I think as you get older, in many ways you become more grateful for your job. This comment transcends receiving a paycheck.  I think we all are grateful on payday.  At the end of this day, I challenge everyone to take a moment to reflect and in some way express this gratitude to those around you.

Let us never forget that your success depends on others.  The way we become isolated at work (see past articles) reinforces this.  We all tend to build little walls around us and rarely if ever, let others visit this private space.  This isolation from both teachers and administrators remains a large problem for the profession.  We are getting better at rectifying this but still have a long way to go.

Recently, there has been a great deal of research on this topic.  Some of the benefits of gratitude at work include:

• Makes you happier and healthier.
• Helps you develop personal and professionally.
• Strengthens you emotionally.
• Makes you less self-centered and less materialistic.
• Increases your energy level.
• Makes you more optimistic.
• Improves decision making and work productivity.
• Helps you make friends and deepen friendships.
• Helps you relax.
• Makes you a more effective manager.
• Makes you feel better, develop happier memories, enjoy work more, and LIVE LONGER. (Amin, 2014)

I would argue that school cultures are void of the “we” concept.  This is part of the school culture (see past articles).  Please remember that we are all responsible for the development and sustenance of a healthy school culture.  It is not solely the principal’s job.  In last week’s article, I spoke about how a student would “run through a wall” for “that” teacher.  Would you run through that wall for a colleague?  Your principal? Your students?  Take some time to think about this.  Challenge yourself. Tomorrow, go into work and show gratitude to someone.  It matters!

References

Amin, Amit.(2014).  The 31 Benefits of Gratitude You Didn’t Know About:  How Gratitude Can Change Your Life.  Retrieved from http://www.happierhuman.com/benefits-of-gratitude/