If only we could stand and stare; the stress of constant change

"What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare."

So wrote W.H.Davies in 1911. When was the last time a teacher had the time to stand and stare? In fact I have found throughout my career that I am running at full pelt often just to stand still. Education has been in a state of constant change since I can remember and there are so signs that this will arrest soon. The problem is that this is on top of all of the other demands associated with this profession and that as soon as you feel confident with a certain aspect of the job it goes and changes.

We are the slaves of change but what keeps changing?:

• Technology
• Specifications and courses
• Communities and society
• Educational philosophies and trends (just think AfL, VAK, starters and plenaries)
• Inspection regulations
• National policy, league tables and so on.

And those were off the top of my head! There will be far more but these seem to be the things that have dogged my career. School procedures change but more often than not these are in response to external factors. But why do things change? Governments change and often the political philosophy changes, and schools find themselves squarely in the centre of the ideological battlefield. Technology changes, tablets appeared, social media sprung forth and so on. Our understanding of how children learn and the effectiveness of different approaches develops through practice and research. The curriculum develops to reflect the needs of an ever changing world. Communities change and their needs change. In short everything changes constantly around education and so education inevitably constantly changes.

Change is unsettling for many reasons. We lose our place in our understanding of the world. The things on which we relied or in which we believed move and we are required to make new meaning out of our professional world. Our beliefs and values may be challenged and leave us confused and uncertain. Change inevitably generates work and this is work in addition to our normal professional lives. New specifications, teaching philosophies and technologies all require a great deal of time to react to and to adapt to. Schemes to write, systems to learn and methodologies to adopt.

So change generates uncertainty and change generates work. I also believe the further we are into our careers the harder change becomes, not because of age but because we have suffered it so many times before and every time our enthusiasm is lower. The workload issue is well explored. The work load generated by change is often on top of the day-to-day workload of planning, teaching and assessment. This creates pressure and excessive pressure can cause stress.

I believe that the stress caused by change itself is significant. We lose our positions of certainty and comfort, we witness others deal better and we can end up doubting our own ability to do the job and handle the constant turmoil. I know how I feel every time I experience change with any IT-based area of my work; I realise that this change causes me stress, and this realisation causes more stress! I know that others will adapt more quickly and that my self-esteem may take a battering. I don't want to appear ignorant so there's another stressor. It could go on and on, but change can fill me with dread and I am sure I am not alone.

What can leadership do? Unfortunately very little. Change is imposed on schools and often the quantity of change experienced by school leaders is even greater. However a good place to start is at least with awareness. Change must be monitored and staff must be cared for during the process. Leaders must be aware of the sensitivity of individuals and that all periods of change generate additional stress. Maybe just talking about and sharing these concerns should be a good place to start.