RISE Hub - Wellbeing (emotional needs)
Introduction
This is a focus on the EM component of ASE RISE which needs to be considered along with Job Satisfaction and Career Intentions. Emotional needs are a significant aspect of our well-being, how we feel about our lives and work impact our job satisfaction and commitment to our career.
Based upon Human Givens approach which we have adopted for the RISE project, there are nine emotional needs that need to be met. We all have different ways of meeting these needs and we have different reactions when these needs are not met. In the long term unmet needs can lead to mental health problems.
If science teachers feel emotionally supported, they are less likely to seek to leave the department, or if they do it will be for positive reasons such as promotion rather than leaving the profession.
Interpreting the data
Emotional needs is highly contextual and can change over time - the data in your department report therefore represents a snapshot. Our personal and professional lives are interlinked and need to be considered together. However, work does make up a considerable part of our lives and we can, as colleagues or leaders, make sure that we provide an open, supportive and sensitive environment.
The ten questions on the Wellbeing part of survey are based on the nine emotional needs referrenced above. A low score (1-3) in any given area is an indicator that someone in the department may need emotional support or intervention. If you have one or more staff in your department with this score, a suggested response is to send out an email link to the Signposting document which you can find in the assets section of this page.
When considering your survey data, both in isolation and in comparison with the rest of the cohort, ask yourself:
- Which scores are high, which are low? How does this compare to the national ASE RISE data.
- What is within my control to change or support?
- What can I support and how?
- What links can be made with the emotional needs data and the data from job satisfaction and career intentions?
Moving forward
Collected on this page, you will find the find the nine key focus documents that pertain to the questions Wellbeing section of the RISE survey. You will also find the resources collection, which includes a number of documents and tools that you will find useful in responding to the findings of the survey. Finally, there are a number of related links to external information and organisations that might be of assistance. In general, you might want to consider the following strategies:
- Encourage openness and respect discretion. Starting the conversation. Dept meeting and/or one to ones.
- Talk about the emotional impact of changes and challenges – how does it make you feel? How can we adapt?
- Specific issues: Listen, but don’t solve. Acknowledge the issue. Check support network, sign-post if appropriate.
Focus: Security
This question relates to teachers feeling secure in all areas of their life...
Focus: Attention
At work, teachers give attention to others all the time, particularly their students, but often interacting with and supporting colleagues...
Focus: Autonomy/Control
In both their personal and professional lives, teachers need to be able to control what happens around them and to them...
Focus: Emotional intimacy
Teachers need to balance the amount of emotional energy they give their work, so they are able to function emotionally at home...
Focus: Community
Social interaction and being part of a community are basic emotional needs. In giving some of ourselves and helping others, we strengthen our sense of self...
Focus: Privacy
Defined as alone time to reflect and consolidate, privacy is an important part of our emotional needs that relies on space and time away from others...
Focus: Achievement
A sense of achievement and competence comes from feeling adequate and successful in our life and work...
Focus: Acknowledgement
This is concerned with our status, reputation and feeling valued in a community...
Focus: Growth
Having a sense of purpose gives us reason to struggle sometimes and to stretch ourselves (mentally or physically)...
Supporting colleagues with mental health issues
There are a whole range of mental health issues that teachers can face: anxiety, bereavement/grief, depression, low mood, panic, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and many more...
Supporting Sign-Posts
Making sure you and your team are aware of the support available is an essential part of any action plan...
Department meeting – improving well-being
Understanding the emotional needs of your department is a useful insight to what changes can be make that are bespoke to your department and your staff...
One-to-ones - Guidance
One-to-one meetings (121’s) are common in industry to check-in with employees wellbeing and progress at work...
