Is teaching an occupation or profession? Is it missional or is it professional? Is it exhausting or is it life giving? If we want to build a profession that our students deserve we have to think through what that looks like.
Today, Erik Ellefsen and Matt Thomas join host Jon Eckert and discuss their experiences in taking on too much at work and leading to burnout. They share what triggered them to shift their mindsets to turn their exhausting work into life giving work.
To learn more, pre-order Jon's book, Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student.
The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership. Each week, we'll talk to catalytic educators who are doing amazing work.
Be encouraged.
Timestamps:
[2:00] - Erik discusses how school leaders are burnt out.
[3:30] - Matt talks about becoming burnt out after taking on too much responsibility.
[5:00] - Collective leadership is essential to building a life giving profession.
[7:05] - When we wrap up our identity with our work it's hard to take a step back from our work.
[10:00] - It's not about the individual leader, it's about the work that is being done.
[14:15] - Feeling the need to prove yourself at work can lead to overworking yourself.
[17:15] - Ranting about and tearing down a team member is toxic and drags the whole team down.
[19:30] - Matt shares some of the joys he's seen at his job.
[23:00] - By sharing our brokenness we find a levity to it.
Books:
Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student by Jon Eckert
God Wants You to Be a Burden by Christine Gordon and Hope Blanton
Links:
Life giving vs Exhausting chart
Connect on Social Media:
Baylor MA in School Leadership
Jon Eckert: @eckertjon
Center for School Leadership at Baylor University: @baylorcsl