1. Establish a correct self-concept
From the psychological point of view, the profession of teacher is the most "open" profession at present. His work is subject to direct or indirect inspection and supervision by many people ―― students, principals, teaching and research staff, parents of students, education bureau and even the whole society. All these people and social groups believe that they have the right to evaluate teachers' work. They all have different ideas about what teachers should do and what kind of people they should be. Just getting along with these people mentioned above may make teachers feel anxious, whether it is normal anxiety or neurotic anxiety. Moreover, the teacher also has a "steelyard" in his heart, and he is supervising his work anytime and anywhere, even more strict and demanding than others.
Therefore, teachers should establish a correct and stable self-concept. Self-concept is an individual's impression of himself, including his body, ability, personality, attitude and thought. It is an organized cognitive structure composed of a series of attitudes, beliefs and values. It connects personal habits, abilities, ideas, thoughts and emotional organizations and runs through all aspects of experience and behavior. Only by establishing a correct and stable self-concept can individuals correctly understand themselves, objectively evaluate themselves, reasonably demand themselves, happily understand and accept their own advantages and disadvantages, and not set unattainable goals for themselves. At the same time, because individuals know themselves better, they can objectively evaluate others, accept and understand their mistakes and shortcomings, and calmly face the injustice, dissatisfaction and imperfection in the world. This mentality is very conducive to maintaining mental health.
Self-concept is developed on the basis of accumulated experience. The formation of correct self-concept is inseparable from the accumulation of knowledge, and previous research results also show that teachers' mental health level is positively related to their education level. Therefore, teachers should study more, accept new knowledge and strengthen their self-cultivation.
Teachers can also insist on collecting information about his teaching effect and students' learning situation. These materials can not only help teachers improve their teaching level, but also let them know more clearly whether they have achieved their predetermined goals. The deeper a teacher knows about the advantages and disadvantages of his own teaching methods, the deeper he knows about whether students accept these methods, the more objective he knows about himself, the firmer his self-concept, the more comprehensive his evaluation work and the more confident he is in himself.
2. Correctly understand and treat failure.
The self-maintenance ability of mental health includes many things, such as the ability to adjust the role, the ability to get satisfaction and fun from the profession, and the ability to avoid neurotic anxiety. Teachers' concept of failure is the core factor of mental health self-maintenance.
It is precisely because teachers are psychologically "open" professions that the probability of failure and fault is particularly high. No one is perfect, everyone will make mistakes, and everyone will experience failure. The key is to see how to recognize and treat your own failure. If we can learn from failure and sum up experience, failure is the mother of success. But also can reduce the sources of stress and anxiety, which is more conducive to their own mental health. For example, an old teacher who is full of confidence in his teaching ability will be very calm about the different opinions put forward by students' parents and others in society on the course. When talking about courses with people outside the education sector, he has a balanced mind and a firm tone, because he knows that he is a capable teacher and he knows what he is talking about. He clearly knows that he has more direct contact with the problem, so he has a more objective grasp of the whole educational form. The sense of security he has built up from practical work will not be affected. Because students are friendly to him without losing respect, because he helps poor students and really improves their grades, because he objectively knows that teaching failure is inevitable. In fact, it is precisely because he can accept these failures and sum up experience from them that he has such great psychological energy to face them bravely.
3. Think from another angle
Objectively speaking, a teacher can't meet all the requirements of others and himself. And many expectations, including teachers' own expectations of themselves, are extreme. For example, a math teacher may hope that every student can fully master the mathematical theory taught in a class, and he also knows that there are many factors beyond his control that make this hope impossible. However, in the whole year of mathematics teaching, he has this hope, and his behavior also shows that it seems that this goal can be achieved. However, he may adjust his expectations according to the actual situation. He no longer fantasizes that Zhang San and Li Si can learn as well, after all, their mathematical abstraction ability is very different. Moreover, several students in the class seem to have no desire to learn math at all. Of course, he still cares about these students, gives them some pressure, and lets them know that he wants them to study hard, and he will try his best to help them if necessary.
Then, the result of the final exam is that 60% of the students in the class have mastered mathematical theory well, more than 20% can be regarded as barely passing, and some don't understand at all. Did he fail? It depends on his subjective view of "failure". There are two possibilities: he may be hard on himself and feel that he is still far from his goal; He may be satisfied with himself: I did well under objective conditions.
If you adopt the former idea, you will feel depressed and experience negative emotions such as anxiety and uneasiness, while if you adopt the latter idea, you can continue to work with peace of mind. What I want to say here is that teachers should correctly understand and evaluate the so-called "failure" in life. Many times, this kind of failure is actually just a subjective setback experienced by teachers, which is not necessarily objective.
Teachers can sometimes change their thinking, think about problems from another angle, or be a Q at the right time. For example, many teachers may have been punished by the school for the bad behavior of a student in the class. In fact, teachers don't have to be too guilty. As Zhang Chunxing, an educational psychologist, said, the causes of some students' problems are rooted in the family, the symptoms appear in the school, and the condition deteriorates in the society. It's not just a simple problem of improper education, there are many reasons. Teachers can have a clear conscience as long as they do their duty.
(2) Regulating emotions
1. Emotional control
Emotional control refers to the positive influence of individuals on their own emotional state. The main point here is that teachers should control their negative emotions in front of students, and don't bring frustration into the classroom, let alone vent it on students. Teachers feel wronged at work, so it is easy to take it out on the students sitting in their own classrooms, because students are often one of the "culprits" who make them feel wronged. It may be effective to properly stimulate the self-esteem of naughty students to correct their problem behaviors. However, it is difficult for teachers to grasp this criterion when they are emotional, which may often hurt students and destroy their image in their hearts. If the teacher is upset because of setbacks and scolds the students for it, the students can also feel it. They not only don't want to respect their teachers, but also listen to their words, and may even retaliate against them.
The method of emotional control can be started from two aspects: analyze the causes of bad emotions from the cognitive point of view to see if their reactions are reasonable and appropriate; Control the possible impulsive behavior from the emotion itself, and conduct appropriate counseling by reasonable or indirect means. For example, remind yourself not to criticize students when you are emotional. Wait until you can calmly deal with the problem before criticizing the students to prevent excessive words and deeds. In this respect, if properly adjusted, negative emotions can be transformed into positive and constructive actions, which is what psychoanalysis calls sublimation.
2. Reasonable exhaust
If you accumulate too many bad emotions and can't get proper catharsis, it is easy to cause mental and physical tension. This kind of tension lasts too long or its intensity is too large, which may also lead to psychosomatic diseases. Therefore, teachers should also choose the right time and reasonable way to vent their emotions. Emotional catharsis can start from "body" and "mind". In the aspect of "mind", such as crying or laughing loudly under appropriate circumstances, pouring out one's heart to close and trusted friends or relatives, and writing letters or diaries to oneself. "Body" such as strenuous physical labor, singing, shopping, buying things you like and so on. You can also travel and cultivate your own sentiment from nature.
Seek satisfaction from other places
If teachers feel that they can't get psychological sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in school, they can try to seek a sense of accomplishment outside the classroom. This is a good way to cultivate creative hobbies, such as collecting stamps and writing. Individuals can experience satisfaction with the deepening of these hobbies.
In addition, teachers should strive to build a happy and harmonious family. A happy family and a happy marriage can promote the formation and development of individual healthy personality, encourage and help individuals when they encounter difficulties, and relieve psychological pressure. This is especially important for primary and secondary school teachers. Teachers who are troubled and stressed at work can feel the warmth of their families when they get home, and the satisfaction they should have experienced at work can also be compensated at home. Without the understanding and support of spouses and families, it is difficult for teachers to get emotional relief and psychological comfort outside work, so they are prone to negative emotions such as loneliness and depression, which is not conducive to mental health.
(3) Changing behavior
1. Role learning
Role learning is one of the ways to prevent anxiety. When a variety of roles conflict and teachers can't tell who they are, anxiety is easy to occur. In fact, the main problem for teachers to adapt to the profession is to learn to play an appropriate role. In the first few years of new teachers' work, they spend almost all their time studying the new role of teachers. When teachers begin to feel that these roles they play are effective and appropriate, many problems will be solved and the degree of anxiety will be reduced. Because at this time, even in the face of all kinds of situations that have to be faced in teaching work, teachers know what to do, how to ask themselves and how to ask students. Most of the anxiety of new teachers is because they can't predict what will happen, let alone know how to deal with it. Through professional role learning, these uncertain factors and the unpredictability of teaching situation can be alleviated or eliminated. In this way, role learning will help teachers to eliminate or reduce the anxiety that may occur in teaching.
Of course, role-based learning also has its disadvantages: some teachers are too attached to the role they are playing now, that is, the teaching methods, textbooks and routine procedures they are using now, and are unwilling to try new methods and accept new ideas. In fact, they are afraid that if they give up the methods that have been proved to be effective (although these methods may be inefficient), they will experience the anxiety they have experienced again. If school leaders enforce new teaching methods, teachers are likely to have negative emotions such as anxiety, irritability, helplessness and even resentment.
2. Individual or group discussion
Discussing with many other teachers is an effective way to find solutions to problems and a good way to reduce stress and troubles. People and even teachers themselves often have the wrong idea that an excellent teacher should be omnipotent. Therefore, many teachers are willing to suppress their emotions and continue to work under strong psychological pressure when they encounter difficulties, instead of discussing problems with others or asking for help. They are afraid (sometimes this fear is not unreasonable) to admit that their teaching is difficult and their teaching needs to be improved, which is equivalent to admitting that their ability is not enough or their teaching has failed.
In fact, everyone will have difficulties in their work, and no one is proficient in everything and omnipotent. Talking with colleagues is not only a good way to solve problems and increase work experience, but also an important way to get the support you need.
Stick to exercise
The close relationship between physical health and mental health has been discussed before. Physical health can promote mental health. Therefore, it is also a good way to keep mental health by insisting on physical exercise, strengthening physical fitness and preventing physical diseases. However, teachers should pay attention to the problem of quantity in physical exercise, so as to avoid backfiring and affecting normal work and study because of fatigue.
Seek professional help
Seeking professional help here mainly means that teachers should seek psychological counseling or psychotherapy when they have psychological disorders or mental illness.
Psychotherapy can improve teachers' understanding and make them cooperate with students and colleagues better. Jersild (1962) and others investigated 1 1 teachers who had received psychotherapy in primary schools, middle schools and universities to study the influence of psychotherapy on teachers' work and life. The results show that 95% teachers think that psychotherapy can make them better understand students; 89% teachers think that psychotherapy makes them have greater psychological endurance to accept hostile, angry and rebellious students and can better educate them; 73% teachers think that psychotherapy has improved their ability to approach timid and inaccessible students. The teachers surveyed also said that psychotherapy made them like their colleagues and partners better and their jobs better.
Many themes in Jacide's research have a view that the primary goal of education should be to help children and adolescents develop their self-awareness ability. Of course, teachers who have a deeper understanding of their emotions and behaviors are also more sensitive to the relationship with students. Teachers who are aware of their hostility, guilt and anxiety can understand the significance of these conflicts in students' lives and give them better help and guidance. 89% of the teachers in Jacide's research pointed out that psychotherapy enables them to better judge what to do and what not to do when helping students deal with personal problems.
Not only teachers, but people from all walks of life gradually realize that psychotherapy, whether short-term or continuous, can help them work happier and more effectively. When psychotherapy was mentioned before, people would think of mental illness. But now, people are more and more aware that teachers who turn to psychotherapy are honest, brave and willing to make progress and development. It is meaningless for a teacher who is troubled by psychological problems to insist on inefficient work. The result is likely to be that the teacher projects his negative emotions on the students he teaches, which has a negative impact on the students' psychology.