The Protective Power of Community

Teaching physical education can be a lonely gig.

It's hard to talk about loneliness. One of our most fundamental psychological drivers is communion: to feel that we belong and can contribute to a group. To admit to being lonely is to admit to not having a group that we feel we belong to.

And yet, loneliness has reached epidemic levels across the western world.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General's report on the topic, one in two American adults report experiencing loneliness. The impact of loneliness extends beyond the social domain, affecting our mental and physical health in negative ways.

As physical educators, especially ones who feel passionately about what they do, it's not uncommon for us to feel isolated.

This social and professional isolation becomes a risk factor that impacts our resilience and makes it harder for us to go about the important work we do in sustainable ways.

Think of teacher wellbeing as a vintage balance scale with two bowls. One of the bowls is assigned to risk factors and the other bowl is assigned to protective factors.

Teacher stress occurs when the items in the risk factors bowl outweigh those in the protective factors one, causing an imbalance. This stress is typically experienced as a collection of negative feelings, behaviours, and thoughts.
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​When risk factors outweight protective factors, individuals are less likely to be able to deal with adversity, which can lead to consequences that are both stressful and harmful.​
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Teacher stress has both short-term and long-term consequences. In the short term, teachers can experience health consequences, lowered job satisfaction, and a reduced ability to teach effectively. In the long term, this stress can lead to burnout, lowered academic achievement, and teacher shortages. These consequences can cause large-scale economic, societal, and institutional problems that become incredibly challenging to fix.
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​So how can we fill our protective factors bowl to cultivate resilience?

The reality is that it's complicated. Stress and well-being are ecological and multidimensional constructs. That said, one thing that I know for sure is that surrounding myself with passionate educators helps me experience a sense of community that makes me feel like I can take on the world!

It's not just me. Research shows us that teachers who are a part of supportive, vibrant, inclusive learning communities get to experience a wide-range of benefits that keep that protective factors bowl full. These benefits include:

🤝 A stronger sense of camaraderie and mutual support.

📈 The development of confidence-boosting professional skills.

❤️ A stronger sense of emotional and psychological support.

⚡️ A greater sense of collective efficacy (i.e. feeling that we can all impact student learning positively).

Attending the National PE Institute over the last couple of days, I savoured being around so many educators that I admire and have learned from over the years. Since I stepped away from Twitter/X, Asheville was the first time that I had been able to catch up with many of these amazing teachers. Again, my heart is full... and this strengthened sense of community has my confidence soaring as we head into another school year.

Being able to attend a conference is a privilege that not every teacher gets to have. Too many educators in our profession lack the support they need not only to grow as teaching professionals, but also to develop the sense of community that can help keep stress and burnout at bay.

Well, I've decided to do something about this.

🥳 You're awesome!

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