Wellbeing Wednesday

I would like to begin by clarifying that the title of this post is intended to be somewhat ironic. I have noticed the term 'Wellbeing Wednesday' used frequently in schools, and I must point out that this approach is flawed. Wellbeing should not be confined to a single day each week; for it to be truly effective, it must be integrated into daily routines on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday as well, and perhaps even more crucially, over the weekend!

Each Wednesday I am planning to publish a post themed on one of my own recommended wellbeing strategies. They will be strategies that you can use to support the children, to support staff, or to support yourself. They will be achievable, realistic and hopefully fun too!

The theme for this week is 'Pick a Team'.

I was considering calling it 'join a team' but I appreciate that many of us don't have the time or the inclination to physically do that. If you do then good luck to you and I am sure it will have a positive effect on you mentally. Also, what I want to write about is not the physical playing of a sport, but more the idea of picking a sports team and following/supporting them.

Teaching is a pretty insular and all consuming job, more of a way-of-life. Even when we are not actually at school we still think about the job, talk about the job and if you are anything like me, dream about the job. We define ourselves as 'teachers', don't we? Well, when we place too much emphasis on being part of one group (teaching) then dealing with challenges can be hard, so being welcomed into another group (sports fan) allows us to redefine ourselves in broader terms, which in turn can have a regenerative effect when the work side of life is particularly hard.

In simpler terms, watching your team, on person or on the TV, stops you thinking about school for a while. Mid week evening games are great, as switching off from work for a while on a Wednesday can reenergise you for the rest of the week, and a few hours at the weekend not thinking like a teacher can really give you a boost for a Monday.

Also, If you 'pick a team' that you are able to watch in person then the sense of belonging to this new group is even more powerful than being a distance fan, plus you get the chance to experience the regenerative powers of something called 'collective effervescence', a term which was first described by sociologist Émile Durkheim. This is the buzz of excitement you experience when watching live sport, or a concert from your favourite artist, and is a hugely refreshing experience.

I have always described being a teacher as being both the best job in the world and also the worst. On a good day you can reach 10/10 and a bad day can definitely be a 1 or worse! The ups and downs of following a sports team give you the chance to experience the same extreme highs and lows away from work, a phenomena which is known as 'social contagion'. Applying emotional intelligence to these 'socially contagious' feelings, something which teachers have in bucketloads, allows you put them into perspective. Like any skill, the more you practice the better you get, so by dealing with the ups and downs of a sports team you become better at dealing with the ups and downs of school life. You will still get the days that feel like 10s and 1s, but you will be able to put them into perspective and see that a really bad day is not the end of the world after all.

There is lots of data out there to back up the idea that following a team has wellbeing benefits. For example, a study in 2022 by the Charitable Social Enterprise 'Better', who operate over 240 Sports and Leisure facilities in the UK, produced some asked its customers about the mental health benefits they received from their fandom. As well as the physical benefits, over half said it helped maintain positive mental health, half of those surveyed said that it helps them socialise more and over a third described feeling part of a community.

In reflecting on the results, sports psychologist Dr Josephine Perry drew attention to the enjoyment gained from understanding the rules, history and idiosyncrasies of sports such as tennis and cycling, and from a personal perspective I can definitely add cricket to this list! The website 'Neurolaunch' also describes the cognitive benefits that can be gained from this aspect of fandom. It states that fans "exercise memory and analytical skills" and that "this intellectual stimulation can be both enjoyable and beneficial, providing a sense of mastery and competence."

So what kind of team should you follow?

I would suggest choosing one from your local area. This will mean that the chances of being able to see them in person are increased. Most decent sized towns have a football team, but why not be creative and look at other sports? How about rugby, or my personal favourite, cricket? Women's sport is on the rise at the moment too, so why not pick a local women's team to follow? I am lucky that I live close to the home ground of a first class cricket team and they are launching a women's team this year so I am going to try to go to some of their games and definitely follow them online.

If you already have a team then you might be thinking this post does not apply to you. I would hope though that it serves as a reminder of the importance of fandom and maybe encourages you to get a bit more in touch with that side of your personality. It is easy to slip away from your fandom due to the pressures of your job, and it can take some effort to rebalance yourself, but it is more than worth it. 

Although I have talked about 'picking a team' as a way of widening your viewpoint and improving perspective, it is important not to ignore the potential for it to help you with your day job. Firstly, there is no harm in doing something that improves your street-cred with the children, and also there are many many sporting stories that can be co-opted and used to illustrate points in PSHE sessions or assemblies if you are required to take them!

There is also the potential for some healthy staffroom competition, which can be great for team bonding. Most, if not all of us, have enjoyed Grand National Sweepstakes in the past, so why not ask everyone to pick a team from the same league to follow throughout a season and keep a leader board up, with prizes for the best performances? I have seen Olympics and World Cups used in a similar way to this too, with the children fully involved and to great effect.

So, if you don't have one already, go ahead and 'pick a team'. I would love to hear from you about your teams and the positive impact they have on your wellbeing.