The Perfect Formula For Teacher Happiness
Photo: TeacherPop
I’ve long nursed a love-hate obsession with Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek and The 4-Hour Body. A self-proclaimed guru in “lifestyle design,” Ferriss writes on his blog about everything from staying in shape to making gobs (and gobs and gobs) of money to aerating wine with a blender. In his quest to generate the perfect lifestyle design, he made an important discovery. Restated as a formula, it looks something like this:
LEARNING + SERVICE = HAPPINESS
Ferriss doesn’t mention teaching in his post, but it’s the first profession that came to my mind as I read.
If that’s true, then why are so many teacher so unhappy?
Learning is embedded within our job description – whether it’s honing management skills, expanding content knowledge, or learning to navigate the nuances of each child, we are in a state of perpetual study. Service is an equally potent facet of our role. From the incalculable hours and dollars we spend outside of what’s stated in our contracts to grueling emotional fatigue, most of us are giving well beyond ourselves on a daily, if not hourly, basis. Learning is the foundational pillar within a teacher’s soul and service is the pumping force that drives a teacher to have more than an 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. influence on kids.
But is something missing?
Last year, I met a first grade teacher who raised her students’ reading scores from pre-literate to grade level, but was truly miserable every step of the way. I also collaborated with a brilliant 9th grade teacher who pushed my thinking in a number of ways, but by his own admission is “long gone” and will never take another step inside his classroom.
These examples aren’t meant to trivialize the many happy teachers I know, but they speak to certain reality many of us are facing every day. Despite Ferriss’s seemingly logical “formula” for happiness and its reasonable application to what we do, we cannot ignore the fact that many of our fellow teachers struggle to maintain the passion, energy and enthusiasm they need to.
I’m not an expert here, so I’m turning to you: What is Ferriss missing? What can we add to his formula to ensure our own happiness?
Hmm..that’s definitely an interesting question and I imagine the answer may be a little different for everyone. For me, one of the missing pieces would be autonomy. In my first and second year I had a really incredible amount of autonomy and loved constantly learning and tinkering away to improve my teaching. In my third year my school district adopted a very scripted approach to teaching that significantly stripped away our latitude to make decisions. For me, feeling like I no longer had control to be constantly innovating and adapting to my students’ needs made me far less happy in my job. Interested to hear what others would add!
I so agree with you Hillary. So much of a teacher’s professional life can feel outside of their locus of control (that perception is not always accurate), and it takes real confidence and leadership to assert your needs and own your practice in many school settings. I also wonder if isolation plays a bog role in this, and whether the social aspects of learning and service are what might fuel people in other professions.
Check out this animated video from Dan Pink (author of Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us).
He argues that research shows when work involves creativity and critical thinking (read: teaching!) the real drivers of intrinsic motivation are Autonomy (ability to influence decisions and self-direct one’s work), Mastery (conditions for learning and getting better), and Purpose (which I think connects to Ferriss’ service dimension but is likely broader). Valerie and Hilary’s comments are on to something …
This post definitely gave me a lot to think about. As a math teacher I loved the fact that it was reduced down into a formula, but as a whole person I can’t help but think something was missing. I struggled to maintain my joy factor and personal happiness over the course of my first year in the classroom. I think I failed to strike a balance between urgency and understanding what I needed to be the best person and teacher I can be. Turns out that unlike college all-nighters this profession truly is a marathon and not a sprint.
Hey Ben,
I wonder if the recipe to happiness needs to include the management of our “learning curve” so the formula is:
learning + managing our personal learning curves (intellectual and emotional) + service = happiness
When I know my own gaps and how to tackle them, I find myself in a better state of mind to take on what I might have thought was impossible.
I love this post and the thoughtful questions it poses. In my first year of teaching last year, I learned how important it was to take time for myself, and the things I enjoyed, amidst the constant demands of teaching. Thankfully, I had 5 awesome roommates to help keep my work-life balance in check. So, my revised formula would be:
Learning + service + taking time for yourself = happiness.
It’s so easy to burn out in a profession where there’s always more to do: grading, planning for tomorrow, planning the next unit, writing an assessment, calling parents, tutoring after school, etc. The ‘to do’ lists are endless, and if we let them consume us, they will. But, I think that’s where ‘happiness’ walks out the door. Consciously taking time to put my work down and doing things that I enjoyed – exercising, watching favorite TV shows, sonic runs, trivia night – were critical to staying sane (and happy) last year.
My M,TLD always says, “A happy teacher is a good teacher.” Make a list of things that make you happy, and cut out time in your busy week to make sure they happen!
I agree with isolation and managing learning curves as playing a large factor. In my small district, although we were very collaborative in practice, I still felt that I was alone in trying to address the aspects of my own teaching that I wanted to improve, and didn’t see the opportunities for the growth I needed in that environment because everyone else was focused on areas of growth that didn’t seem very relevant to me. I tried to support a lot of my colleagues around their challenges, but felt no one was willing or able to support my needs. So my formula would be happiness = learning + service + alignment (between personal and community goals).
So many good thoughts here! I do think that Ferriss’ formula is on to something… I’d say because *most* teachers find happiness and satisfaction on the job, this is part of the reason why teacher salary has not increased to a competitive level.
At the same time, I do agree with all the commenters that there needs to be a third piece, and that third piece is much more about your personal life. Time for yourself, personal goals, autonomy… ALL of those are definitely key factors to surviving this profession!
Thanks so much for this post, Ben! I’m in total agreement with all of the other commenters here- autonomy is huge, taking time for yourself is essential, feeling aligned and connected to the school/community is something I really struggled with in my time as a teacher. All of these are great additions to the formula.
There are two other pieces that feel important to me that weren’t mentioned. One is inspiration. I think inspiration and learning are very closely tied, but inspiration propels learning and gives that learning a deeper meaning. I remember so many moments when I saw what my mentor teacher was doing in her classroom and it gave me a whole new sense of possibility and urgency about what I could do in mine.
I think another piece is self-awareness. As a teacher, and often (too much!) in my current life I didn’t take enough time to think about whether I’m happy or what would make me happier. It’s so easy to get caught up in the day to day. So, taking the time to consider your joy factor and how to get in touch with the things that make you happy about your work and think about ways to be happier- obvious but key!