The Body Shape of Teachers

First up, this is not an article about body weight and food, ‘shoulds’ and ‘should nots’, what and what not to eat; how to exercise.

It is about the shape of teachers bodies, and I recall when I began teaching, observing a substantial percentage of teachers who felt ‘misshapen’.

It was about noticing raised shoulders that were closer to the ears than was a natural posture. Or bent forward locked in a 45-degree stance walking around the school. Shoulders hunched over. Often a neck appeared swollen and bloated ~ thyroid issues can be common amongst those working in the industry.

Another way to describe teacher body shape is a sense of rigidness; it is as if the bodies are locked in a shape, probably through stress, rush and tension, and a natural flow and ease of the limbs feels missing.

I’ve noticed how teachers, who have worked for some years at one school, comment on school photos from years ago when they began. They usually lament how fresh they used to look, followed by a throwaway line along the lines that ‘life’ and age changes the body. I even overheard a child of one teacher when looking at a photo of their Mum when she began teaching, saying, ‘Mum, you had a neck.’

All these observations feel like a red flag ... that something deeper in the system itself is generating this misshapen form.

And little wonder really, when there is a tangible pressure of a load from a system that presses down on teachers including expectations around results and outcomes in a growing global climate where student behaviour can make these aspirations untenable.

There is a physical fitness required for teaching. However, beyond physical fitness and energy required for teaching there is also the ‘fitness’ and energy needed for these unseen aspects of teaching.

This systemic pressure can feel foreboding, and results in impactful and harmful effects on the body.

The impact on the body from these pressures is greater than the physical aspects of teaching. Often a teacher can feel fatigued by these pressures and the energy left for exercise or attendance to wellbeing such as diet and sleep are greatly eroded.

As a result school policy offer educators access to fitness opportunities, recognising the need to tend to this aspect of overall wellbeing including psychological support. Schools offering opportunities through wellbeing programs are common, if not mandated.

However, these wellbeing offerings deflect from the systemic pressures behind the stress and pressure. It infers it is the teacher's responsibility to fix the issue.

Taking a step back to ask the question about what is going on in the education industry, proffers deeper insights into what is going on for teachers working in this system.

This is not an article to fix the education system and health and wellbeing of teachers. What this article is offering, is an opportunity for teachers to acknowledge the impact of their work environments on their bodies and overall sense of wellbeing and health, and taking a step towards responding and supporting themselves within it.

Recognising the prevalence of the pressures is not a new thing. Teachers recognise the pressures; they are obvious, and unions historically support in these areas. But taking a stop moment, to pause and understand if there is a way to arrest the momentum of go to behaviours which can be observed in resulting body shape changes, is key.

I have been in the industry for many years, and in spite of this and an age that moves closer to what is deemed retirement age, the body shape has not changed. Why is that? People may comment about my diet or living habits; yes, they have an impact.

But the greatest reason my body shape has not altered, is because I have observed the impact the systemic pressure can have on my body:

• a sense of flight or fright

• tensing of muscles

• butterflies in the stomach

• leaning over at my desk

• locked in at my computer and not releasing locked up muscles until the job is done

• the insistent and perpetual rush

I clocked what it was doing to me, and I strongly felt that I did not want my capacity to teach or my overall quality of life to be eroded. Without perfection, I began developing ways to reduce being impacted.

It wasn't rocket science, or some 'go-to' strategy I had read somewhere. I was simply noticing when I was tensing up, and literally began pausing.

I began letting go of the tensed up posture or angle, or standing up then sitting back down. It shifted something and I noticed when I went back to what I was doing after the micro pause, I felt less weighted down and the task felt easier to do. Or if something wasn't flowing, I started something else which felt easier to get done, then went back to the other task and it somehow wasn't as complicated.

Through these simple gestures, I have reduced the default to react, rush, and be fuelled by anxiety and adrenaline. I am more able to observe the systemic pressures rather than react to them.

Being less impacted by the pressures of the system and stresses of the role, impacts how I walk around the school. I receive comments about the quality of how I move and walk. Walking from classroom to classroom without a bombardment of thoughts, not only impacts my posture, but opens up space to notice others and smile and say 'hi' to students and colleagues as I get about.

We can run a narrative there is no time to pause to check in.

But noticing a posture or rushed sensation in the body actually takes up no time; it is simply a point of connection and correction; a tangible tool we have at our fingertips to support us within a complex industry and its demands.

The stop and pause moment offers the space to clock how we next move and the quality in how that movement is made.

Bringing it back to the simplicity of how we move, moves mountains and a way to be ‘unmoved’ by an industry that most of us love to be and work in.