for Trent Teacher Candidates
Rationale
There is new legislation in Ontario compelling teachers to lead programs relating to, and teach students about, mental health and well-being. This program is designed to help our Teacher Candidates be able to meet that new expectation of teachers and, more importantly, be able to help support their well-being while at the Trent School of Education and throughout their career.
We know from research that Teacher Candidates significantly benefit from well-being programs when they are interwoven into their teacher education program. Their time with us is a wonderful time but can also be a stressful time. We want to mitigate burnout while at Trent and well into the future.
Program Components
Our program is founded on holistic aspects of well-being, including mental and physical health, ecological well-being as connected with human well-being, and Indigenous approaches to well-being. This is not a "fitness" program, rather we want to support you in feeling good!
The program includes faculty-led workshops on topics like time and tech management, yoga, connecting with nature, Indigenous approaches to well-being, crafternoons, nutrition and sustainability, and much more. The Education Student Association also runs workshops as part of the well-being program to promote deeper connections between students and peer-to-peer support. We know that a sense of belonging is also key to well-being.
In addition to workshops, there are also asynchronous daily, weekly, and monthly challenges (all on the Blackboard site). These include links to free yoga, meditation/mindfulness, and other practices. These practices are not meant to be stress-inducing! We encourage our Teacher Candidates to spend 5-10 minutes a day on consistent well-being exercises. The ultimate goal here is habit stacking; slowly integrating small amounts of self-care and community care into your life so that you can enjoy stress reduction, greater resilience, and better results in your classes, practica, and ultimate career longevity and satisfaction.
You invest so much in becoming a teacher. We want you to enjoy career longevity and flourishing. Without care on well-being, teachers burn out or take stress and sick leaves, leading to career interruption and lessening their impact on students. We hope this program helps build wellness into your personal and professional practices so that you can grow and thrive while at the School of Education and wherever your career takes you.