What do teachers do with their summers? PLEASE let them re-center and rest!
Sigh. It is that time of year when teachers deal with this question. Yes, many teachers do officially receive 40ish days of paid summer vacation. But, are you aware that many districts REQUIRE that teachers attend professional development during the summer? Would teachers opt to sign with a different school if they explained that requirement during the hiring process? Perhaps. What if their administrator instead encouraged them to re-center or meditate to bring back their truest teacher self in August?
I decided not to publically out districts that require 5 or more days of unpaid professional development during the summer. Our teachers are TIRED this year. They love their students. They worry about them over the summer. But, they need this summer to decompress and reconnect to their truest self. Allow them the time to re-center themselves.
So, what could teachers do to begin the re-centering process? Try a centering prayer/meditation. “Centering Prayer was developed as a response to the Vatican II invitation to revive the contemplative teachings of early Christianity and present them in updated formats. In this way, the method of Centering Prayer is drawn from the ancient practices of the Christian contemplative heritage, notably the traditional monastic practice of Lectio Divina and the practices described in the anonymous fourteenth-century classic The Cloud of Unknowing and in the writings of Christian mystics such as John Cassian, Francis de Sales, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Therese of Lisieux, and Thomas Merton. Most importantly, Centering Prayer is based on the wisdom saying of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount:
“…when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you.”
Matthew 6.6
Research on meditation from NIH shows clear benefits for mental and physical health. Research during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that “Introducing a mindfulness and meditation practice during this pandemic has the potential to complement treatment and is a low-cost beneficial method of providing support with anxiety for all.” Meditation does not require a religious component. Herbert Benson at Harvard University has found that repetition is powerful and produces The Relaxation Response. “What’s interesting about these studies is that they’ve found it doesn’t matter what you repeat, whether it is Hail Mary’s, Sanskrit mantras, or your mother’s maiden name.”
Allow our teachers the time this summer to re-center and rest so that they can return to their truest teacher state. We need our teachers.
Suzanne M. Rogers, M.Ed.
