Description
To live a balanced life, teachers need to balance giving and receiving. Of course, teachers are used to giving out, every single day, by supporting others and holding space. Then, it is important for them to feel able to receive and welcome the good, as well.
Receiving here means being able to receive anything that you need to feel nourished and balanced in your role as a teacher. It might mean quietness, hugs, support in any form, positive feedback, deep discussions with your supervisor, reading… the list goes on.
In the course, you will strengthen your ability to receive from other people and from your everyday life surroundings based on reciprocity principles. This will allow you to nurture and enrich relationships and social support among teachers and students in your school.
The course will explore what the ability to receive means, what reciprocity means, and why the ability to receive is the core of sustainable living. It will approach the topic through hands-on activities and exchanges, experience-based and research-based learning.
Participants will discover the importance of receiving and see how it improves social relations. They will find their answers to the questions: “What is my capacity to receive? And what are my needs?”. Hence, they will learn the key concepts of the ability to receive based on reciprocity principles and how it is the core of a sustainable teacher’s life.
Furthermore, participants will gain insights into how to introduce the reciprocity of giving among the pupils and students to see a lively change in the class and nurture a strong sense of social cohesion within the school community.
Participants will practice the skill to receive through bodily and creative practices that strengthen the connection among group members and can be immediately applied in their school environment.
By the end of the course, you will fully understand the ability to receive as a bodily experience rather than theoretical knowledge. You will be able to introduce its skills in everyday life as a teacher to create stronger social cohesion in your school environments and feel more connected to your pupils, colleagues, and family members.
Learning outcomes
The course will help the participants to:
- Familiarize with the key concepts of the ability to receive based on reciprocity principles;
- Strengthen the ability to receive good things from other people and from everyday life surroundings;
- Feel nourished and find the balance in the role of a teacher;
- Develop the capacity to live a sustainable teacher’s life;
- Gain insights and capacity to nurture a strong sense of social cohesion within the school community.
Tentative schedule
Day 1 – Course Introduction
- Introduction to the course, the school, and the external week activities;
- Icebreaker activities;
- Presentations of the participants’ schools.
Being able to be open to support, joy, and nourishment as a teacher
- What does it mean to be able to be open to support, joy, and nourishment as a teacher?
- Why is the ability to receive an important skill for teachers?
Day 2 – “I am worthy of good things”
- Pearls of good things surrounding me – a practice to appreciate already existing support;
- What are your character strengths and values for the ability to receive?
- Checklist on how sustainable is my role as a teacher from the point of view of reciprocity;
- Body awareness practices to strengthen the connections.
Day 3 – “Everybody needs support from others”
- What is compassion and can we trust other peoples’ goodwill?
- Familiarizing with our needs – what is it that I actually need?
- Meditation practices receiving support and love from people around oneself.
Day 4 – Opening our senses and connecting with things that bring us pleasure
- Understanding opportunities and threats on our way to be open to receive;
- Meditation’s practice to bring awareness to our own bodily experience and open our senses;
- Planning how to model reciprocity and strengthen our student’s ability to receive in classroom surroundings in order to create a more sustainable social life in the classroom.
Day 5 – Planning and presentations
- Presentations of each group plan for modeling how to strengthen the ability to receive and to create more connection inside the classroom in our own school.
Day 6 – Course closure and cultural activities
- Course evaluation: round-up of acquired competencies, feedback, and discussion;
- Awarding of the course Certificate of Attendance;
- Excursion and other external cultural activities.