Wellbeing Llwydda/Thrive Visit to Finland

IntroTeach has been working with headteachers from Cardiff, Powys, Bridgend, Carmarthenshire, Swansea and Pembrokeshire that attended IntroTeach wellbeing course. As part of this course there was a trip to Finland, to find out more read on.

How do you promote the wellbeing of a group of headteachers and some colleagues from the education sector?  Answer – take them to Finland in December for a week.  What is it promotes their wellbeing?  This blog is one view.

Firstly, they formed trust relationships with people who share the joys, frustrations and challenges of one of the most demanding, important and worthwhile jobs in our society.  They have other relationships of trust with friends/spouse/family, but these people, however loving and supportive, can’t fully understand what it is like to have the responsibility of leading a school.  So on this trip, there is empathy, not just sympathy. The danger here is that, whilst sharing difficulties can be cathartic, there needs to be some input to give professional relationships a direction and positive way forward, so……..

Secondly, they experience first-hand what life is like for fellow headteachers from a different country and culture; one which is highly regarded on the international stage.  They discover significant differences in approach to education.  They see an education system where trust is a dominant value that is consistent throughout the whole system.  They see how this affects the wellbeing of headteachers and their staff.  They question headteachers about where the stresses and strains arise.  They see the strengths in how headteacher wellbeing is promoted.  They also see where potential weaknesses lie.

Thirdly, although they primarily consider the issue of wellbeing, they can’t help but learn from the education system.  They see three-year-olds taking responsibility for dressing themselves for the outdoors, where they spend the next hour exploring and playing in the snow.  They see child-led education worked through into the teenage years.  They see a system holding its nerve and keeping education test-free well into high school.  They see the results of this in the learning of the pupils and debate together the pros and cons of this approach.

Finally, and most importantly for their immediate wellbeing, they have fun.  They eat in restaurants with food on the menu that they have never eaten before.  They do this whilst wearing a Viking helmet – something they have also never done before.  They sing Calon Lan to educate the locals in how we sing in Wales, having been treated to passionate singing in Finnish.  They walk on a frozen lake.  They go one step further (not literally) and step down a ladder into a frozen lake before scooting back to the sauna.  They laugh (a lot). 

And after all this, what do they take back to Wales with them.  A new way of looking at a no-blame culture?  A new design for the staffroom that will promote the wellbeing of themselves and the staff?  A renewed conviction that what they do in their school is vital?  A new approach to the curriculum?  The realisation that how they promote learning in their school is very good?  A new set of friends?  You need to ask them to find out, but one thing they would all say, this was a week where their wellbeing took centre stage.