Managing the Masking Issue
Of all the many complex and politicized decisions of the pandemic, to wear a mask or to not wear a mask has perhaps been the toughest. As the mask mandates shift, schools will face another relational challenge. One administrator we work with says, “Teachers and school leaders with strong relational skills will be able to navigate this tricky territory. Those without relational skills will struggle to find their way. This will be yet another stressful time.”
TeachWell is not in a position to advocate for any particular perspective on the masking question, but we can offer educators the following frameworks to discern a responsive and sustainable policy.
The Social-Emotional Learning competency of Social Awareness gives guidance for skillful behavior.
Empathy enables perspective-taking.
The mindfulness practice of Pause, Relax, Open fosters self-regulation and leads to wise, responsive action.
“Above the Line” thinking offers a compass for recognizing our own behavior as well as that of others.
Alignment is a strategy for coming to community agreements while considering multiple perspectives.
And finally, the VUCA framework provides parameters for communicating school policies.
TeachWell believes that a community of wellness is one that facilitates equity, empathy, and belonging. When we consciously lean into these deeply relational, complex issues, we are embracing and modeling fundamental SEL skills for our children and creating school communities that foster an overall healthy climate and cultures of wellbeing.
This month we offer a brief segment on each of these components to help you navigate this latest social dynamic of the masking question. Email us to share your story: How can you apply each of these strategies or frameworks in your work setting?
Practice Social Awareness
Social Awareness is the ability to take the perspective of and empathize with the perspective of others from diverse backgrounds and cultures to understand social and ethical norms for behavior and to recognize family, school, and community resources for support. (Core Districts, 2016) Schools are in a great position to demonstrate strong community leadership by showing empathy, restraint, and perspective-taking at this moment. Schools have the potential to be places where multiple perspectives are understood and common ground is found, even with masking policies.
Stay Above-the-Line
The Conscious Leadership Group (CLG) has a useful tool for relational engagement that TeachWell uses with school leaders, especially when navigating moments of tension. This relational compass allows one to observe behaviors (of self and others) and navigate to stay “above the line.” Focus your engagements on these attributes: creativity, curiosity, empathy, play, abundance, accountability, and compromise. Leverage your emotional intelligence and be responsive rather than reactive in your engagements. Rather than judging the actions of others, you can observe them (or label them) as below-the-line. For your own actions, remain above the line, by letting go of being right and practicing mindfulness. Below you will find guidance for a simple, yet profound, exercise of Pause, Relax, Open to maintain a solution-oriented, responsive mindset.
Engage Empathy
Nursing scholar Theresa Wiseman identified four elements of empathy:
Perspective Taking
Staying Out of Judgment
Seeing Another’s World/Walking in Their Shoes
Communicating Care
Perspective-taking requires a strong sense of self, and a willingness to hear the experiences of another person. You do not need to dismiss your own values. You can suspend judgment and hear another’s perspective with compassion. The TeachWell community norm, “let go of stories that make it hard to hear each other” sums it up. You have to be willing to listen to understand. You can care for another person’s experience while still holding to the values guiding your community.
Mindfulness and Pause, Relax, Open
Move through charged personal or political scenarios with a simple, but profound practice: pause, relax, open. Pause and check-in with yourself when you recognize a trigger. Observe your physical or emotional responses. Where does this trigger show up in my body? How does this trigger affect my thoughts? What emotions am I feeling?
Relax and allow tension in the body to release. If you cannot change your thoughts, you can be mindful of them and stay above-the-line. Once you are more relaxed and accepting–rather than resisting the trigger– practice above-the-line thinking. Open and be curious about another person’s perspective. Be creative and brainstorm alternative solutions. Move through Pause, Relax, Open and keep yourself above-the-line. Notice if the situation softens.
Pause
Where is this trigger showing up in my body?
What thoughts are benign triggered?
Relax
Take three intentional breaths. Invite muscles and tension to release.
Open
Sit up straight and open across your chest.
What am I hearing from this other person?
Am I stuck on being right?
What else could be true?
What solutions might be possible?
VUCA
Conscious practices bring clarity of mind in the midst of difficult, relational decisions. Having clarity in decision-making is a fundamental step in navigating a charged decision and communicating new school policies. Where there is Volatility, responsive leaders create Vision, where there is Uncertainty, responsive leaders create Understanding. Where there is Complexity, Clarity. Where there is Ambiguity, Agility.
Strive for Alignment
Distinguish between “Alignment” and “Agreement.” Agreement is a condition that occurs when each person’s individual criteria and preferences are met. Alignment is the ability of an individual and a group to commit 100% to a direction or decision in the face of diverse views. Alignment requires expression and consideration of different viewpoints and the willingness to give up one’s personal point of view in order to support the greater good with words and actions. Alignment can be reached at varying degrees. The understanding intrinsic in alignment is that there are opposing viewpoints. With optimal alignment all stakeholders can take ownership in a decision, they can champion it, feel heard, and it is understood that there has been some level of compromise to support the greater good decision.
In this latest milestone of the Pandemic, optimize the social-emotional skills of adults on campus with mindfulness practices that enable educators to remain above-the-line. Strive for alignment while using the VUCA framework to allow multiple perspectives to be considered in order to create responsive and clear policies. Integrate these strategies and resource staff with the language to communicate the “why” and the “what” of your masking policy. Clarify the school values that support the mask decision and the specific expectations around obligatory mask use or optional mask use. Equipped with this language, school staff can share the social and ethical norms that inform the masking policy.