VOA慢速英语2017--教师受益新课程

 

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

Teaching can be one of the most satisfying jobs in the United States. Yet many American teachers say they feel overworked, undervalued, and underpaid.

This has led to what education experts call ‘teacher burnout,’ a feeling of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion¹.

In all, nearly 50 percent of American teachers leave the profession before their fifth year. That information comes from a 2010 study by the advisory² service McKinsey & Company.

And, a 2016 study from Penn State University found that 46 percent of teachers report high daily stress. Teachers say the stress affects their sleep, health, teaching performance, and quality of life.

The study identified mindfulness training as one promising³ solution for improving teacher well-being⁴.

A path toward calm

The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California – Berkeley studies the science and practice of well-being. It defines mindfulness as keeping “a moment-by-moment awareness⁵ of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment.”

A person can reach this emotional state by spending time in quiet thought, without judging these thoughts and feelings. A number of people also meditate⁶ – they take slow, deep breaths to become calm.

Many organizations around the country have designed mindfulness training programs for schools. Some of them are designed for teachers. The programs seek to reduce teacher stress while helping⁷ them be more effective in the classroom.

Two examples are the New York-based CARE for Teachers program and a program by Mindful Schools, a non-profit organization based in California. Both programs give trainings on-site at schools as well.

CARE

About 100 kilometers north of New York City, the Garrison⁸ Institute offers the CARE for Teachers program. CARE is short for the term Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education.

In the CARE program, teachers are shown how to recognize and regulate emotions in themselves and others: how to be ’reflective instead of being ‘reactive.’ They also learn mindful techniques for resolving difficult situations at work.

Maureen Naughton is a seventh grade science teacher at a public middle school in the Bronx section of New York City.

As a highly active teacher, Naughton would sometimes forget to take time to herself. She told VOA that CARE taught her methods such as mindful walking and mindful eating – ways of enjoying those activities fully⁹ instead of being distracted by worries or responsibilities.

“I know myself, as a teacher, even on my lunch, I’m eating standing¹⁰ up or I’m eating running down the hall to do something. They [CARE] taught us how to take 15 minutes to enjoy your lunch and enjoy every part of it.”

Naughton also says the deep breathing methods she learned help her to maintain calm when faced with the stress of trying to “meet everyone’s needs.” And, even before she closes her classroom door and starts a lesson, she’ll practice breathing – often with her students.

Mindful Schools

Adrienne Lopez teaches eighth grade English at Valley View Middle School in Concord¹¹, California.

Like Naughton, Lopez told VOA that being aware of and regulating one’s breathing is vital.

“Just having a practice of noticing my breath is huge, so a lot of times if I’m being -- feeling overwhelmed -- or there’s a lot of demands being made at me at one time, just being able to train my nervous system, like ‘oh, you’re not fully breathing. You need to be taking deep breaths’.”

A few years ago, Lopez took the Mindful Schools certification program. The concepts in the program are not new to her – she’s been practicing meditation¹² for 16 years. However, the certificate enables her to practice these methods with her students.

She says that middle school students are “highly active creatures, very social creatures,” which can be challenging at times.

Jose Rodriguez, too, understands the challenges of teaching this age group. Rodriguez teaches middle school students in the Spanish-English dual-language program at the Ambassador School of Global Education in Los Angeles.

Rodriguez’ students can get frustrated¹³ with using laptops for their lessons. Sometimes, they all ask him for help at once, and say things like, “I can’t do this!”

When this happens, he uses the strategy learned from his training with Mindful Schools. He stops what they are doing until they can remain calm. This, he explains, helps everyone, including himself.

“And when we wait, we’re able to deal with whatever is happening in that moment. And, so that’s one of the strategies that I learned.”

Like many teachers, Rodriguez also experiences time urgency -- an anxious feeling that there is never enough time to complete duties.

To combat time urgency, he uses a three-minute guided breathing exercise that he plays from YouTube – another technique learned in from Mindful Schools.

While all of the teachers are strong believers in the mindful practices, they recognize that it’s not a “fix-all.”

Rodriguez believes mindfulness can be a useful tool when combined with other tools, such as adapting academic learning to the real life needs and instructional needs of students.

Words in This Story

stress - n. a physical or emotional influence that causes bodily or mention tension; pressure

burnout - n. the condition of someone who has become very physically¹⁴ and emotionally tired after doing a difficult job for a long time

cultivate - v. to improve or develop (something) by careful attention, training, or study

resilience - n. the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens

vital – adj. extremely important

certification - n. the act of making something official; the act of certifying¹⁵ something

reflection - n. careful thought about something

regulate - v. to set or adjust the amount, degree, or rate of something

challenge - n. a difficult task or problem : something that is hard to do

anxious - adj. afraid or nervous especially about what may happen : feeling anxiety

adapt - v. to change your behavior so that it is easier to live in a particular place or situation

1 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

2 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

3 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

4 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 meditate   

v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想

参考例句：

• It is important to meditate on the meaning of life.思考人生的意义很重要。
• I was meditating,and reached a higher state of consciousness.我在冥想，并进入了一个更高的意识境界。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 concord   

n.和谐；协调

参考例句：

• These states had lived in concord for centuries.这些国家几个世纪以来一直和睦相处。
• His speech did nothing for racial concord.他的讲话对种族和谐没有作用。

12 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

13 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

15 certifying   

（尤指书面）证明( certify的现在分词 )； 发证书给…； 证明（某人）患有精神病； 颁发（或授予）专业合格证书

参考例句：

• Signed Commercial in quintuplicate, certifying merchandise to be of Chinese origin. 签署商业发票一式五份，证明产品的原产地为中国。
• Other documents certifying the truthfulness of the contents of the advertisements. （三）确认广告内容真实性的其他证明文件。