JCT Wellbeing Day

Icsics

What an absolute waste of a day! I feel bad for the facilitators but it was hopeless....a rehash of all the jargon & mantras we've heard before. Could have been done in half an hour. And they've completely overdone the 'group work', I think I've developed an aversion to it after today!

mtoutlemonde

Icsics wrote: »

What an absolute waste of a day! I feel bad for the facilitators but it was hopeless....a rehash of all the jargon & mantras we've heard before. Could have been done in half an hour. And they've completely overdone the 'group work', I think I've developed an aversion to it after today!

Have ours next week ... really looking forward to it!!!! I already did it in another school and I would have preferred to sit with my worst enemy for the day!!!

PureClareGold

Icsics wrote: »

What an absolute waste of a day! I feel bad for the facilitators but it was hopeless....a rehash of all the jargon & mantras we've heard before. Could have been done in half an hour. And they've completely overdone the 'group work', I think I've developed an aversion to it after today!

Actually we all found it very beneficial in my school. Opened up our thinking as to how we can support our own students. Really interesting day and we enjoyed the opportunity to share with each other and to get a good chunk of time with our subject department colleagues discussing teaching and learning as opposed to just what we will put on the end of term exam. We'll done JCT I say.

mtoutlemonde

PureClareGold wrote: »

Actually we all found it very beneficial in my school. Opened up our thinking as to how we can support our own students. Really interesting day and we enjoyed the opportunity to share with each other and to get a good chunk of time with our subject department colleagues discussing teaching and learning as opposed to just what we will put on the end of term exam. We'll done JCT I say.

There's always one! Glad you enjoyed that tripe!!!

Chilli Con Kearney

Those of us involved in wellbeing were hoping to get some ideas about what to do or how to structure it in the school.

More than just the adding up of hours to show how many need to be done. Some examples of what other schools are doing.

It really is so difficult to know if what we're doing is 'right' or effective or worthwhile.

But this wasn't discussed at all really. Only for a few minutes. Even a whole class discussion about what people feel wellbeing should be/involve in our school would have been worthwhile.

Quite frustrating and disappointing really. A missed opportunity.

maynooth_rules

It was such utter nonsense. I am usually open minded to things like this and will go in positively, but this took the biscuit.

mtoutlemonde

maynooth_rules wrote: »

It was such utter nonsense. I am usually open minded to things like this and will go in positively, but this took the biscuit.

I hope you used loads of poost-its!!!!

deiseindublin

Is this a school wide day? Is there a date that they're all rolled out by?

I have this kind of thing on the top of my dread list. I can almost smell the flip charts and post its from here.

Icsics

deiseindublin wrote: »

Is this a school wide day? Is there a date that they're all rolled out by?

I have this kind of thing on the top of my dread list. I can almost smell the flip charts and post its from here.

Yes, whole school, whole day....btw there's now an App to save the info from the postits....we had a demo!!!

evolving_doors

Pure jargon fest

Typical question: " and which welbeing category do you think this belongs to?"
Typical answers
"A"..
"B"
"C"
"How about all categories!"
"Ya I suppose you could say that"
Cue next stage.

deiseindublin

Best part is they get to add the cost of the 4 facilitators to the tally of all they've invested in the new JC.

acequion

maynooth_rules wrote: »

It was such utter nonsense. I am usually open minded to things like this and will go in positively, but this took the biscuit.

Yikes :eek: I'll be the first to admit that I'm not open minded to this stuff so I'll probably have to be tied to the chair.:eek:

gaiscioch

I teach administer SPHE as well and as genuinely valuable as the course could be for students, there is way, way, way too much information overload (to put it euphemistically) for a course with a single class per week. SPHE is in danger of becoming like CSPE: a valuable subject which due to being only once a week becomes a filler subject for principals & teachers alike.

I dread the SPHE communications in our school as they merely fire buckets of stuff at us in the expectation we will do in-depth analysis into everything. In a school environment of reams of bullshít meetings and following up on all sorts of paperwork box-ticking nonsense which has zero to do with inspiring young lives, this subject is not going to get the justice it deserves. It gets lost, and this is thoroughly understandable.

We are all being pulled at from too many directions and consequently far from creating inspiring idiosyncratic teaching material with thoughtful, tailored IEPs for kids who need extra help, our priority is to tick all the boxes in preparation for the next inspection. Teaching quality is unquestionably declining in reality while we tick all those boxes which purport to confirm that quality is getting higher than ever. It is so predictable that this is the consequence of all this bureaucratic bullshít we are being smothered by. 100% predictable. They say they want world-class teachers, but making us world-class administrators is never going to get us there. Except on paper, which of course is all that matters to a Department of Education whose idea of reform in 2018 is to emulate the English system from about 1987 (on one of our recent buzzword in-services an English-educated colleague quipped that he was doing the proposed suggestion as a student then. Serious cringe from the rest of us.).

dory

deiseindublin wrote: »

I can almost smell the flip charts and post its from here.

The more post-its you use the more the students learn. Figured that must be the case from our last inservice....

We've ours in a few weeks. I'll have the ipad loaded up with reading material for the day!

evolving_doors

I finished off Pi

Bobtheman

I aint doing no group work. I will roll around and scream on the floor before you see me do it again.Its pathetic nonsense. Yes its fine for kids but insulting for adults

Yes my post is full of contradictions but one of the great advantages of not wanting promotion and being middle aged and not being afraid of my own shadow like many colleagues is that -I can safely tell the organisers of bull**** to fxxx off

Studentblogger

We had our wellbeing day this week.

I won't call it CPD because it doesn't deserve to have the word 'professional' in the name. It was the greatest waste of time.

This attempt to forcibly mould wellbeing into every subject is flawed.

judeboy101

mtoutlemonde wrote: »

Have ours next week ... really looking forward to it!!!! I already did it in another school and I would have preferred to sit with my worst enemy for the day!!!

We haven't had the pleasure yet. Please post a blow by blow account, with tongue firmly inserted in cheek, and dripping with irony :-)

mtoutlemonde

judeboy101 wrote: »

We haven't had the pleasure yet. Please post a blow by blow account, with tongue firmly inserted in cheek, and dripping with irony :-)

I'll write it on a post and stick it on the wall and you can look at it as it was a masterpiece and then discuss with your colleagues.

Send your school address via PM and I'll be very happy to forward it!!!

judeboy101

mtoutlemonde wrote: »

I'll write it on a post and stick it on the wall and you can look at it as it was a masterpiece and then discuss with your colleagues.

Send your school address via PM and I'll be very happy to forward it!!!

Will you be providing a 'safe space' where we can blend our auras.

dory

Had ours this week. So very boring. We had to put stickies on a flourishing tree to show how our students flourish.

maynooth_rules

dory wrote: »

Had ours this week. So very boring. We had to put stickies on a flourishing tree to show how our students flourish.

Because our students just couldn't flourish under the old JC system
What did we do in our classes before bloody post it stickies.
I find it close to insulting the way they treat fully qualified teachers like 8 year olds at these JCycle days

spurious

Imagine the cost in terms of untaught hours, missed days for the students and the (no doubt) colossal fees paid to the presenters.

If only there was a body, a council maybe, that 'acts in the interests of the public good while upholding and enhancing standards in the teaching profession'.

Maybe they could speak out about this nonsense or maybe they are part of the game. Have a sniff of the fresh flowers and a freshly brewed espresso there chums.

pandoraj09

We have our Wellbeing this Friday. I'm just dreading it. Will post my thoughts on Fri evening...

deiseindublin

How much notice do schools get? It's like Chinese torture knowing it's coming.

Icsics

deiseindublin wrote: »

How much notice do schools get? It's like Chinese torture knowing it's coming.

We had our date at beginning of term. It helps not to expect too much from it, in fact it'll prob confuse u more!

coillsaille

Had ours during the week. I think if given a choice between having to sit through it again or be captured by Islamic State I would ask for some time to think about it.

acequion

coillsaille wrote: »

Had ours during the week. I think if given a choice between having to sit through it again or be captured by Islamic State I would ask for some time to think about it.

lol :D

dory

We gave ours a really hard time about how our camogie team had only one match this year - because of CBAs the round robin idea was gotten rid of and now if you lose once you're out for the year. So no more camogie until September 2019 for our camogie teams.....and we're here learning about how this new JC will improve the students' wellbeing....

The presenter got so flummoxed that she barked "Get up" at her colleague so that he could answer a few of the queries. She couldn't cope.

But sure all they care about is that it looks good on a CV and they'll be principals in no time.

Icsics

dory wrote: »

We gave ours a really hard time about how our camogie team had only one match this year - because of CBAs the round robin idea was gotten rid of and now if you lose once you're out for the year. So no more camogie until September 2019 for our camogie teams.....and we're here learning about how this new JC will improve the students' wellbeing....

The presenter got so flummoxed that she barked "Get up" at her colleague so that he could answer a few of the queries. She couldn't cope.

But sure all they care about is that it looks good on a CV and they'll be principals in no time.

Wellbeing would actually squeeze the goodwill out of u! Having to account for these hours is nonsense, as if such activities didn't always happen in schools.
The facilitators are drones, each one repeating the party lines as nauseum...& yes, all for cvs for management. God help us!

r93kaey5p2izun

I see they haven't upped their game in JCT and are still as inept and fake as ever. I had my Wellbeing day over a year ago in September 2017. I will never forget what a load of absolute nonsense it was and how awful the facilitators were.

evolving_doors

What qualification/experience would you need to be facilitating an inservice on wellbeing? You'd have to have some type of 'belief' or 'faith' in the process, or else a background in psychology.

Mardy Bum

dory wrote: »

We gave ours a really hard time about how our camogie team had only one match this year - because of CBAs the round robin idea was gotten rid of and now if you lose once you're out for the year. So no more camogie until September 2019 for our camogie teams.....and we're here learning about how this new JC will improve the students' wellbeing....

The presenter got so flummoxed that she barked "Get up" at her colleague so that he could answer a few of the queries. She couldn't cope.

But sure all they care about is that it looks good on a CV and they'll be principals in no time.

If they have not been fed answers to these obvious questions then it is their team leader's fault. Conflict should be expected unfortunately.

dory

evolving_doors wrote: »

What qualification/experience would you need to be facilitating an inservice on wellbeing? You'd have to have some type of 'belief' or 'faith' in the process, or else a background in psychology.

Ours were Religion and Art teachers. Seems the main requirement is a desire to get out of the classroom...

helenl711

We had ours last year, it was bizarre. The facilitators were fine, but we gave them a fairly easy ride. The absolute vagueness of it all!! We had to design a tree with all the aspects of a mindful classroom, one colleague towards the end quipped "Why isn't the word 'work' or 'focus' or 'study' up there?" and he was so right.

It is only this year that I can see the sheer waste of time much of it seems. I'm all for wellbeing of students and prioritise this every day in school, but good God the amount of time dedicated to it on the students' timetable is truly shocking. Our first years have CPSE, SPHE, Religion, Yoga, Mindfulness and more, they're the ones I remember off the top of my head. That's six classes a week of non-exam classes, and it is having an effect Such a complete waste of time!!!! And surely the antithesis of the key messages I took away from the day; they wanted us to incorporate wellbeing into all our subject areas, not just hire in a yoga teacher and lump it all together and say 'Fcuk it, that's the wellbeing taken care of." :eek::eek::eek:

doc_17

It’s great that we’re teaching them wellbeing and coping skills as when they discover they can’t read and count they’ll need all the coping skills we can give them.

Anyway, lay off the faciliatators, it’s not their fault!!

judeboy101

"Anyway, lay off the faciliatators, it’s not their fault!!"

That's the Nuremberg defence:-)

doc_17

judeboy101 wrote: »

"Anyway, lay off the faciliatators, it’s not their fault!!"

That's the Nuremberg defence:-)

Not really. There’s dick****s on all staffs who want to appear to be know it alls and they use the opportunity to try and show off and look tough. They’re just being a**holes

r93kaey5p2izun

I have zero sympathy for the facilitators. They have signed up to this willingly and knew very well what they were getting into. Either they believe the bullsh1t or they're just filling up their CV in the hope of promotion. Either way they have made a choice to peddle this nonsense. I know two facilitators. One admits fully that she's only in it for her CV while the other swears blind she believes JC reform is the greatest thing ever. But I've known her years and don't believe it for a minute - she's the greatest spoofer ever once it will help her climb the ladder but just too sly to admit it. I don't know how anyone can stand there and put their name to this rubbish. I'd die of shame.

gaiscioch

I witnessed a senior member of our staff lift a facilitator for one of these in-services out of it. Your man deserved to be challenged on what he said, but the power dynamics of this outsider coming into our school and being effectively publicly humiliated were really ugly. While a particularly nasty piece of work in the staff was overheard gloating, most of the rest of us could see he was shaking and barely holding it together. I wasn't the only one hoping that total stranger was OK when he left us. No worker should be treated like that.

Sometimes it is the decent thing, the dignified thing, to actually let misjudged comments slide and just get through all this moronic stultifying yellow pack rubbish as soon as possible. This "reform" really is a big, pointless circus that does nobody any favours.

doc_17

gaiscioch wrote: »

I witnessed a senior member of our staff lift a facilitator for one of these in-services out of it. Your man deserved to be challenged on what he said, but the power dynamics of this outsider coming into our school and being effectively publicly humiliated were really ugly. While a particularly nasty piece of work in the staff was overheard gloating, most of the rest of us could see he was shaking and barely holding it together. I wasn't the only one hoping that total stranger was OK when he left us. No worker should be treated like that.

Sometimes it is the decent thing, the dignified thing, to actually let misjudged comments slide and just get through all this moronic stultifying yellow pack rubbish as soon as possible. This "reform" really is a big, pointless circus that does nobody any favours.

Yeah I almost witnessed a similar thing in our school but I intervened. It’s almost bullying.

doc_17

Alannah Elegant Polyester wrote: »

I have zero sympathy for the facilitators. They have signed up to this willingly and knew very well what they were getting into. Either they believe the bullsh1t or they're just filling up their CV in the hope of promotion. Either way they have made a choice to peddle this nonsense. I know two facilitators. One admits fully that she's only in it for her CV while the other swears blind she believes JC reform is the greatest thing ever. But I've known her years and don't believe it for a minute - she's the greatest spoofer ever once it will help her climb the ladder but just too sly to admit it. I don't know how anyone can stand there and put their name to this rubbish. I'd die of shame.

Nearly all of this is true. But that doesn’t give anyone the right to abuse anyone that comes into any school.

I’m not talking about sitting there and agreeing with everything they say. But there’s a way to “challenge” them and retain manners.

maynooth_rules

doc_17 wrote: »

It’s great that we’re teaching them wellbeing and coping skills as when they discover they can’t read and count they’ll need all the coping skills we can give them.

Anyway, lay off the faciliatators, it’s not their fault!!

I am sorry but this is utter nonsense. I remember I went to the english JCT day some 3 years ago with another teacher from my school. The whole day long that teacher moaned and moaned about how dreadful the new JCT is. Last year at my History JCT day, that teacher had only gone on to become a facilitator

spurious

Are they not giving out lovely 'evaluation forms'? That is where to put all the complaints.

They may not be paid much heed to by the higher ups, but I can assure you they are passed on.

doc_17

maynooth_rules wrote: »

I am sorry but this is utter nonsense. I remember I went to the english JCT day some 3 years ago with another teacher from my school. The whole day long that teacher moaned and moaned about how dreadful the new JCT is. Last year at my History JCT day, that teacher had only gone on to become a facilitator

So what if they’re looking for a few rates pounds or some experience outside the classroom. Being dicks to them accomplished nothing.

acequion

I wouldn't have much time or even respect for these facilitators as it's beyond me how any self respecting teacher could get involved in such monumental horseshyte. And I have no problem with challenging them and making them account for themselves. They've signed up for this lark so they should be able to handle opposition,even hostility.

But I would draw the line at ill mannered or nasty behaviour.Bullying or demeaning somebody who is visiting our workplace,even if unwelcome, serves no purpose and only reflects badly on us.

mtoutlemonde

spurious wrote: »

Are they not giving out lovely 'evaluation forms'? That is where to put all the complaints.

They may not be paid much heed to by the higher ups, but I can assure you they are passed on.

No unfortunately not - when I did mine - we were directed to a page and made fill in a questionnaire which didn't have any negative option - i.e. I will use X in my classes going forward - yes/will consider etc.

I think they know the feedback they would get

r93kaey5p2izun

doc_17 wrote: »

Nearly all of this is true. But that doesn’t give anyone the right to abuse anyone that comes into any school.

I’m not talking about sitting there and agreeing with everything they say. But there’s a way to “challenge” them and retain manners.

Sure. I never mentioned nor implied giving them a hard time or even challenging them. Not sure why you're quoting me to make that point.

Everyone should be treated with courtesy and manners. I've never seen any situations of disrespect towards them - everyone just grins and bears it. I'm surprised that some here have seen them treated poorly. That would never have happened in my school.

But I would definitely have less respect professionally for anyone getting involved in JCT because it is such poor quality rubbish.

doc_17

Alannah Elegant Polyester wrote: »

Sure. I never mentioned nor implied giving them a hard time or even challenging them. Not sure why you're quoting me to make that point.

Everyone should be treated with courtesy and manners. I've never seen any situations of disrespect towards them - everyone just grins and bears it. I'm surprised that some here have seen them treated poorly. That would never have happened in my school.

But I would definitely have less respect professionally for anyone getting involved in JCT because it is such poor quality rubbish.

Ok, maybe I misunderstood the tone of your post.

Inspector Coptoor

We had ours last week.
I found it tough to sit through and it left me very disillusioned as to what a junior cycle students’ timetable will look like in 2020 when they essentially steal time from mainatream subjects to fill in another 100 hours of well-being over the three years.

A full day of it.
5 hours 15 mins.

And another one on assessment to “look forward to”.

evolving_doors

Inspector Coptoor wrote: »

We had ours last week.
I found it tough to sit through and it left me very disillusioned as to what a junior cycle students’ timetable will look like in 2020 when they essentially steal time from mainatream subjects to fill in another 100 hours of well-being over the three years.

A full day of it.
5 hours 15 mins.

And another one on assessment to “look forward to”.

Nurse, we have a patient here who's faith levels in the JCT are waning ! Apply the intravenous drip and lets get 200gm of Post-Its into the patient ASAP.