Becoming Wellbeing Heroes, One Journal at a Time - the Science, the Power, and the How-to of Journaling

High jumper Nicola McDermott made Australian history last week, becoming the first woman to clear two metres, and claiming a silver medal in the event. Despite her incredible athleticism, what has caught attention however, is her unusual post-jump ritual of journaling, which has left many Australians thinking, what is she scribbling in her notebook? And why is she doing it? 

The autobiographical practice has been around since the 17th century, with several methods and types, all following the same idea of writing or drawing one's emotions, activities, reactions or goals. This article will examine the science behind journaling, then turning to the horde of benefits it creates in the classroom, for mental health conditions and trauma, and conclude with a how-to guide for beginners.

The Science

Research and scientific studies purport that journaling improves brain function, creativity and enhances metacognition. Psychotherapist and journaling aficionado Maud Purcell (2019) explains that writing concerns the logical and analytical left side of the brain. In doing so, the right brain is opened to imagination, creativity and expression. This psychological process helps to free the mind from any blockers, and effectively use both sides of the brain.

Metacognition is the ability to review and self-regulate the thoughts and feelings one encounters everyday, in order to ascertain strengths and weaknesses, and apply these skills to different situations (Kozoil, 2021). Journaling helps to hone a person's metacognition, through gratitude, ability recognition, and being able to connect emotions with the physical body, which can be applied to both the classroom and daily life.

A study conducted by UCLA researchers endeavoured to show what happens in the brain through expressive writing. They found that the emotional responses of subjects who engaged in regular journaling were less intense than other participants (Intelligent Change). For instance, when presented with an image of anger, although both groups' activity in the amygdala (where emotions originate) escalated, those who wrote these feelings out curtailed their brains reaction. Lead psychological professor Dr. Lieberman (et al. 2007), likens the process of translating emotions into words (dubbed affect labeling) to slamming your foot on the car brake when you see a yellow light.

The Power

Journaling is a wonderfully cathartic practice, popular for any age group or context. Possessing this highly adaptable quality, participants have identified journaling as a useful tool for personal use, improved academia, and alongside other forms of professional therapy (Kozoil 2021). Such writing is also personalisable and completely private, removing the risk of stigma or social anxiety, and making it tailorable to personal issues and aspirations. In the words of author and educator Shubhangi Swarup “I write because it makes me feel like someone’s listening or maybe I am finally listening to myself”.

• Reshaping your classroom environment
  Engaging in a regular journaling routine has been proven to ameliorate student academic performance, emotional intelligence and personal identity, according to Expressivist Writing Theory (ETW). As one of the pivotal approaches to journaling, ETW explains that through the process of writing, students are able to learn about their experiences and motivations, the extent of their imagination, it empowers their unique voice, and assures self-identity (Koziol 2021). Natalie Goldberg is a prolific author on writing studies, who suggests that journaling is ‘having a relationship with your mind’. Thus, journaling is a channel through which one's mind and actions communicate in order to establish a personal identity and fulfilment. Baikie & Wilhelm (2005) outline the practice's academic profit, enhancing students' working memory, as well as their communication and literacy skills. At Life Skills Group, we are actively taking advantage of these benefits, by including a journaling function in our Life Skills GO digital platform for students to use in conjunction with their social-emotional learning. Therefore, the ways in which journaling improves classroom outcomes is manifold, and works toward the ultimate goal of a student's fulfilment.

• Curbing mental health conditions
  Through evidence gathered by scientific studies, journaling has been proven to taper the effects of mental illnesses, and shown particularly useful in conjunction with other forms of psychological therapies (Kozoil 2021). The proliferation of mental health diagnoses has intensified the need for effective and holistic treatments, with 17% of 16-85 year-old Australians experiencing a disorder this past year (Beyond Blue 2021). Kozoil (2021) proposes the healing potential of a writing regime that increases self-control in order to mediate symptoms of mental health conditions. A study completed by Suhr et al. (2017) found the group who engaged in journaling recorded lower levels of depression and bolstered stronger emotional regulation strategies than the control participants. Stice, Burton, Bearman, & Rohde (2006) go so far as to claim that expressive writing could be as effective in reducing depression as other forms of cognitive-behavioural therapy for at-risk adolescence. With over half of mental illnesses manifesting by the age of 14, and 75% before 25, journaling programs are vital to the wellbeing of young people. Contiguous to reducing stress-related disorders, students will be able to boost their engagement in the classroom, through a regular journaling practice.

• Helping to process trauma
  Forms of journaling have the power to alleviate symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the brain, with Art therapy proving particularly effective for sufferers. Baikie & Wilhelm (2005) provide the science behind expressive journaling reducing intrusive thoughts and avoidant behaviour for PDTD patients. By confronting the emotions relating to trauma, people are able to process and understand difficult memories, gaining control over these ‘big emotions’. Khatib & Potash (2021) published a fascinating study into the use of visual journaling on child refugees as a treatment for PTSD. The inquiry confirmed that art therapy was a valuable form of emotional expression, which encouraged the voluntary disclosure of traumatic experiences, enhanced a sense of resilience, and ameliorated the bonds between family members. Life Skills GO draws on the written and visual styles of journaling, with students being able to draw and type their entries, as well as choose from a selection of emoticons and prompts designed to elicit or represent emotions. Thus, Life Skills GO can be used as a holistic social-emotional solution for students and educators who undergo traumatic experiences.

A Crash Course on Journaling

As established above, there is no one correct way to journal, given its expressive form and mediums, but here are a few tips for getting the most out of your journaling, many of which I have found to be very useful in my own practice:

• Write in a quiet, private space where you feel comfortable - and don’t share it with others

• Allow time after each session to reflect and calm your emotions

• Don’t worry about aesthetics or structure, get your thoughts out naturally, they will not be perfect

• Write down some strong thoughts and emotions you have experienced throughout the day to prompt your writing

• Find out how best you journal! Everyone is different

Furthermore, the Centre for Journal Therapy (Adams, n.d.) W.R.I.T.E acronym can be used to inspire your journals:

• What do you want to write about? What is currently happening in your life, your current thoughts and feelings, what are your goals and what habits are you avoiding?. Identify it and put it on paper

• Review or reflect on it. Take a few moments to be still, breathe deeply, and focus. A little mindfulness practice could help in this step. Try to start sentences with “I” statements like “I feel…”, “I want…”, and, “I think…” Also, use the present tense, with sentence stems like “Today…”, “Right now…”, or “In this moment…”.

• Investigate your thoughts and feelings through your writing or drawing. Just keep going! If you feel you have run out of things to write or your mind starts to wander, take a moment to re-focus (another opportunity for mindfulness meditation!), read over what you have just written, and continue on.

• Time yourself to ensure that you write for at least 5 minutes (or whatever your current goal is). Write down your start time and the projected end time based on your goal at the top of your page. Set a timer or alarm to go off when the time period you have set is up.

• Exit mindfully. Go over what you have written and allow a moment to reflect on it. Summarise the main points in a few sentences, starting with statements like “As I read this, I notice…”, “I’m aware of…”, or “I feel…” If you have any action items or steps you would like to take next, record them.

In totality, journaling is a cathartic and helpful practice, herding multiple benefits for the social-emotional wellbeing of all ages. Although it felt uncomfortable and pointless at first, journaling has become a foundation of my mental health practice, and a quintessential coping strategy. I hope this inspires you to pick up a pen and start writing. I promise, you are one step closer to becoming a wellbeing hero.

How Life Skills GO connects to the NSW School Excellence Framework

Every school aims for excellence in Wellbeing, but why do some schools do this successfully and others struggle to deliver on this critical domain? As a school leader, executive member, teacher or parent, it is understood that every school community has its challenges, beliefs and knowledge to contribute towards ensuring each and every student is known, cared for and valued.

Measuring student wellbeing and social and emotional learning has been all but impossible - until now. There are many wonderful programs that support student wellbeing but do not capture data or provide real time response to issues students are facing every day. Life Skills Group has, through extensive research and working with schools around Australia, developed a wellbeing solution that is tailored to each school and their students. With the Life Skills GO blended online learning program each school is able to now measure effectively how their school is performing in meeting excelling benchmarks from the School Excellence Framework. The data recorded from the student check-ins is another effective tool that can triangulate your school data and prove that the school is excelling in Wellbeing and meeting the needs of the students and their families.

The benchmark for all schools is to achieve the following statement: NSW School Excellence Framework – Learning Domain – Wellbeing1.

In schools that excel, there is a strategic and planned approach to develop whole school wellbeing processes that support the wellbeing of all students so they can connect, thrive and learn.

Let’s explain the reasons why Life Skills GO is successful and works in conjunction with the School Excellence Framework.

Life Skills GO is not a stand alone wellbeing program. It is recommended to be used as a whole school wellbeing solution in line with excelling statements of the School Excellence Framework. Research indicates that whole school planning and approaches are the best way to support students on their social and emotional learning journey2. It is widely recognised that high levels of wellbeing are more likely to have higher academic achievement, better mental health and a responsible and lawful lifestyle3.

The highlights of the Life Skills GO program in meeting the excelling benchmark in wellbeing are:

• Daily Weather Report check-in
  - Each student has the ability to check in and let the teacher know how they are feeling which is then tracked over time.

• Flexible Lesson Delivery
  - In the program are 4 interactive and curriculum aligned programs for immediate use on the interactive whiteboard, individually or set for each student at home.
  - 200+ lessons available to suit all schools no matter what Wellbeing programs they are running. This will sit side by side with all school programs and enhance Wellbeing.

• The ability to push out ILP and PLP to individuals or groups of students.
  - Individual learning plans can be set by teachers or learning support teams to meet the needs of every child who is experiencing issues at any time.

• Executive Reporting
  - Leaders in the school can see at a glance how classes are travelling and have data aligned to every child for school and parent discussions.
  - Potential game changer for school leaders who can now identify students at risk and provide assistance before the potential for behaviour issues, social or emotional issues begin to arise.

Using the table below you can see how every school can use Life Skills GO to work towards achieving school excellence in Wellbeing. This will assist all schools in preparation for External Validation and securing valuable data sets that can be included to show where you are at currently. Using Life Skills GO data, analysing and evaluating this, is concrete and factual evidence for you to use that is available all year round. Schools will not have to go searching for data in this element of Wellbeing. You will be able to support your judgements using the Life Skills GO executive reporting function.

Life Skills Group and the School Excellence Framework are aligned with the same vision for students and schools. We need to prepare our young people for rewarding lives in an increasingly complex world. Life Skills GO can now measure students’ social and emotional wellbeing in every school, in every week, in every month and in every year in the pursuit of excellence and that every child is known, cared for and valued.

In our current times with pandemics, domestic violence, family breakdowns, communication and social issues it is of vital importance that our focus is on every child at every school. Life Skills Group has a  commitment to reach every child so that they are excelling in life. In providing an evidence informed program, every child and now school has the potential to reach excellence in all they do. Life Skills Go and The School Excellence Framework work in partnership as do schools and students to make the difference in providing the right social and emotional support.

Teachers' Wellbeing: The Problem, The Cause and The Cure

Former teacher turned wellbeing advocate Kathryn Lovewell, adored her time as an educator. She notes how teaching is one of the most rewarding careers in the world, shaping the minds and planting the seeds for students to thrive (Lovewell, 2013). However, this passion and reward is too often overshadowed in schools by heavy workloads, stress and a neglect of teachers' mental and physical health. It is a dilemma that requires urgent change, in order to prioritise the wellbeing of educators so they can effectively teach their students and nurture their wellbeing.

The Problem

Empirical material collected by organisations highlight the issue of workplace stress in schools, which has marked an increase in mental health disorders among teachers. A survey carried out by the Health and Safety Executive found 70% of educators attributed their work to impaired health, placing teaching in the top five of stress inducing professions. From this data, it is not surprising that Australian teachers have reported disorders of depression and anxiety, at an alarmingly higher rate than the average Australian. In 2019, Bond University published a study finding that 18% of teachers met the criteria for depression and 62% for anxiety. The national average of around 10% of Australians experiencing depression and 13% of Australians experiencing anxiety over their lifetimes, denotes this contrast. With educators being over 4.7 times more likely to develop mental health disorders like anxiety, action needs to be taken to foster positive social and emotional wellbeing for our teachers.

What Is Causing It?

Multiple factors contribute to teacher’s wellbeing includes the workplace environment and relationships, overbearing workloads, and a lack of time to focus on students. In an inquiry into the workplace environment of schools, almost all (99.6%) Australian teachers from the survey group had experienced bullying from parents, other teachers or executives (Allen & Chilcott, 2009; Davis, 2007; McDougall, 2007, as cited in Dabrowski 2020). Such added stressors, on top of managing students and disruptive behaviour, are undoubtedly causes for adverse teacher health. Furthermore, the need for a positive and mindful work environment, as well as functioning relationships in schools is clear. 

The Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey (2019) identified the sheer quantity of work and a lack of time to prioritise teaching and learning, as the central sources of stress. More than one-in-four Australian teachers suffer from emotional exhaustion after starting their careers and expect to leave the profession within the first five years of teaching ("Let us teach," 2007; Marshal, 2013b; Milburn, 2011, as cited in Dabrowski 2020). High employment turnover rates and understaffing, further contribute to increased workloads and hence, perpetuates mental health issues in teachers.

The Impact of COVID-19

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has stretched teachers with more work, and the struggle of remote and disrupted learning environments. UNESCO (2020) reported that 70% of the world's students were affected by school closures, including Australia which has switched between online and face-to-face delivery. Additionally, schools and students have become hotspots for the transmission of the virus, imposing heightened anxiety on teachers (Stein-Zamir et al., 2020). The exacerbation of these issues re-centres teacher wellbeing as a priority, especially during and beyond the pandemic (Dabrowski, 2020).

Professional Development: What Is It? Does It Work?

Professional development is a relatively new practice, whereby teachers upskill and learn positive educational and wellbeing techniques, which can improve learning outcomes of students. Such programs are essential, as teacher wellbeing has a direct positive correlation with both student achievement and social-emotional intelligence (Split et al., 2011). Australian schools and products have primarily focused on student wellbeing and neglected educators, with programs only recently entering the market (Dabrowski, 2020). Professional development is aimed at fostering a teacher's ability to self-regulate, be resilient, and purport leadership skills, all of which are foundational for positive wellbeing. However, some of these products have proven tokenistic, present-focused and not reflective of real teaching experiences and their diversity (Dabrowski, 2020). They focus on individual wellbeing, abandoning whole-school approaches and the unique context of schools, which ultimately fail to establish effective wellbeing practice.

Teacher professional development is most effective when implemented within a larger whole-school wellbeing framework. By partnering with schools to understand the school context and values, Life Skills Group delivers professional development that is relevant and applicable, that educators can take back to their classroom. Life Skills Group Professional Development is delivered by CEO and Founder Nikki Bonus. Nikki is a change agent on a global frontier aiming to enhance the vital skills of our future leaders and support educators’ wellbeing. She is an accomplished Keynote Speaker and trainer with more than 20 years experience in the development and delivery of mindfulness, leaders and social-emotional literacy programs that not only explicitly teach, but also measure the wellbeing of each and every student. She has delivered over 800 professional development programs for school communities across the globe, working with networks of principals to deliver professional development that aligns with the school context and their approaches to whole-school wellbeing.

At Life Skills Group, It is our vision that every child has access to an effective, measurable and affordable social, emotional and physical education. It is crucial that we look after our educators and their wellbeing so that they are ideally positioned to support their students to thrive in their academic, personal and professional lives. The consistent delivery of an effective whole-school wellbeing program, we are best placed to support our educators and our students on their learning journey within school and beyond.