Although you're in charge of continuing or ceasing your participation in this website at any point, we want to give you some sense of our guiding assumptions so that you will be able to make an informed initial decision about whether or not to pursue this learning process.

STRESS IS A FACT OF LIFE, A GIVEN. Our goal for you is enhanced stress management, not stress elimination. These materials and this learning experience are intended to empower teachers to become better able to deal with the inevitable stresses of their complex roles, not to give the impression that the stresses will go away. They won't.

TEACHERS FACE COMPLEX STRESSES DAILY. A truism in education is that regardless of the quality of their training in their chosen subject area or the depth of their commitment to the profession, no teacher ever can be fully prepared for the complexity of the human issues and problems that their students will bring to school--and, often, to them--every day. The stresses of the job are serious issues which must be addressed by all teachers, and for which new teachers typically are not adequately prepared when entering the profession.

YOU'RE IN CHARGE. There is no "formula" or prescription which adequately addresses the stress management needs of all persons. Human beings are too complex for this to be the case. What may work best for one person will be of far less help to another. Therefore, the importance of your conscious choices about your ongoing stress management work is a cornerstone of this module.

BURNOUT RISK AMONG TEACHERS IS HIGHER THAN IN MANY OTHER PROFESSIONS. Teachers, as professionals who deal with complex human growth and human helping issues, are more vulnerable to burnout than persons in other professional fields. This project is intended both to nurture new teachers in their demanding new roles as well as to provide stress management, self-care, and professional survival skills which will serve them and prevent burnout throughout their careers.

THE PARADOX OF CONTROL. Teachers do not have ultimate control over many of the stresses which confront them every day, but they probably have more control over the ways they can respond to these stresses than they ever might have considered.

SUPPORT AND CHALLENGE TO PROMOTE PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. All persons learn and grow when they are appropriately challenged in an atmosphere of staunch support. Neither, in and of itself, will promote the growth. The challenges facing you as a teacher are numerous, and the support of an experienced mentor and others is essential to promote your ongoing development as a professional and as a person.

YOUR EFFECTIVE COPING IMPACTS MANY OTHERS. Personal well-being can have a systemic impact. By involving you in an ongoing supportive dialogue with your mentor about effective, positive coping strategies, our hope is that there also will be a positive impact on the ongoing renewal and vitality of your mentor and colleagues. And when teachers are well, then their students and the school as a learning community also is more likely to be well.