The signs are everywhere. Along with so many other institutions, schools – and all those who work in them and for them – are in great distress. 

Just look at the teacher responses to this tweet from yesterday

It was an outpouring of grief, frustration, and distress. Things are not well in the land of school.

The fear, anger and anxiety are palpable. Teachers can’t do the job they want to do and the feelings of guilt and inadequacy are overwhelming. And they are not irrational.

School leaders are swamped by the logistics of establishing workable response protocols, juggling schedules, and keeping up with an ever-shifting and evolving medical advisories and mandates. That, and the worry about budgets and finances and how to pay for all the additional staffing, tech equipment. And all the while trying to lead – to be that stable person at the helm to whom others look for calm, comfort and guidance  They too are overwhelmed and exhausted.

Parents think they are getting less than they need and paid for while schools are busting budgets to keep buildings safe, hire additional staff to keep classes socially distanced, and investing in new technologies to make distance and hybrid learning more effective. Parents too are exhausted trying to be the home school teacher while also managing the rest of their already complicated lives and work situations. 

And let’s not forget the students trying to grow up in this world turned upside down. 

No wonder everyone is exhausted, fried, burnt out. It was hard work pre-pandemic and now it’s right at the edge. Everyone uses the term unprecedented. And it is. The closest analogy I can think of would be trying to maintain schooling in a war zone under bombardment and risk of imminent invasion. 

We Have been Abandoned

And consider the context. We have an out of control pandemic. People are losing their jobs and their homes, they getting sick and dying. But we have a federal government that has abandoned its people. Furthermore, instead of a government focussed on relief and crisis management, we have a person in the White House determined to vent his narcissistic rage on everyone in a wild and desperate attempt to avoid justice by overthrowing an election.

And this wrecking ball – swinging out of control – is supported and enabled by a following of grifters, sycophants, and violence-oriented wannabe fascists.

From a psychological perspective, we are not being “held” by our government. Rather we have been abandoned to the virus and are now threatened by social and uncivil chaos and violence. Anyone sleeping well at night?

And to add insult to grievous injury some right-wing punditty people such as Rod Liddle of The Spectator  (UK) write these vile, inflammatory, and divisive attacks on teachers.

You just know that a hack like Liddle would not last 20 minutes in a classroom without getting arrested.

This was in the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun tabloid and it’s evil stuff designed to stir resentment and division. All of a sudden conservatives care about the children? Gimme a break.

Meanwhile Back at School

So that’s all bad.

Meanwhile, the kids are coming to school one way or another.  And schools (meaning the people who work in and for them) are doing heroic work to try and meet their needs. 

From the luxury and calm of the sidelines, I’ve been thinking about what schools have been going through since March of this year. And I’ve been thinking about D.W.Winnicott and the concept of “good enough” and wondering whether and how it might be helpful. 

The good-enough teacher, the good enough school leader, the good-enough board chair, and – in the end -the good-enough school. What did they look like in pre-pandemic times?  And why are they actually best? And what might they look like in these crisis times?

If ever there was a need to let go of unrealistic fantasies of perfection it is now. It may be time to set the sights higher and be good-enough.

Does the psychological concept of good-enough offer a framework of hope in a time of crisis?

And that’s what I will try and explore in the next post.

Featured image: Daphne Gradidge,  Fantasy Garden; Mural in 6 parts, panel1) ArtCare, Salisbury District Hospital; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/fantasy-garden-64768