Mental wellbeing for teachers - are Geoff and Margaret the new heroes of the teaching profession?

As a teacher, you know putting your mental wellbeing first is crucial. We’re not the first people to tell you that - and we won’t be the last. In fact, you’ve probably heard it from a million different places. And, dare we say it, in a million boring ways. 

So that’s why it’s been refreshing to see some new heroes in the teaching profession, with a fresh take on teaching life and giving us all something to laugh about. We’re of course talking about the hilarious Geoff and Margaret - a.k.a @retirementtales.

And their daily Twitter antics got us thinking. How important are heroes when it comes to mental wellbeing and how can they help you feel happier and more positive in challenging times? Sarah Creegan is here with some fab ideas to help you.

Have you got a mental wellbeing hero? 

Maybe someone in your family? A sporting legend? Or a fictional Marvel Character? 

Laughology’s CEO and Head of Happiness, Stephanie Davies, is a big fan of She-Ra. In fact, she has a pair of golden pants in She-Ra’s honour and will bring them out of the wardrobe at every opportunity - and without encouragement!

Research shows having heroes has a positive psychological impact on us, which is good for our mood and our mental wellbeing.

Over the past couple of years, there have been many notable heroes. COVID has highlighted the fact it’s often the ‘ordinary’ people who come up trumps in tricky times. Not the investment bankers, the high-flying business folk - and definitely not the politicians.

Instead, we’ve clapped for the NHS workers. We’ve shown our appreciation for delivery drivers. And school staff, well, you are heroes – every one of you!

In the New Year’s Honours List, Tobias Garbutt Weller, an autistic boy with cerebral palsy said he’d been inspired by the late, great Captain Sir Tom Moore to complete two marathons and an Ironman challenge. He raised £150,000 in the process. Extraordinary things happen when people have someone to look up to.

Geoff and Margaret - giving us all something to laugh about

And now, teachers everywhere have a couple of new ‘kids’ on the block to inspire them. If you haven’t yet heard of Geoff and Margaret @RetirementTales, then you must have been living in a cave for the past month or two. They joined Twitter in December 2021 and, at the time of writing, have 24.2k followers. 

According to their bio, Geoff and Margaret have responded to Nadim Zahawi’s call to action – for retired teachers to return to the classroom, to cover staff absences until we see the back of Omicron. Even though it’s unlikely Geoff and Margaret are exactly who they say they are (their account is, apparently, ‘more metaphor than parody’), it doesn’t matter to their followers. 

So, why have these two retirees become national teaching treasures, and how have their tweets helped teachers’ mental wellbeing?

Positivity

From the get-go, no job ‘the lady from the agency’ has given Geoff has been too big. 

For example:

“Can you take a mixed-age class, primary and secondary, in a town where all the schools have no staff?”

“My pleasure!” I say.

“You will also need to cook 267 dinners….”

While it might only have been meant as a funny tweet, over the past few weeks there’ll have been people who’ve needed to cover unexpectedly, at short notice and teach a year group/ subject that’s well out of their comfort zone. 

Geoff’s ‘keep calm and carry on’ attitude will have helped some folks to maintain perspective, and not catastrophise. In staffrooms all over the land, there’ll have been the rousing cry, ‘If Geoff can do it….’

Humour 

January can be a miserable month, but there are things you can do to get through the short days and shite weather.

At Laughology, we know the importance of using humour and having a laugh – with others, and also at ourselves, when things go wrong. Geoff and Margaret’s tweets are littered with observational, old-school comedy and, as much as they maintain their a-political stance, who didn’t have a titter at last week’s post:

‘Margaret finished off the week by telling her class the fable of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. 

To bring the story up to date, she renamed the boy Prince Novak of Johnsonland.

Margaret can do traditional and contemporary at the very same time.’

If you haven’t been persuaded yet to give them a follow, here are some of the lovely comments from G&M devotees:

• ‘Absolute sunshine on these dark mornings!’
• ‘Thank you for great memories … and a smile each day.’
• ‘You’ve made our week!!! Thank you not only for your humour but for your friendship, understanding and camaraderie.’
• ‘Thank you, thank you for making me belly laugh! You’re just the tonic I need.’

So, apart from these wonderful septuagenarians (yep, we’re going along with the belief that’s what they are), who else makes you smile, chuckle or guffaw? By surrounding yourself with these people, you’ll get your serotonin flowing; making you feel better, both physically and psychologically. 

Connection

Connecting with others is also key to good mental wellbeing.

As we all know, social media can be fantastic. It can also be foul and #Edutwitter is a dark place sometimes. Regularly, people will say they are having to leave, take a break or block others, for the sake of their wellbeing. Whilst these are good decisions to make, it’s a shame for the profession that not everyone can ‘play nicely’. 

Of course, it’s okay to have a difference of opinion. However, there are ways and means (in both the real and online world) of kindly disagreeing. Whoever Geoff and Margaret are, they have reminded people how to connect in a supportive way and to: ‘Keep it light and loving, and in the spirit of @RetirementTales.’

Kindness

There are so many other reasons why Geoff and Margaret have become the new heroes of the teaching profession. They’re relatable, extremely likeable and authentic - which may sound strange, as we don’t really know who they are. But it’s clear they have been/are teachers and they do know a lot about education.

The final attribute for the time being though, which shines through in every Twitter post, is Geoff’s kindness. In particular, at the beginning of term when he was providing a listening ear to a stressed head, who had a host of problems:

‘The kindly Head took me to one side at lunch and ended up telling me all about his money worries. I could see how it was troubling him. I told him it’s ok to open up and I listened as intently as I could in a busy dining hall.’

Maintaining good mental wellbeing

Teaching is one of the most rewarding jobs. It can also be tough. To maintain the good mental health of the whole team in your school, be sure to:

• Spot any workmates who are struggling by regularly checking in and noticing any changes in behaviour. This includes the Head, who may be feeling very isolated at the moment and may not yet have found his/her own Geoff.
• Support them, by asking open questions and listening with empathy.
• Signpost them to mental health professionals, if and when you feel this would be helpful.

And finally, if you’re reading this Geoff, it sounds like you’ve got kindness and compassion down to a fine art. But you’ve highlighted men’s mental health in your posts, so we’d like to invite you to our Manchat webinarwith the fabulous Dave Keeling.

If you can’t make it because you’re simultaneously teaching 320 children, cooking all of their dinners and searching for cardis for Margaret, just let us know and we’ll send you the recording.