Empathy around anxiety | Ian Landy | TEDxWestVancouverED

In this four-minute talk, Ian shines a light on the issue of mental health and anxiety by sharing his "Why?"

Ian Landy - I am Principal at Sorrento Elementary in the North Okanagan Shuswap school district. I have always encouraged the blending of technology and curriculum as a key method of differentiation in order to reach each learner. I have been called an "early adopter" by some, an "education maverick" by others, and I have been a strong advocate for project-based learning via #geniushour and Self Organized Learning Environments. My blog demonstrates my learning and reflections each "day of learning" at technolandy.wordpress.com and tweets via @technolandy. I feel that sharing what I do is part of who I am - reflecting on both my successes and failures can help me learn and stay mindful of what I am doing as an educator.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

We don't say to people with throat cancer,

"I know how you feel,
I had a sore throat once."

Yet, that's what we do too often

to people and students,
in particular, that have it,

that have mental wellness issues,
especially generalized anxiety.

Sound harsh?

It is, but untreated,
unsupported mental wellness

is a death sentence.

It's so connected,

it's too connected
to elements around suicide.

Really, we don't want
to talk about that yet.

Instead, we hope maybe it'll get better,
maybe they'll grow out of it.

I know my own sadness isn't depression.

I know that the butterflies
in my stomach will fly away.

But, they've helped me
understand that better as an educator.

I've always felt myself
having a better sense

of that social-emotional iceberg.

There's that tip that you're able to see

and there's the bigger bulk
underneath the water.

It's that bulk I've focused on
to help people better understand,

but the more I've been doing that
the more I've realized

I don't have enough empathy,
because icebergs flip.

And when they do,
at first you might think,

"Yes, we're seeing more,
we're seeing different."

But anxiety is so tough, it's tricky.

It will hide, it will be on the backside,
it'll flip things over,

and that is an element that my students,
and more recently my son,

have really helped me better understand.

I took my son for a walk,

and a dog barked,
and his anxiety was triggered.

He froze.

I decided that as the Principle dad -

poor him -

that I would use this
as a teaching example,

and wondering, "Well, which do you think?

Is this a time to fight, flight, or flee?"

He was like, "Dad, no."

I said, "How many thoughts
are going on your mind? Like a dozen?"

He just looked at me,
"Dad, you just don't get it."

I decided to push this time,
"What, like a thousand?"

He paused, "Yeah that's about it."

So we created an image
of what he said he sees in his mind

every time a decision is made,
not just when a dog barks,

but even in a traditional classroom

when a question
is being asked by a teacher,

when there are multiple
questions on a worksheet.

He has so many potential answers.

He's not able to synthesize
which is the best answer,

and it's not that he's a dumb kid.

He's processing so many
different possible variations.

It's incredible!

When he's asked, "Why can't
you just give a response,

why can't you just..."

It's not that he won't,
it is indeed that he can't know.

For myself...

I've been distracted
by that forest of behaviors.

My classroom was one of the first pilot
for the Friends For Life program.

But still I'll get distracted, I'll think,

"What else might it be? What can it be?"

Well. Really, we can't.
We have to take it for what it is.

Here are my rules when working
with generalized anxiety

and any sort of mental illness:

Get them inside the school
every single day.

It won't be easy,
but get them in the school.

Not even the classroom,
we can worry about the classroom later.

After the classroom, once they're in
then you can worry about the work.

But we need to make
those stronger connections

to make those kids feel welcome,

to make them feel involved.

I've heard - again, it's not easy -

I've heard too often:

These are the kids
that are the square pegs,

trying to be fit into the round holes.

We need to get rid of that game.

We need to see those individual
learners as important trees,

and then we need to take
on that extra duty

to cut a pathway to the trees

and make them understand better
that they aren't only welcome,

that they are a vibrant part
of our overall learning forests.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)