Sustaining the Practice of Changemaking
Focus On Your Personal Well-Being
The threat of burnout is very real when it comes to social justice work. We encourage you to really focus on what you need to sustain changemaking education by reflecting on your individual needs for self-care (i.e., ‘burning in’). Investing in sustainable practices that will help you either remain energized or know when to scale back is key to personal sustainability. This might look like:
- Prioritizing your own well-being over the needs of others.
- Asking for help when you need it.
- Building in time for rest.
- Practicing mindfulness, even for just a few minutes each day.
- Taking a walk through nature.
- Engaging in a creative task like painting or drawing.
Community
Enacting social change can feel lonely and isolating when we are not in community with others. Bring along friends, colleagues, co-learners, or fellow travellers from the very beginning. This might look like:
- Change Leadership Group: Bring together a group of complementary, values-driven leaders, such as faculty, administrators, and/or staff to serve as Change Leaders to focus on advancing social innovation and changemaking across your organization.
- Change Team: Bring together a group of people who can focus on the execution of specific programs, events, or initiatives related to social innovation and changemaking at the department or faculty level.
- Academic/Instructional Support: Find individual or team supports within your institution, such as faculty developers or learning strategists, who can help you get started layering in opportunities for changemaking education.
- Community of Practice: Join or start a community of practice – a group of people sharing a common concern, a set of problems, or interest in a topic, who come together to brainstorm and share ideas and solutions – at your institution. See if there are opportunities to involve other institutions to broaden your reach.
Go At Your Own Pace
Changemaking is a marathon, not a sprint. Give yourself permission to ease in as slowly as you need to. Remember that you are in control of when you dial up/down your engagement level depending on your own needs. Sometimes you will have an abundance of time and energy to commit to changemaking, and other times you won’t. That is okay! Please extend grace and compassion to yourself, just as you do for those within your care. This might look like:
- Modifying one part of your course syllabus to include changemaking goals and learning objectives.
- Joining a community of practice as a passive observer.
- Practicing strategies for self-care when things feel overwhelming.
- Creating a changemaker journal where you can jot down ideas for future action.
- Saying no to a changemaking event even though you care deeply about it.
Remember, there is no right or wrong way to do changemaking as long as you are doing it!
Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
Excitement to get going is invigorating and we want you to channel that energy into your changemaking journey. However, avoid reinventing the wheel by first seeing what resources already exist and how you might modify them to adapt to your context and needs. You are welcome to remix any of the activities, assignments, or templates found within this toolkit, but don’t stop here! Survey your colleagues to find out what others are doing and how you can leverage that support.
Build Resilience
Change is hard and very often people can be resistant to it. Conversations about changemaker education may be met with initial resistance. Try not to take it personally. Part of being a changemaker is to remain grounded and anchored in the present moment, actively listening to feedback with openness and curiosity.
Remember Your Why
You have likely felt the call to action as a changemaking educator – a deep desire to do something that makes the world fairer, freer, more equitable, just, and inclusive. You know that this work matters. However, when the work gets hard – and we all know it will – always come back to your reason for choosing to engage in this work.
Change Takes Time
Being and becoming a changemaking educator takes time, critical self-reflection, and practice! The journey is a long haul, fraught with bends and curves and roadblocks and even the occasional detour. Trust in the process of changemaking, follow through on your actions, and know when it is time to course-correct. Remember that the journey is the destination!
