Understanding that academia is not void of the toxic work environment syndrome is the first step in recognizing that there is always room for improvement. There are plenty of old adages that teach us to ignore other people’s bad behavior; all of us have heard them at least once in our lives. “Sticks and stones can break my bones but names can never hurt me” or the old “what goes around comes around” which is supposed to make you feel better knowing that a bully or someone that is just treating out and out badly will someday get their just deserts. All of that advice is well and good, but to be frank it does not help a really bad or negative situation, especially when you have to work with the person that is making life unbearable.

Can We Please Show a Little Bit of a Positive Attitude?

Going to work every day is a fact of life, for most people. In academia it would be nice to think that everyone is there because that is their chosen career path. If this was the case than it would be safe to make the assumption that although it is work it would be somewhat of a positive atmosphere, because everyone would be where they wanted to be. This of course would be utopia. Everyone has days where they just don’t feel like dealing with other people, it is normal and if it isn’t someone’s normal demeanor it is largely overlooked and understood as someone just having a bad day. What if that bad day turned into a bad week? Ok no big deal, everyone has bad weeks. How about a month long sabbatical from a positive attitude? That would be a bit unbearable for co-workers. What if you worked with someone who everyday had something negative to say? That would be horrible. Not only would it be horrible but it would have some really negative influence on the coworkers. It could literally turn into a mutiny of sorts. It would get to the point where that poison attitude would be contagious and would affect even the most positive of employees. Changing things around to make your workplace more positive can simply come down to not speaking to the negative Nelly or Neil, just avoiding them at all costs. It will not improve things for everyone but will certainly improve things for you!

Have You Heard About So and So?

Gossip is the number one thing that most people report as being toxic about their work environment. It is a very hard thing not to get caught up in and ignore. Gossip takes at least two people to travel. There are a couple of things that you can do to improve your situation at work. The first thing you can do is refuse to be a party to gossip. Of course it is hard not to want to hear the latest news, but keep in mind you might be the latest news next week. You can persuade the person that is revealing the latest and greatest news to put an end to the story by stating simply “Let’s not talk about so and so, it is not right”. After the gossip gal or guy gets over the shock of having something so obvious pointed out then they will at least not waste your time with negative chatter about other people.

Idle gossip has ruined more than one career in academia. Rumors that are fueled by gossip whether based in truth or not can really stain someone’s reputation. There have been cases where rumors were dispelled with proof that they were not true, yet the seed was planted and the recovery can take decades or sometimes not happen at all.

Author Bio: Jennifer Dobson is an early childhood educator and she invites you to visit MPM School Supplies, her favorite website to get all of her teaching supplies! The site has an incredible selection of products including all of the great classroom materials and school furniture too. It’s literally a one-stop shop!

Category: Education
Keywords: advice,teaching tips,teacher tips,education,classroom management,teacher mentoring