Does activism make you a better person?
January 25th, 2010
WTO protests in Seattle, November 30, 1999. Photo by djbones via flickr.
I decided to go with a somewhat smug and overbearing headline for this post on purpose since I think a lot of people tend to look at activists as sort of self-righteous, arrogant pricks. I like to sprinkle a modest amount self deprecating humor here and there. After all, aside from being a dad, a hubby, a full-time wage slave, a borderline obsessive technophile, bookworm and caffeine junky, I’m also an activist, usually interested in the human rights end of things. I coordinate The Committee to Protect Bloggers, am working on a crisis map in Farsi for the Iranian reform movement and run with folks in the International Solidarity Movement among other pursuits. Why would anyone engage in all this stuff instead of just getting a good night’s rest or playing more video games?
A while back I came across news about a study by by Tim Kasser and Malte Klar, entitled “Some Benefits of Being an Activist: Measuring Activism and Its Role in Psychological Well-Being.” I bookmarked the item and several related articles as potential fodder for this blog, but I was also particularly interested in getting some insight into possibly my own motivations for “getting involved.” Read the rest of this entry »
Measuring burnout in the public domain vs. copyright methods
June 1st, 2009
"One Hundred and Sixty" by Stibbons
Most everyone knows what professional burnout feels like, but measuring it and describing it objectively seems to be an elusive goal, akin to describing the color blue to a blind person. Burnout is a part of my current job.
Not my own burnout1 but professional burnout among educators, the people who Teacher Support Network2 serve. Our online and telephone support services did help rekindle my interest in psychology and get me on the path back to school, and I tend to spend some time looking at new ways to bring tools to teachers to measure their own stress levels, work/life balance, etc., but how to best measure burnout overall? What’s the best method for people to assess themselves, and how can a school system best look at the burnout rate of its educators? Read the rest of this entry »