Fears, Revealed

What would you do (as an educator) if you weren't afraid?

All people feel fear, but this prompt represents a more alarming issue with how teachers are seen in society. Teachers are too often silenced and placed into spaces of fear and toxicity. Sometimes their fears are not ones that revolve around their teaching craft and students - most of the time, the fear is around their job security, salary, and pressures from administration and parents. The job stigma that exists in teaching professions in our country further develop and strengthen our fears. 

I hope to think that I am not held back by fears when it comes to working with my students. I want to collaborate and guide students in ways that they need in real time, not what adults need for their benchmarks, pacing guides, and political agendas. My fear lies in whether or not I am doing good by my students. 

I want to reach them in a equitable and meaningful way and I want them to remember the experiences they have had with their classes. There isn't any one way for a teacher to know right away if they have succeeded in this...sometimes it takes time.

Here are some thoughts I found from Siobhan Curious...

"Identifying these fears was a major step in recovering from my burnout.  As I unpacked them, I realized that I needed to change my conception of “good teaching,” I needed to confront classroom difficulties head-on, and I needed to let go of the fantasy that I’d one day walk into the classroom with total confidence that everything would go well.

Fear is a part of any important work.  We don’t need to get over it, but we may need to change our approach to it.  In my next post, I’ll discuss one way I tried to deal with my fears: I got more training."