Believing in Yourself as a Teacher

Hey, Teachers!

When we become teachers, our focus is helping and guiding students. We want the best for them. We want them to succeed. We hope to reach every learner–every individual–by nurturing creativity, discovery learning, and a classroom garden that feels safe, that feels like the warmth of sunshine. For many of us, the classroom becomes a second home, and on most days, good teachers are the sunshine in an otherwise empty room.

In that process of applying nurture to the teaching and learning space, we give of ourselves tirelessly each week, right alongside navigating our own personal challenges and pursuit that include cultivating harmony and safety in our own families and with our own children.

Part of teaching mastery is pausing to reflect, and applying introspection to the classroom space--the space that lives in us because of the "love" we have for the profession and for our students. This article explores how to continue cultivating a positive mindset related to teacher self-image when our worlds might feel dimmer and more uncertain, and our students are more anxious and uncertain.

Following are 3 steps you can take to continue believing in yourself as a classroom teacher.

1. Revisit your original desire to teach. There is something special and unique that only you can bring students. What is it? What do students tell you specifically when they thank you for your kind hand in their lives? What stands out? We want to save those treasures and revisit those sentiments, but not just as memorable teaching keepsakes. We wan to practice what's working well with students and allow that to shine in our teaching.

Protecting our enthusiasm, our interest in the field, our burgeoning desire to keep learning and growing as adults, and our performance spontaneity means first identifying what our beliefs and values are, and secondly, underscoring those non-negotiables in our work. Keeping our original reasons for teaching alive can keep us motivated. There's the sense that we're protecting our own hearts, and within our hearts, the stuff that makes teaching fun.

Too often, toxicity in the workplace, challenging school years, or overwhelm can obliterate our original goals and desires, the things that brought us into this profession and told us we could "make a difference". Those original goals and desires are the things we must shelter and water–until they flourish.

2. Stop negativity at the door. As a dedicated classroom teacher, you inherently make the decisions that are best for students–thousands of decisions in a week. Stopping negativity can simply be the smile you wear when greeting students at the door or the commitment you've made to uplift and enlighten others to the best of your ability. But stopping negativity can also involve heavier tasks, like revisiting the protocols we now include at the back of our minds related to active school threats, or applying careful revision to email responses handling administrator inquiry into our decision-making, or fielding anger from parents and guardians when we make mistakes or don't seem to meet expectations. When we make mistakes, and we're humble about it, negativity can affect us at our core–it can shake us, disrupt our sense of stability and self-assuredness, and make us question our worth altogether.

To protect ourselves, we must be able to articulate basic tenets of our personal teaching philosophies that guide our decision-making, and stand on knowing we work hard to remain compliant as practitioners, and we're doing the best job we can.

When sudden events occur, the negative things that take us by surprise, we can remain grounded in our "why", and tell ourselves we are not going to internalize that negativity. Situations that can become traumatic for teachers require a tremendous amount of resilience to overcome, and sometimes, those situations can destroy what once felt safe and secure. But for all the other negative moments that can arise in a school day that aren't potential dealbreakers but affect us, the ones that whisper we're not good enough, we're not cut out for this, we should've done that better, or cause self-doubt about whether we can reach students–we need to be intentional about recognizing what's really going on so we can think more clearly and make more objective decisions that preserve our integrity. 

Teaching is a process. It is a journey. Mastery in teaching is a lifelong endeavor. Even in the face of mistakes, ridicule, what feels like a failing classroom, or overwhelm, we can embrace the good we are doing and build upon it.

3. Invest time in what you love. Believing in yourself as a teacher is both an inward and outward expression essentially, of having zeal for life (at least that's how I've always looked at it). Believing in yourself centers on knowing individual purpose and taking steps to fulfill that purpose. Fulfilling that purpose undoubtedly asks that we link our classrooms to the overarching goals of promoting opportunity and possibility.

Our students should generally see us excited to be there, motivated to know them, enthusiastic about the curriculum and process, and as willing participants who care about them and the learning outcomes. If "love" isn't part of our teaching vocabulary or repertoire of positive strategies in building strong relationships on the job, then why are we teaching? How are we teaching? And what are we actually doing?

We are human beings first and foremost. Investing time in ourselves as teachers remains both a top priority and a glaring obstacle. We tend to give more to others than to ourselves during any given school year. Believing in yourself as a teacher is undeniably connected to believing in yourself as a person. And what we believe and value sets the stage for how we think of ourselves as teachers, and what we choose to emphasize or not emphasize beyond the long list of mandates and must-haves related to job duties. Believing in yourself and building strong self-efficacy helps to define who you are as an educator.

Believing in yourself is at the center of career longevity. It means refusing to let the storms that are brewing, headed your way, and are yours to creatively solve, destroy why you're in the classroom–to inspire and guide students to greater pathways of success.

I'm reminded of lines 3 and 4 in William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18: "Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May/And summer's lease hath all too short a date". This poem speaks to the eternal beauty of its recipient, and carries significant themes of everlasting renewal every time the poem is read. But the poem can also apply delicately to our roles as teachers.

Our classes are moments in time. We get our students only a short while. We can liken the opportunity of "class" to a summer that is short, and the "darling buds" to the very essence of what we hope to cultivate with our students–growth.

We can't let the storms obliterate our garden–our hope. 

We face many obstacles as practitioners.

Believing in ourselves is at the heart of continuing to move forward with determination, vision, and effective strategies that impact our students positively.