By Kari Thierer, Washington
I’ve been thinking a lot about vulnerability and the concept of ‘imposter syndrome the past few weeks. I’ve had a series of conversations and events, where the theme of ‘I don’t know what I’m doing’ came up over and over.
It started with a conversation among nonprofit executive directors discussing a blog post on imposter syndrome; continued in a conversation with students in a graduate class where I was a guest lecturer and the concept of assumptions was central. One student apologized because she knew she was making assumptions and offered her thoughts but first stated her explicit nervousness about having assumptions.
The final experiences were during some of my school coaching work. Teachers that are struggling with their practice, and feeling ashamed because they aren’t perfect or don’t know what to do, and worried about coming across as incompetent. The angst, sadness and guilt they were feeling was palpable. It’s hard to focus on improving your practice when you feel like you don’t belong in the profession. When I’m coaching and someone is feeling like an imposter, I get to be the person that helps them re-center and refocus – the fact that they are worried is a good sign, it means they take their work and their role as an educator very seriously.
Each of these conversations had at its core the unsureness that everyone experiences occasionally. Where you are wondering if you are the right person for the job. We don’t often give ourselves permission to be unsure and to not know. That’s an awful lot of weight to be carrying on our shoulders.
One of the things I have valued most about SRI work is that it is based in the premise that we are all learners – each person bringing something to the conversation, regardless of experience or background. And, in fact, the range of experiences and backgrounds makes the conversation richer. But, we are all learners and we are all valuable in the conversation. We must first be vulnerable to become stronger.
In education, more and more companies are offering the quick fix; the right curriculum; the right behavior management system; the perfect staff evaluation tool; the ideal lesson plan template. This leads to the ‘imposter syndrome’ feeling so many of us experience, the feeling of inadequacy and lack of expertise. It is extremely disregarding and damaging to tell educators that teaching can be easy if you just have the right tool/curriculum/mindset. Saying anything less than the fact that teaching is a complex enterprise is disrespectful to the educators who are working hard every day to help their students.
We need to give each other permission to not have all the answers. Things are going to fall apart, you are going to have bad days, students are not going to get what you are trying to teach, and you are going to feel incompetent. That’s part of the job. There are no quick fixes, and to do our best work, we must collaborate and support one another, and we must learn from what is going well. Which leads me to the joy of the Success Analysis protocol and why it’s one of my very favorite protocols.
Success Analysis asks us to pause and think about what is going well in our practice and to analyze our success for our own learning, but also as a learning opportunity for others. Too often, educators are trying to fix things that aren’t going well. Pausing to celebrate and learn from your successes is truly valuable, and can often inform and illuminate the areas where some new thinking may be necessary.
Because I love this protocol so much, and it’s that time of the school year where some celebrating may help rejuvenate you, I’m hosting three opportunities to participate in a virtual Success Analysis. Maybe you’ve never used the protocol and you’d like to find out why it’s my favorite. Maybe you’d like to see how it works in a virtual environment. Maybe you just want to spend some time in community with other educators. Whatever your motivation – I hope you will join me!
Click here to see available days and times and sign up to join!
In the meantime, know that whatever you are feeling is valid. Everyone vacillates between feeling like an imposter and celebration and jubilance at your teaching brilliance. Most of the time, I think most of us land somewhere in between. Please know that SRI is a community of learners who understand and are with you. We want to help you improve your practice by celebrating your successes and helping you think about your dilemmas. We get it. Keep going – you know more than you think you do and it’s OK to ask for help!
Thank you for your dedication to supporting each other and to supporting your students!
With gratitude,
P.S. – I hope to see you at one of the Success Analysis webinars! Click here to register.
