Today I want to talk about something that has been on my mind for a while: rethinking our passion for teaching.
What do I mean by that? Well, I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “follow your passion” many times, especially when it comes to choosing a career. And teaching is often seen as a passion-driven profession, where you need to love what you do and do what you love. But is that really the best way to approach teaching?
Passionate Commitment
Don’t get me wrong, I love teaching and I’m passionate about it. But I also think that passion can sometimes blind us to the realities and challenges of teaching. Passion can make us ignore our own needs and boundaries, or feel guilty for not being perfect or happy all the time. Passion can also create unrealistic expectations and pressure, both from ourselves and others, that can lead to burnout and dissatisfaction.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Teacher Burnout
This season, my podcast that I co-host with fellow educators, the Teacher’s Pep Rally podcast, had an insightful and rather frank conversation with Dr. Kevin Leichtman about teacher burnout. Dr. Leichtman says that when we “really talk about burnout there’s a couple of elements that you’ve got to consider but it stems from a passionate commitment. So burnout isn’t something like you just hate your job. It’s that you actually care deeply about your job, or what it represents. So it’s a passionate commitment, and there’s a pervasive breakdown of that job’s role in your life. So when I say ‘pervasive’, it’s always a constant in your mind.”
You might be thinking, “My job is not giving me what I want it to give me. It’s not giving me what I expected and doing that creates an overwork. So you say I am gonna just work through this. I’m going to get the results I want because this job matters to me, this career is my passion. It’s my everything. So I’m gonna work until I achieve those results. And once you realize that those results are unachievable, and there are barriers in your way, that creates the exhaustion. The overwhelming and the breaking down of both the career, and your personal life, those, I think, are the key elements. I think when people talk about burnout they tend to talk about maybe one or 2 of those own elements at a time, maybe it’s you cared about something, and now you don’t, and that’s not really what it is, because burnout people still do care. They just don’t have a way to achieve what it is that they care about, and they can’t navigate that space.”
Rethink Your Passion
That’s why I think we need to rethink our passion for teaching. Instead of seeing it as something that defines us and drives us, we should see it as something that enriches us and supports us. We should see it as one aspect of our identity and our life, not the whole thing. We should see it as a source of joy and inspiration, not a duty or a sacrifice.
How can we do that? Well, here are some ideas that have helped me:
Balance your passion with other interests and hobbies.
Don’t let teaching consume your whole life. Find time to do things that make you happy and fulfilled outside of work.
Set healthy boundaries and limits.
Don’t overwork yourself or take on more than you can handle. Learn to say no when you need to and ask for help when you need it.
Celebrate your achievements and appreciate your strengths.
Don’t focus only on the negatives or the problems. Recognize what you do well and what you have accomplished. Be proud of yourself and your work.
Seek feedback and support from others.
Don’t isolate yourself or feel like you have to figure everything out on your own. Connect with other teachers who share your passion and understand your challenges. Learn from them and share with them.
Keep learning and growing.
Don’t stagnate or settle for the status quo. Seek new opportunities and challenges that will help you improve your skills and knowledge. Be curious and open-minded.
These are some of the ways that I have rethought my passion for teaching and the education profession. And I can tell you that it has made a positive difference in my life and my work. I feel more balanced, more fulfilled, more resilient, and more enthusiastic when I remind myself that this role should be enriching and should have a boundary.
What about you? How do you think about your passion for teaching? Do you agree or disagree with me? Let us know. And don’t forget to subscribe to my blog for more posts like this one. Thanks for reading and being a part of this community!
See You Real Soon,
Erin