“Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.”
A big part of the anxiety created by teaching is the need to be, or at least aim to be, perfect. Every lesson outstanding. All books marked up to date. Every last bit of paperwork completed on time. Personally, I don't think it's possible. Some may disagree with me; I know of some people who colour-code their folders, plan every lesson for hours, and spend their weekends marking. Usually these people are trainees or NQTs. This level of "perfection" is not sustainable. Eventually every teacher comes to the realisation that you cannot obtain perfection, and it is actually counter-productive to try.
Some people see perfection as stringently sticking to an particular way of doing things - an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it mentality". The website 16personalities.com argues that:
"The more [one personality type] preserve fixed order, the more they feel they are performing their duty in a perfect way."
This is as equally flawed way of doing things because teaching is an ever-changing profession and to keep doing things in exactly the same way ad infinitum will result in atrophy.
So, if you can't obtain perfection, but you can't just keep doing the same thing either, then what's the answer? It comes down to a combination of things:
1. Work hard. I covered this in an earlier blog and it is obviously a key part of success.
2. Try new things. This is something I will cover in a future blog and should be quite clear as to the benefits.
3. Don't stress if things go wrong. This is basically the crux of the matter - work hard, try new things, but don't lose sleep if things go wrong.
In her excellent blog on the same topic, Lisa Dabbs far more eloquently explains how it should be about progress, not perfection and how we need to take pleasure in the process. After all, we encourage our students to build resilience, learn from their mistakes, and not expect perfection, so why should we tell ourselves different things (aside from the obvious fact that we're supposed to be "older and wiser")? In her excellent Ted Talk Kate Neligan gives similar hints on how to avoid stress-causing perfection-chasing: it's about enjoying the process, being content with what you have achieved, and taking yourself into account.
"The more [one personality type] preserve fixed order, the more they feel they are performing their duty in a perfect way."
This is as equally flawed way of doing things because teaching is an ever-changing profession and to keep doing things in exactly the same way ad infinitum will result in atrophy.
So, if you can't obtain perfection, but you can't just keep doing the same thing either, then what's the answer? It comes down to a combination of things:
1. Work hard. I covered this in an earlier blog and it is obviously a key part of success.
2. Try new things. This is something I will cover in a future blog and should be quite clear as to the benefits.
3. Don't stress if things go wrong. This is basically the crux of the matter - work hard, try new things, but don't lose sleep if things go wrong.
In her excellent blog on the same topic, Lisa Dabbs far more eloquently explains how it should be about progress, not perfection and how we need to take pleasure in the process. After all, we encourage our students to build resilience, learn from their mistakes, and not expect perfection, so why should we tell ourselves different things (aside from the obvious fact that we're supposed to be "older and wiser")? In her excellent Ted Talk Kate Neligan gives similar hints on how to avoid stress-causing perfection-chasing: it's about enjoying the process, being content with what you have achieved, and taking yourself into account.
So, don't spend that extra hour planning a lesson that you've already spent two hours on; it's fine, it will do. Leave early on a Friday, don't even look at that display that you haven't updated for a month. Give yourself a break once in a while - you will never achieve perfection, so stop worrying so much about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment