Teacher Self-Confidence/-Esteem

I have been thinking a lot about this lately. Where do we teachers get our confidence from? How do we build up our self-esteem? And what are some of the things that can diminish it?

This past week, my own self-image was put into question due to an incident that occurred over the previous weekend. In short, a bug, or multiple, bit me, and I had a terrible allergic reaction. I took a look at myself in the mirror, and I was in tears. This was happening a day before work/school, with zero time to heal. I was crushed, and I am still crushed because although there is visible healing, emotionally, I am not quite there yet. I wanted to call in sick, knowing the turmoil it would cause at work.

I realised that I am super confident in my capabilities as well as my intelligence, however, I am also reliant on my physical appearance, because being happy and comfortable in your own skin is important. Sometimes, it gets you one step closer to getting the job done.

Bringing this to my profession. It takes a lot to stand in front of 100s of learners that you teach every day and colleagues that you have to work with. While studying for this teaching qualification, they do literally tell you that your physical appearance matters, dress professionally, be well-groomed, the bare minimum, as with any other profession. In that, some take it a step further to have their nails done a certain way, make up every day and a particular scent is an absolute must for some. These all add up to the idea of looking good, feeling good, and eventually doing good as a teacher, presenting to judgemental eyes and mouths ready to gossip about anything and everything.

I think we all do small acts to enhance our self-confidence and self-esteem just to get through the day as best as we can. Of course, we wouldn’t want to be looked down upon for having a skin reaction because my competency in my teaching subject should outweigh all of that. Unfortunately, how the world views us and how we view ourselves plays a role in how we showcase that competency. I might be totally wrong, or maybe overreacting for some it is my opinion after all. Physical appearance measures up differently to everyone. We do not all put in the same effort or time into it, but we do whatever we need to do for ourselves in order to face those kiddos on a daily.

The week was mostly about me finding creative ways to hide most of the damage as best as I could. Fortunately, minimal teaching time, because our learners do not like to show up on the last days of school. Unfortunately, I said no to a lot of opportunities because I was unwilling to have too many people staring at me for too long. My colleagues and friends understood, grateful for them.

My messages to teachers: Do whatever you need to do to get you through the day. We go through the most already on a daily basis, so at the very least, find what will make ‘going through the most’ a little bit easier. I always say, “I cannot look like my problems, so I pick my struggles.”

Thank your for your time! Love and light!