{"id":5563,"date":"2016-05-24T04:19:36","date_gmt":"2016-05-24T04:19:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/?p=5563"},"modified":"2016-05-24T04:19:36","modified_gmt":"2016-05-24T04:19:36","slug":"the-fear-factor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/2016\/05\/24\/the-fear-factor\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fear Factor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Matthewby Matthew Noble<\/em><\/p>\n

Last week I sent around a short questionnaire asking fellow teachers about \u2018fear\u2019. A handful of people suggested \u2018fear\u2019 wasn\u2019t really the right word. They said \u2018\u2018anxiety\u2019 is more appropriate. Indeed, the term \u2018anxiety\u2019 is often found in the literature in regards to individual learners, learner groups, teachers, and its effect on motivation, learning, and (to a lesser degree) teaching.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t recall or edit the survey, though. I thought that while most respondents would automatically equate the term with anxiety anyway, sticking with \u2018fear\u2019 might prove interesting because it connotes a more objective threat and stronger emotions. Anxiety is typically associated with chronic, lingering dis-ease, while fear – with more immediate, intense, and temporary reactions in specific situations. We have anxiety about<\/i> something, and a fear of<\/i> something. But clearly there\u2019s a lot of overlap. Together, anxiety and fear trace a fair bit of territory on the heart-map of the teacher\u2019s identity which, I declare, is a land of emotion…stronger emotion than we might usually acknowledge.<\/p>\n

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In fact, right now I\u2019d like to acknowledge that while I may not be experiencing extreme fear writing this piece for the iTDi Blog, I\u2019m certainly anxious! What will the readers think? Is my writing okay? Just how disappointing will it be?<\/i> I hear a voice within, and it\u2019s a fearful voice. It\u2019s saying, \u201csomeone\u2019s going to find you out<\/i>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Anyway, let\u2019s get back to the survey. When respondents shared about fears they remember from their early days as teachers<\/b>, what do you think was front and center? The most common thread running through their accounts was the often intensely fearful \u201cimpostor syndrome<\/a>\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201cI was afraid of students finding out how much I relied on the textbook because I was just learning how to be a teacher, and I did not have any formal training in TESOL…\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201c…Screwing up complicated classroom management or a task set up and that someone would <\/i>realise<\/i> what an impost<\/i>o<\/i>r I was…\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time I taught I had butterflies in my stomach, I was afraid of being labeled ‘stupid’, of not knowing something I should know (‘my native language’), of being asked questions and having no answer, of being an impostor…\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Does any of that ring a bell? Or perhaps flap a butterfly wing? The next question asked about fears they encountered as more experienced teachers<\/b>. The responses here were more varied, as well as much more specific.<\/p>\n

1 – \u201cI fear students get confused about my instructions or writing prompts\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

2 – \u201cNow and then think I may someday get bored or tired and want to leave the profession\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

3 \u202f- \u201cMy fear now is that my students (who pay for English classes) won’t get their money’s worth out of the class\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

4 – \u201cNow that I am into teacher training I am afraid that I might project my own perceptions of good\/bad teaching on my trainees\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

5 – \u201cI still always get nervous when facing new classes\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Interestingly, to me these read more like \u2018fears\u2019 than the first batch. Do we tend to shift from experiencing a more overarching \u2018anxiety\u2019 to having more \u2018focused fears\u2019 as we develop? Another thing to note is that many responses in the first question about the early teaching days ignored the prompt to report what they did in the face of the fear they experienced. In contrast, there was much more about facing the fear and responding<\/b> to the situation in connection with more recent fears. And since I\u2019m a teacher, I\u2019m now going to have you do a little matching task with some of these comments. Match the four responses A-D below with the items 1-5 above. Yes, there\u2019s one without a match! (Answers below)<\/p>\n

A – That’s<\/i> why I always talk to them in regards to specified criteria<\/i><\/p>\n

B – I get feedback from students about class activities<\/i><\/p>\n

C – I always try new things and seek further professional development<\/i><\/p>\n

D – I think <\/i>it\u2019s<\/i> a good thing and I try to stay open to new experiences<\/i><\/p>\n

These comments reflect the resilience and resourcefulness teachers develop over their careers. It\u2019s not that anxiety or fear in the face of problems disappears. Rather, there\u2019s a shift. Expert teachers have been described as \u201cworking at the edge of their competence\u201d, thereby maximizing opportunities for both encountering and solving problems. They invite challenges, lean into them, and live the questions<\/i> that once caused fear. And as they develop they increasingly live out the famous Maya Angelou quote, \u201cHaving courage does not mean that we are unafraid. Having courage and showing courage mean we face our fears.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

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Respondents to my survey also identified what they thought were common teacher fears.<\/b> Can you relate to any of these? Take a minute to simply reflectively connect one or more of them to your own experience. These are memories of the past, but what might you take out of this recall and reflection for tomorrow? If there is fear or other negative emotion around it, what could be your first step through it?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat they may be missing out on something else career-wise\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of teachers just want their students to like them, but fear they don\u2019t\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cNot feeling respected and appreciated for their hard work\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cMurphy\u2019s Law and technology – constantly on edge: will it work<\/i>?!?<\/i>\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Finally, some of the additional prompts<\/b> teachers offered for reflection <\/b>on teacher\u2019s fear and anxiety:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact of fear is on teacher’s professional development choices. Does it spark a bigger desire to learn or does it paralyze the teacher? Sort of like what happens with anxiety, which can be positive if it is not overwhelming\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoy being in the class and feel comfortable 99% of the time, but I am busy and I have been worried about exhaustion and burnout\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cDo teachers feel that their English proficiency causes them fear as well?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cTeachers need to know they do not know everything. Putting our <\/i>defences<\/i> down is a great way to open our hearts and learn from students\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

If one of those prompts (or anything else here) inspires you to respond, please don\u2019t be afraid to do so in the comment box below, or on twitter, or on your own blog! Because what is very clear to me is this: the negative side of fear thrives in isolation. Dan Lortie called teaching \u201cthe egg-carton profession\u201d<\/a> because we may work in close proximity to our peers but too rarely connect and collaborate in important ways. As one of my respondents commented, \u201cSchools should have an open door policy and teachers should walk in and out of each other’s teaching rooms!\u201d. Now that\u2019s<\/i> unafraid! And it\u2019s beautiful. It\u2019s also, unfortunately, unrealistic. So while we keep working to break down the more physical walls, we should use the connective vessel of the internet to share thoughts, experiences, and especially emotions<\/i> with colleagues through social media and teacher networks like iTDi. This is one powerful way for teachers to beat fear and be free.<\/p>\n

Matching task answers: 4 – A, 1 – B, 2 – C, 5 – D.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Matthew Noble Last week I sent around a short questionnaire asking fellow teachers about \u2018fear\u2019. A handful of people suggested \u2018fear\u2019 wasn\u2019t really the right word. They said \u2018\u2018anxiety\u2019 is more appropriate. Indeed, the term \u2018anxiety\u2019 is often found in the literature in regards to individual learners, learner groups, teachers, and its effect on … Continue reading The Fear Factor<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":5326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fear"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}