Vulnerability

Many, many years ago, a veteran teacher told me, “Students are a pack. If you show any sign of vulnerability, they’ll go for the

jugular.”

Wow.

How many teachers are protecting their jugulars by hiding their vulnerability? What does this self-protection mean for students and learning? If at least one teacher felt this way many years ago, well before COVID, how much worse is it now?

Where does teacher vulnerability go inside teachers? Where can teachers go with their very normal, informative vulnerability?

Look:

• Teaching is emotional.

• Some of those emotions are negative. (There. I said it. Teachers very often feel negative emotions. Like anger. Anxiety. Fear. Frustration. Revulsion. Self-doubt. Insecurity.)

• Ignoring negative emotions means a buildup that can express itself in unintentional and harmful ways and can lead to burnout.

• Attending to negative emotions is not what you think it is. (It’s not self-indulgent. It’s not weak. It doesn’t lend credence to the negative emotions or make them stronger. It’s not a waste of time.)

• Attending to negative emotions is what you think it isn’t. (Helpful. Illuminating. Relieving. Revelatory. Transformative. Joyful. Miraculous. Efficient.)

Feeling vulnerable is a normal part of being a teacher. Hell, it’s a normal part of

being human.

I’m not saying teachers should expose their vulnerability to their students. I am saying teachers need somewhere to expose their vulnerability so they can use it to

strengthen themselves and their teaching.

Where is that somewhere? In TSGs. With a psycho-coach. With a therapist. Within themselves (check out this article, which has a checklist teachers can use to check in with themselves.) In this book, which goes into easy reading detail about a number of ways teachers can transform difficult emotions and experiences into, well, miracles.

Yes, it’s a

crazy paradox:

Diving into your vulnerability with structure, confidentiality, and support is a great way to protect that jugular of yours.