A few years ago I took up the the view that everyone has a small talent, or superpower that they barely notice but which helps them in a little way in their lives. For example, my sister is AMAZING at budgeting- she is the Martin Lewis of finances and has managed to save money for both of her daughters alongside a house renovation, job losses and other financial changes within her family over the past 10 years. Mine is parking (perhaps not always as useful as being money savvy)- I can fit into the smallest of spaces and always find one close to home.
I believe everyone has these little superpowers which are by no means superhuman abilities, however they make small portions of life that little bit easier.
Why am I writing a blog post about this? This afternoon I went out on a run and was listening to a podcast about social media and the impact it has on self esteem and mental health. One of the messages the guest had was that people should use social media to celebrate what they are good at, rather than their aesthetic. So rather than posting endless photoshopped selfies instead post artwork you are proud of, the cake you baked today or a poem you have written. This made me think back to my ‘everyone has a superpower’ belief and the idea that, as teachers and educators we need to celebrate our own successes within practice and dictate our own path in teaching rather than the one we feel we should follow.
As a young teacher I was promoted for four out of the five years in my first school (the fifth I was a Head of Year so just stayed in that role and followed my year group up into Year 11). I moved into a pastoral role not because I wanted to, but because I felt I had to move up the hierarchy, along with the accompanying pay rise. This resulted eventually, in part, to my being signed off with stress after having a panic attack when a pupil refused repeatedly to come to an after school detention (it sounds silly now when I write that down but at the time it was the straw that broke the camel’s back). Now I work in a different educational environment I have felt the freedom to really explore what I want to do and have said ‘no’ to opportunities for promotion suggested by my superiors if they do not feel right. It should not take a panic attack or stress for someone to take the time to really think about their career, however it was the wake up call I needed to take a step back from the endless cycle of planning, fixtures and assemblies and think about what I really wanted to do.
Unfortunately it took me going through a very difficult time at work to realise that this is an option but now I am much more careful about the things I do at work and the reasons I do them. It also has given me the ability to really think about my strengths and my interests and consider how I can pull them into my job role and carve out a career that really works for me. This is a thought articulated by Emma Gannon in her book ‘The Multi-Hyphen Method’, which I have mentioned before (I am still working my way through it so no doubt I will again at some point in the future!).
So, my advice for new teachers, old teachers, or teachers who are having a crisis of confidence is this. Consider what you really love about your job, what are you interested in, what it was that made you choose this career. Then spend some time thinking about how you can mould or adapt your role to fit more of that reason in. Would some CPD help? Could you have some time to run an extra club or trip? Speak to your manager about what you could do to insert your personality, your superpower, into your job. It may be as small as running a breakfast club, setting up a department twitter account, setting up the display boards or as large as a whole school project or joining in a national initiative. Spend some time really thinking about what you want to get out of your career and how you can make it happen. Your superpower will not only make you more satisfied at work but also make you stand out when you feel it is time to move on, showing you have the drive to give more to your work and inject your personality into what you do.
An important part in this is also remembering that it's OK to say NO! Saying no to a promotion you don't really want, to an additional responsibility you don't currently have time for or anything which you believe may move you away from what you really enjoy or reduce your capacity to be amazing at what you already do. I recently had a coaching session and had to be reminded of this very simple piece of advice by my coach- so much so that he insisted I wrote it down to make sure I remembered it!
Although on my journey I have had some lows, making time to think about this has helped me to now become the happiest and most fulfilled I have ever been at work- and I always get a good car parking space!
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