Comparison is a killer

A roar of laughter arises from a class of students close by. Do we smile in the joy of others having some fun or do we berate ourselves with silent but deadly thoughts, flavoured along the lines of, ‘Why is my classroom not laughing?’, ‘My lessons are boring’, ‘I’m not a great teacher’, ‘I’m doing it all wrong.’

Negative thoughts which judge our teaching prowess, effectiveness and ability, destroy a teacher’s confidence and water down the true ability to teach.

These negative thoughts abound and one way they come flooding in is via comparison to other teachers. This comparison damages us and inadvertently undermines building relationships with our colleagues who we put ourselves in comparison to.

Comparing often highlights a lack of appreciation and confidence in our own teaching.

This is paramount and key. The fear of not being good enough or getting it wrong can leave us open to falling prey to feeling less when another appears on the outside to be doing it all super well. 

An antidote to being besieged with negative thoughts begins with identifying and appreciating our own set of abilities and qualities that are unique in our teaching.

These could include being highly organised, playful, humorous, wise, caring, kind, intuitive, great at research, IT savvy or a PowerPoint master.

Rarely do we possess the lot and that is actually a wonderful fact because it requires teachers to resource each other and enhance our collegiality with each other.

Appreciating and being inspired by each other’s skills and qualities creates incredibly powerful and harmonious working relationships.

Environments where the culture of support and appreciation is occurring, builds personal capacity and allows for honesty and the opportunity to ask for help. 

Let us knock out comparison and honestly support each other as teachers by appreciating the diversity of our skills and innate qualities.