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I struggle with perfectionism every day, and sometimes, it prevents me from authentically showing up for family, students and myself. I am a social sciences and Spanish teacher and a mother of three children, and with that comes the social and self-imposed pressure to show that all the pieces of my life fit together like a shiny mosaic.
I would like to believe this is a personal battle, but this drive toward perfectionism also impacts our students. I became a teacher because I wanted to be a student forever, so I know what it’s like to be mired in the muck of learning. At our all-girls high school, students want to impress their teachers to gain approval and self-worth. They confound perfectionism with excellence, which can sometimes have a negative impact on their classroom performance.
Working as a World Languages teacher, my job is to erase the pressures of perfectionism that impede our students’ progress toward language fluency and proficiency. I want to create a learning environment that embraces and affirms the humanity of each student and prioritizes our relationships with one another. Learning a new language is often challenging, and being vulnerable enough to make pronunciation, verb conjugation or listening comprehension mistakes can be embarrassing, especially for a student being evaluated based on their ability to learn it. Yet, if learning a new language is going to stick, being bold enough to take risks is essential.
As educators and students, we must openly acknowledge that imperfection is expected on the road to excellence. So, how do we prove to our students that showing up as authentically and humanly as possible is a necessary exercise in courage and the path to progress?
Building Community to Overcome Perfection
Brene Brown once said, “Those who have a strong sense of love and belonging have the courage to be imperfect.” After 20 years in education, I’ve learned to embody this mantra in my curriculum and classroom, which requires a foundation that centers on love and belonging.
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