January Spotlight
January Spotlight
There is one person that all of us need to be a little kinder to: ourselves.
As educators, we have chosen this profession because we care about people. We especially care about little people – the children we teach. We go out ofwayto make their lives richer. We goabove and beyondto support our colleagues. We put everyone ahead of us.And when thingsdon’tgo well; a lesson thatdidn’tquite work out the way we planned, troublingbehaviourfrom a student or a tough phone call withparent, we often look in the mirror and point a finger. Right back at ourselves.
Regular reflection on our practice is a noble trait and frankly, it isgoodpedagogy.But we tend to blame ourselves a little too much.That critical inner voiceis something we all deal with at times.It tends to rear its head when we are struggling with our mental health or our general well-being.Especially at times when we haveovertaxedourselves and are running ragged with work and life.Many educators struggle with poorsleepand it is often in the middle of the night, staring at the ceiling when that critical inner voice comes to life.Ironically, we would never speak to anotherpersonthe way we speak to ourselves.
We need to cut ourselves someslack.It has been shown that our critical inner voice waslikely formedin childhoodandbased on attitudesorlanguage directed towards us from parents and teachers. Critical innervoicecan lead to mental health issues and affect ourwell-being.It has been linked to lowself esteemandself judgement.Being aware of it and challengingthe negativityare good first stepsin controlling that internal dialogue.
So, just like we look out for everyone else, we need to startlooking outfor ourselves. Practice someself compassion.Instead of the critical inner voice, create an inner mentor.
Be kinder to yourself!
Here is a short videocontainingstrategies to combat your critical inner voice: