I learned just as much from actually teaching preschool as I did in all 10 years of graduate coursework.
No matter how much or how little formal education you’ve had, maybe you’ve had a similar experience?
Note: I did learn a ton of useful information in my early childhood coursework and advanced degrees - not saying I didn’t! Just saying I learned just about as much in the classroom.
Oftentimes, we learn as much from trial and error and our co-teachers as we do from college coursework or formal training.
That’s because for the most part what you learned in college courses sets you up for Teaching-Under-Ideal-Conditions-That-Don’t-Exist.
Trying to use recommendations developed by researchers who’ve never led a class of 24 three-year-olds sets you up to approach your teaching with an Idealistic/Unrealistic-Mindset.
Note: I am also not poo-pooing research - please read on!
...and if you go into your teaching with that Idealistic/Unrealistic-Mindset and land on the Idealistic side, you’ll end up forever frustrated that the real world is not acting like it “should” based on those textbook examples.
On the other hand, if you land on the Unrealistic side, you’ll be forever fed up with the unattainable demands placed on you by best practice recommendations and maybe also by your program or supervisors. (Also not trashing supervisors, stay with me folks ;)
Either way, if you’re bogged down by unrealistic strategies and demands or spending all your energy on idealistic visions of what should be happening, you’re set up for failure.
You may even end up being a Burnt-Out Worker and question your career choice.
This unfortunate set-up is as true with challenging behavior as it is with any aspect of early childhood teaching!
Typically, when you’re a Burnt-Out on Behavior Worker, your focus becomes being upset about how unrealistic most of what you learned (and what specialists recommend) is.
Or… you end up blaming yourself and feeling like a failure.
For example, you may have learned to use a behavior data collection system to document challenging behavior immediately following behaviors and every time they occur.
Doing this consistently over time should help you uncover the need behind the behavior. GREAT!
But...who has time for that!?
In the current system, your success as a teacher gets tied to your ability to JUGGLE unrealistic demands and HUSTLE to implement idealistic strategies... and your ability to juggle and hustle as a worker is limited by your time and your energy. Which means your success and impact as a teacher is sadly limited.
If you approach your work with children, who exhibit challenging behavior, with the Worker Who’s Burnt-Out on Behavior Mindset, you’ll likely always feel like you’re on a hamster wheel or putting out fires.
...and you won’t be able to truly transform your classroom in a way that minimizes challenging behaviors and allows you to quickly de-escalate behaviors when they do occur.
Transformed classrooms filled with joyful learning for all children and minimal challenging behavior are created by Teachers with a Leader mindset, not burnt out workers caught in the unrealistic/idealistic mindset trap.
I call these Teacher-Leaders, Transformational Teachers.
Transformational Teachers know they are working in imperfect systems so they don’t waste precious energy fretting about that fact.
They recognize that they need to advocate and lead, maybe sometimes bend the rules, innovate, and use an approach to challenging behavior that combines the best and most actionable aspects of research with the “folk wisdom” of co-workers and decades of in-the-classroom wisdom.
Find me any early childhood teacher who is consistently successful with children who exhibit the most challenging of behaviors, who actually spends their time in the burnt out worker-mindset.
...you can’t! They simply don’t exist.
If you're in that Unrealistic/Idealistic Burned Out Worker mindset you may feel like instead of running your classroom, your classroom’s running YOU!
Now, if you’ve never thought of yourself as a leader before, no less a teacher-leader who’s creating a transformational classroom, how would you know HOW to be a successful Teacher-Leader?
You wouldn’t!
That’s why I’m currently creating a community of early childhood teachers from around the world who are stepping out of the burnt out worker-mindset and into the Role of The Transformational Teacher-Leader - when it comes to challenging behavior...and, beyond!
So, if you’re burnt-out on behavior and/or you think you might be stuck in that unrealistic/idealistic worker mindset…
Keep an eye out for my live Transform Challenging Behavior training series.
I’ll be sharing strategies that blend the best and both actionable aspects of challenging behavior research with the wisdom developed in real world classrooms.
What’s one way you’ve been frustrated with unrealistic demands or strategies?
Let me know in the comments below.