Hearing an early career teacher talk about her aspirations of
becoming a principal reassured my optimism for the future of education…only
then I heard experienced teachers say something along the lines of- ‘can you
believe the level of confidence?’ and ‘get through your first five or ten years
first’. I have previously encouraged early career teachers to present, only to hear
the concern of what others would think. I‘ve blogged about the Tall Poppy syndrome, which is familiar to many Australians. On the flip-side, I’ve known of early career teachers who believe that
after their first year, they’ve ‘got this’. This is concerning as we all know teaching is never mastered but a continual learning process. I wonder if they want to appear confident and competent. And there lies that fine line between
confidence and arrogance.
If we invest in our early career teachers through
coaching, could we influence their confidence, while modelling humility? Arrogance
in education has no place, but confidence on the other hand, is about trying to
improve oneself, which is vital for all teachers and learners. It was inspiring
to learn about the tall poppy campaign developed by the Australian Institute of
Policy and Science.
Young Tall Poppy Science Awards aim to
recognise the achievements of Australia’s outstanding young scientific
researchers and communicators. It is up to us to encourage, guide and inspire
all our colleagues and I for one, would love to turn around the concept of the ‘Tall
Poppy’ and make it a positive attribute of all teachers. Just imagine what more
we could achieve, if we supported and promoted all our teachers, especially the
early career teachers who enter this profession intrinsically motivated and
enthusiastic.

Thanks for reading,
@stringer_andrea
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