Welcome to issue 3 of The Optimalist, in which we contemplate our collective struggle with perfectionism, the conditions needed to find flow in structured learning, and the importance of education at this moment. Since our last issue we’ve stumbled into the somewhat hidden conflict that perfectionism is one of the greatest internal struggles educators confront. We speculated, and weren’t even sure about it ourselves, until it came up naturally as part of a separate discussion we were having with the community.
I relate to this predicament on so many levels: as a former educator, a professional, a new(ish) mother. So what I do is strive for the best, expect the worst, and land somewhere in between. I've had to learn to forgive myself - with the expectations my students will also forgive me as long as I own up to my own inadequacies or incompetence. Embracing this mentality has allowed me to forge deeper relationships with students, colleagues, and beyond.
Getting Past Perfectionism
I relate to this predicament on so many levels: as a former educator, a professional, a new(ish) mother. So what I do is strive for the best, expect the worst, and land somewhere in between. I've had to learn to forgive myself - with the expectations my students will also forgive me as long as I own up to my own inadequacies or incompetence. Embracing this mentality has allowed me to forge deeper relationships with students, colleagues, and beyond.