Rediscovering the Fire: How Meaningful Connections Reignite Passion in Teaching
It's crucial to find meaning in work, especially for educators and leaders. Losing sight of passion can make work dull and unengaging for both the individual and those they serve. How does meaning tie into effective teaching? This article explores how rediscovering meaning can inspire teachers and students, leading to a more fulfilling career. Practical exercises are shared to reignite passion and purpose, even when feeling burnt out or stuck.
How does being connected to your meaning tie into effective teaching?
While educating and leading others is inherently meaningful, I’ve met countless educators who have lost the fire for teaching. It is critical for us educators and leaders to intentionally recreate meaning throughout our careers instead of moving on autopilot and hoping to “find meaning.”
In my fifth year of teaching, I began to feel bored by teaching the same subject repeatedly. While I enjoyed connecting with a new crop of students every year, I felt agitated because my routine felt stale, and my creative juices dried up. I needed a gentle “kick in the pants” so that summer, I enrolled in a two-week P.D. program that reinvigorated and helped me recreate my meaning as a teacher. Being newly inspired, I decided to share with my students that I teach because I want to make the world a better place. I shared my experience of being discriminated against and how important it was for me to teach them about history and how to avoid repeating atrocities from the past, how to celebrate people who are different as opposed to judging them. More than my words, my students can feel my energy, and were more engaged.
Students can tell when we lack meaning in what we do. Conversely, they also appreciate the creative energy that comes when we recreate meaning in our work.
If you find that you are lacking meaning at work (or in life), do the following:
Acknowledge it. By explicitly owning it, you lessen the energy drain caused by frustration, and you can be ready to actively recreate meaning.
Give yourself permission to have more meaning in things other than teaching, like the arts, politics, or your kids. It’s 100% okay that, at this moment in your career, teaching is not the primary endeavor that brings you the most meaning. Remember that students benefit most from teachers who are passionate about life and excited to wake up every day. So the more you give yourself permission to be excited about other things, the better you’ll feel, and the more students will benefit. And even if it means that you will eventually switch careers, that’s 100% okay as well. That will pave the way for you to be passionate about your new work and make room for another person who is stoked about teaching. Do not feel any guilt about that. The world needs more people who are on fire about what they do.
Be gentle with yourself. I don’t know any educator who goes through their entire career completely connected to their meaning and purpose. It’s okay to feel stuck, bored, or frustrated.
Be patient with yourself. Recreating meaning is a process that can take some digging and some time. While you should actively recreate meaning, you shouldn’t push for it.
Look for professional or personal development programs that sound and inspiring for you. They may be the kindling you need to recreate meaning.
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Try the following exercises to expedite the process
Writing Exercise #1
Ask yourself “What does life expect of me now?” Free write for 5 to 10 minutes without stopping. Then look back at your journal, and write for another five minutes about the following: What is most exciting for me here? What emotions are coming up for me? Who do I need to become to do this?
Get more of these exercises in my book.