Blog Post
Vulnerability & Authenticity
By Anna Sikora | 21 May, 2020 | Vulnerability | Authenticity
Dr Brené Brown's seminal talk about vulnerability, has been seen by millions of viewers around the world.
Her most famous words perhaps summarise her understanding of human connectedness, "When you get to a place where you understand that love and belonging, your worthiness, is a birthright and not something you have to earn, anything is possible. Keep worthiness off the table."
She also refers to caring about what others' think. Some of us take it to heart, aren't we such insecure human beings! Some of us are able to just shrug off the indifference, ignorance or harsh criticism we receive. Whilst many would say don't care about what others think, Brené Brown says find the balance.
"When you lose your capacity to care what other people think, you’ve lost your ability to connect. But when you’re defined by it, you’ve lost your ability to be vulnerable."
So the question that begs, for us as educators, is what does vulnerability mean to us?
Egos - they need to be shaken off. How can we possibly connect if we are ego-driven? And what do we mean by ego-driven anyway? Let's ask ourselves is ego-driven empowered by nationality-centric views or biases? Is it emboldened by titles or reimbursements? Is it enhanced through fear of criticism? Or through insecurity or ignorance? Or fear of showing imperfection? Or fear of the truth?
Critisising and measuring is one thing; contributing to a discussion is another
Isn't it often the system that contributes to ego-driven organisations and individuals? The whole measurement idea of lesson observations, even measuring students, this idea of jumping through hoops, is not helpful - it is not illuminating. How conducive can this be to real growth, to real authenticity of individuals and the organisations in which they operate? As in Brown's words, "I think the best way to look at things is: Are people engaged? Are people engaged parents, engaged employees, engaged leaders?"
Shared Engagement
And therefore with engagement, we come full circle as with engagement, comes vulnerability; this willingness to open up ourselves. Human potential is realised when we are brave and when we become vulnerable. We all have this capacity and we all need to keep working at it; always chipping away at the old block that we sometimes desperately hide within. So in practical terms, how do we chip away at revealing our authentic selves for more meaningful engagement and growth?
Steps towards creating an open culture in education
No real growth can happen unless each teacher commits to taking and sharing professional risks. If we allow ourselves to be vulnerable and seek to learn, the benefits are encouraging. For one, our perspectives can widen to encompass the vision of our local or parent organisation. This cannot happen if we are not honest, or don't show the work we do all the time - creating, exchanging and sharing.
Let's ask ourselves some questions:-
Do we think we are better than others?
Do we each trust each other that we each place our students' interests at the heart of what we do?
Are we always fully present with the students under our care?
Do we always fully analyse our students' work and give growth mindset feedback?
Do we reach out to like-minded colleagues to seek feedback and exchange ideas?
Do we make the effort to nurture our professional relationships? Do we really listen to others' perspectives?
Do we make the effort to ensure our abstract content is relatable to everyday living and working, or the lives of others?
Can we trust ourselves and others that our failures can be transformed into growth opportunities?
Are we creating strategies to make improvement?
Do we each share practice and develop a culture of trust so that we can each learn from one another?
How authentic are your methods? How are you, as an individual, building that culture of trust?