The Dangers of Teachers Having BIG Egos
You have seen the teachers with the giant egos. You know who they are.
You might even be one.
If you are a student, you’ve had one or two. We all have.
An ego can be a good thing–you are proud of your work. Your confidence in what you are teaching, your passion, will incite interest in your class and fill them with confidence in themselves.
This is more pride than ego, really.
That’s the good side.
And the bad side? It’s very bad.
An ego can take hold of a teacher easily. You are up in front of a class of students, a captive audience, you have power over them. They must listen to what you say. You control the message and the evaluation of that message (grades). It is bad, yes.
They are the ones that talk all class, the boring teachers.
But the danger is not only there. The largest danger of a huge ego for a teacher is that it prevents them from learning.
A good teacher must be a good learner, a person who seeks new challenges, seeks to improve his art of teaching, looks for more interesting ways to engage students, and above all, knows what his students need him to teach (not what he or she wants to teach or what is easy to teach, but what the students need).
Do not be a teacher whose ego interferes with their learning. You can learn from your students, your peers (even those you may think “beneath” you).
Egos also prevent teachers from working together. I see it often. A good team of teachers can accomplish much more than a handful alone, even if they work 20 hours a day.
And a team of teachers, learning from each other, and their colleagues, whose aim is to help their students succeed? They can build something that will last for decades.
I found this little article very interesting. I have worked as an EA in a high school for 15 years, And the most difficult teachers to work with are those with the big ego. I am 53 and prior to choosing this career (mainly because I wanted to be available for my kids), I was a Paramedic and then a Registered Cardiology Tech at a major hospital for 21 years. So I draw from a list of life experiences. My issues are typically with the first year teachers, that are not much older than the students they are teaching. They themselves are tied to their cell phones and are more concerned about being friends with their students rather than doing what’s in their best interests. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to validate my frustration.