Do they really need to be perfect?
An Illinois educator claims teachers aren’t treated like professionals, arguing that they “get policed in a way that virtually no other profession [does].” By this, she means teachers constantly have to maintain a ‘perfect’ image, even when not in the classroom. Her video has over 131,000 views and over 22,000 likes.
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Teachers are expected to surrender their personhood when they take the job. This is what the research says about why that keeps happening.
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What sparked her video was a fellow educator, heymissteacher, who posted a video about the backlash she’s received about her clothing while on vacation. In this, she states, “Wearing what I want because I am an adult.” The Illinois educator supports this comment by stating that they “get treated like something other than professionals.” She states that during her first few years working in a classroom, she worked a bartending job 30 minutes away. This made her so paranoid because of the expectations attached to her teaching job. The woman claims that when people found out, they were “so scandalized that [she] could live this double life.”
She argues that teachers are treated like they are “never fully off the clock.” The Illinois educator states, “They have to be a perfect moral person at all times.” Part of her argument compares how society treats politicians or doctors, etc., to how they treat teachers. She argues that it happens to teachers because they are typically women. Furthermore, she claims that fields dominated by women are “held to standards of selflessness and moral character.” This, she feels, contributes to the low wages in education. She feels students should see who they are as “full people as opposed to Miss Honey.” This refers to the ‘idyllic’ teacher in the movie Matilda.
Fellow Teachers Applaud Illinois Educator
The Illinois educator inspires others to share their teaching experiences. One states, “We are literally taught in college that we are held to a higher standard and that we need to privatize all socials.” Another states, “This is my biggest beef about being a teacher: we can’t be ourselves.” A third states that people forget this is just a job: “I have a life outside of making an income.”
Others are pointing out the double standard between teaching and other fields. A comment reads, “Heavy on the ‘they don’t do this to politicians’.” One points out, “It is often ONLY the women in the profession that get held to this standard.” However, one commenter argues, “They don’t pay me enough to care what they think outside my contract hours.”
She has posted a follow-up video responding to a comment that points out that teachers need to be good role models for children. In this, she argues that perfectionism in children can have serious consequences.
