Full disclosure: I have two major fears. They are fear of flying and fear of public speaking. Which, makes my career choice a little odd. Because, as a literacy consultant I travel all over the world to teach in front of people, give speeches and conduct workshops. So I face my deepest fears on Read More
Blog
Embracing Trouble
November 18, 2015
3 Comments
Comments
November 18, 2015 3:04 PM EST
When watching a spiritual topic show recently the speaker shared that there really are only two emotions in the human experience: fear and love. Anything that moves us away from receiving or expressing love moves us closer to fear. When we show compassion for ourselves we move our mindset away from fear. Speaking of, your blog also reminds me of Carol Dweck's work with attribution theory, in that what we attribute our motivations for success and failure can be tied to our accomplishments. Furthermore I think the idea of fear really ties into the educational paradigm movement towards more technological based classrooms. Many times people fear the unknown and giving up control over what they know and the wide expanse of technology and the fact that the children know more than the teacher age generation can bring on that fear. In our current high-stakes testing educational climate I also think that there is a external induction of fear placed on schools and specifically it's teachers as well. Thank you again Colleen for a thought-provoking piece of writing.
- Dina M. Weiss
November 18, 2015 3:16 PM EST
Hi Dina, Thanks for your thoughtful response. I do like the idea of there just being love and fear. Totally could see that. And you're right, there are a lot of things in the current educational climate that can pull right on our most primal fears. Now you've got me thinking...
- Colleen
November 20, 2015 5:17 AM EST
Powerful advice, Colleen. The logic behind your argument about how to deal with fear/trouble makes a lot of sense to the practical side of me. Fear of failure doesn't have to paralyze us, especially if we choose to view mistakes as opportunities to improve future work. I love how @ILAToday framed this kind of thinking as "failing forward."
- Robin Griffith