Common Limiting Beliefs & How to Overcome Them
As a teacher looking to find work beyond the classroom, you likely are feeling a myriad of emotions about your potential transition. Whether you want to stay in the classroom and find work to do on the side or if you’re looking to end your career as a classroom teacher, it’s important to tune into all the feelings that you might be having - especially if you’re feeling some common limiting beliefs.
When I left the classroom, I felt a combination of guilt, excitement, disappointment, and pride. Another big feeling I experienced when transitioning out of the classroom was fear. I felt so excited to use my skills in a different way, but I also felt so scared that maybe my skills weren’t transferable after all. Maybe I truly did have to be a teacher forever.
Generally, when we make big changes, we’re going to feel all the things. That’s part of the process! Instead of taking these feelings of self-doubt and thoughts as signs that we shouldn’t take a chance, we can see them as something we need to acknowledge and work our way through.
After nearly five years of running Educator Forever and working with teachers to use their skills beyond the classroom, I’ve noticed some patterns in the common limiting beliefs that teachers experience.
Let’s take a look at these three examples of limiting beliefs and explore suggestions for how to overcome them.
3 Common Limiting Beliefs That Teachers Experience
1. We’re “just” teachers
This is one of the most common limiting beliefs I see among teachers preparing to leave the classroom. To overcome this limiting belief, I encourage you to take a long, objective look at your skills. Make a list of all the things you do on a daily basis.
As a classroom teacher, you’ve likely also been a curriculum designer, project manager, instructional coach, education consultant, PD provider, etc. Challenge yourself to reflect on the many skills you’ve developed through teaching.
Own that expertise! Know that you are way more of an education expert than the average person. Practice talking about the skills that you bring to the table. The more that we talk about them— even to trusted family members and friends— the more we become comfortable with the scope of skills that we have developed.
2. Our expertise is not transferable
For this belief, I want to raise a big giant “FALSE!” sign. As teachers, we are truly have developed so many skills while in the classroom.
Think you don’t have project management experience? Managing classrooms of individual students is a giant project. You keep track of what students should learn, what support they need, how to get through an entire year’s curriculum one bit at a time, and so much more. All of those are key project management skills.
That’s just one example– teachers have developed expertise in a wide range of areas, ranging from time management, planning, child development, and more. Go back to the list of all the things you’ve done as a teacher. Then think about how those skills could transfer to other roles. Allow yourself to think outside of the box!
While this is one of the most common limiting beliefs that teachers have, it doesn’t have to be one that holds you back.
3. We don’t have enough experience.
The beautiful thing about experience is you can create your own! Don’t have experience writing lesson plans? Try writing one today! Want to get experience coaching teachers? Ask a new teacher if you can give them guidance and support. If you feel like you're underqualified for whatever path you want to take, take comfort in knowing that teachers are experts in learning. Anything that we don’t know, we can learn!
Are You Ready to Overcome These Common Limiting Beliefs?
As you explore options beyond the classroom, you likely will come up against a variety of these common limiting beliefs for teachers. Recognize them for what they are, then move through them. As you enter into this new phase of your career, you are going to grow and change in all sorts of ways. Try to make pushing past your limiting beliefs one of them.
When it comes to figuring out how to change limiting beliefs and let go of them once and for all, it’s important to actively work on changing your mindset.
As you get clear on your next career move, consider how you’re going to show up in that role. Imagine what it would feel like to own your education expertise and use it to make a positive impact beyond the classroom. Then try to embody that feeling right now.
Another key step toward letting go of limiting beliefs? Finding a community of educators who are working through the same challenges.
In Educator Forever’s Beyond the Classroom course, you’ll not only get the skills and training you need to succeed in a wide variety of flexible jobs in education, you’ll also become part of a vast community of other educators who are moving beyond these common limiting beliefs to build the careers of their dreams.