I am nervous about working with my former teachers

I was posted to my former high school as a languages teacher. I will now work alongside my former teachers with whom my relationship was lukewarm. I am nervous. Is it possible to form a better relationship with them? PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • It takes courage to acknowledge one’s indiscretions or incidences of impropriety that may have created misunderstanding or offended others. If you are at fault, face your former teachers and take responsibility for your actions.
  • You might discover that they are equally interested in establishing a cordial working relationship. 

Q. I am a trained teacher who graduated in 2014.

Coincidentally, I was posted to my former high school as a languages teacher.

I will now work alongside my former teachers with whom my relationship was lukewarm. I am nervous. Is it possible to form a better relationship with them?

 

The delight of having recently acquired a job appears to dissipate at the prospect of a strained working relationship with your former teachers.

You seem not to have enjoyed a great relationship with your teachers while you were a student. To have an anaemic relationship with most of your former teachers appears a bit unusual.

There are students who upon graduation actively seek and look forward to being posted as teachers to their former schools. In addition to the hard work you invested in your studies, your former teachers must have played an important role along your journey of becoming a teacher.

It is likely therefore that you would be joining a team of talented colleagues. Working with capable workmates often exerts positive influence on an individual’s career.

It is fitting that you recognise the importance of having a meaningful working relationship with colleagues. Improvements can be made to the quality of most relationships, including the one that exists between you and your former teachers. If you reflect evenhandedly, you might find instances that may have undermined your rapport with them.

It takes courage to acknowledge one’s indiscretions or incidences of impropriety that may have created misunderstanding or offended others. If you are at fault, face your former teachers and take responsibility for your actions. You might discover that they are equally interested in establishing a cordial working relationship. 

Although the desired results may take time to hold, demonstrating respect and taking the initiative to mend fences will be worth your while. Take the opportunity of a new beginning, and as you transition from classroom to staffroom, bear in mind that your colleagues and students will receive you in the manner that you present yourself to them.