17.5 Instructors At Risk – In Over Your Head

It is relatively easy to get into something over your head; something that you do not have necessary and sufficient pre-existing ‘whatever’ for.

This can be...

• capacity; not knowing how to say no, or in a situation where you really cannot say no and you are already burning the candle at both ends
• skill and knowledge about the subject; you have been asked to teach something you are not comfortable with, and perhaps you really do not understand much more than your students already do (see the ref below on scanning a field)
• learning and/or assessment methods; you have not used them before in a real setting, you are unsure about how to do them

All of these can place you into the deep end of the pool, thrashing about and creating additional stress and anxiety to those observing (i.e., the students). It is also possible to be like the proverbial boiled frog with the cold water slowly reaching the boiling point, blissfully unaware of what is happening. It is also common to observe denial and hubris as it is hard to admit weakness or lack of skill; everyone assumes that an instructor knows how to instruct! Few stand up and say ‘help me’. There are some, but it is few.

Thoughts…

• Of course, it is best to avoid getting into a situation in the first place, but sometimes it is unavoidable and out of your control. In this case, do as much damage control and risk management as possible, reduce where you can, remove variability where you have choices, and have back up plans for all key activities.
• It is also possible that you have assessed the situation and with valid reasoning thought things would work out. As J. Sweet noted in 1885 in the A.S.M.E. journal; do not be surprised by the unexpected when dealing with new inventions. Be sure that you assessed everything ‘new’ in the course and that you have built in learning curves for you and the students, recovery plans, etc. Murphy’s Law will also be out in force and when things go wrong, they will go wrong at the same time and gang up; there will likely be a chain reaction.
• You cannot heal or catch your breath when you are going flat out. Reduce, reschedule and give yourself some breathing space for re-jigging the course or activities. When dealing with new courses or major, new methods you are relying on, best to have 2-3 lectures you can burn, use as slack. Do not schedule everything to the wall.
• Try to honestly assess how skilled you are. You might have been at the naïve level, just discovered something in the literature, or attended a workshop. You might still be in the naïve level and at best, novice. Control your over-confidence factor and ask for help. There is nothing wrong with asking for help.
• As we tell the students, expect to make mistakes that is part of the process, you will NOT be perfect. You will be defined by what you do when the mistake happens. This is why it is not wise to stick your head in the sand and pretend that all is well when it is not.
• Recognize your mistakes and weaknesses, own them, get help, deal with the situation. If you did not know enough to avoid getting into this situation in the first place, you probably do not know enough to get yourself out of the mess either (sorry).

• If necessary, retreat and do a major adjustment for the remainder of the course. Do not let your mistakes and issues become issues for the students. They are NOT your experimental lab rats. Do not imitate a lemming and just keep going forward either.
• If you have to admit mistakes and failure to students, what is the harm? We tell students to be accountable and fess up, be adults; instructors should follow their own advice. It is ok to show students that you are human.
• Remember that methods are methods and there are many myths and urban legends associated with them. There are usually many moving parts that you need to understand for the whole scheme to come together. Learn each bit in a balanced way and then elevate, learn more, balance all skills, elevate, repeat.
• There is no right way to do any of this stuff, but many mistakes that others have made before and from which you can learn. None of the methods will work in every course, in every lecture. You need to pick the methods which are suitable for the students’ ability to learn and the desired learning outcomes. If you do match things up, you will find yourself in over your head.
• Always have caveats in the course outline that allow you to alter methods and scheduling. It is also wise to have wording that allows you to adjust the marking scheme with respect what might be included and if the marks will be scaled if assessments will not take place. You probably should not change the weight of one item, but if you drop one or more assessments, you should be able to scale the remainder of the course accordingly.
• Unless you have developed your coping skills, it is possible that you might have increased stress in these situations. It is important to be aware of your own mental health and well-being!

Further reading

• Ipek, H., Akcay, A., Atay, S.B., Berber, G., Karaklik, T., and T.S. Yilmaz (2018). The Relationship Between Occupational Stress And Teacher Self-Efficacy: A Study With EFL Instructors. AJESI - Anadolu Journal of Educational Sciences International, 8, 1, pp. 126-150.
• Lixin, J., T.M. Tripp, and P.Y. Hong (2017). College instruction is not so stress free after all: A qualitative and quantitative study of academic entitlement, uncivil behaviors, and instructor strain and burnout. Stress and health, 33, 5, pp .578-589.
• Grantcraft, (2012). Scanning the Landscape 2.0: Finding Out What's Going on in Your Field. Grantcraft.org.
• Sweet, J.E. (1885). The Unexpected Which Often Happens. A.S.M.E. Transactions, 7, pp. 152-163.