To the teachers of the world. It's ok to not be okay!

[Roland99]

Are Teachers Ok? No, and Toxic Positivity Isn’t Helping
Because pretending to be okay when you’re not isn’t okay.

...

What do we mean by toxic positivity?
When someone says to you, “it could be worse” or “look on the bright side,” they might mean well, but what they are saying is an example of toxic positivity. Toxic positivity is when we focus on the positive and reject, deny, or displace the negative. In theory, it sounds like being optimistic, but in reality, pushing aside our unpleasant emotions only make them bigger.

1. Stop showing up early and staying late
2. Stop taking work with you everywhere you go
3. Stop saying yes to more work because you feel like you should
4. Rewrite the story: the teacher martyr work 24/7 narrative has got to go
5. At the end of the day, teaching is a job, and it’s ok to see it that way

(more at the link)

https://www.weareteachers.com/toxic-positivity-schools/

[intheflow]

1. Librarians call it "vocational awe."

Absolutely toxic. It's also very "white savior"-ish. We make ourselves martyrs for our professions because that's what is expected, it's how you get ahead, it's the fairytale we tell ourselves about ourselves - our lives in service to our jobs. But it's a narrative that no longer serves us in a culture beset by extreme societal and physical ills.

Kicking this in support of my son, the middle school teacher suddenly foist into distance teaching, who is also homeschooling my second grade grandson.

And if anyone's interested in learning more about "vocational awe", read Fobazi Ettarh's excellent essay in which she coined the phrase, Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves. Educators can easily substitute "teacher" for "librarian" throughout the piece.