Hi all -
I was recently reading rather rapidly the newest 'How I Work' article posted by Spectrum and something caught my eye.
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It definitely feels weird sometimes being an Elementary Art teacher in the FRC community where most everyone is not quite doing that at all. I used to jokingly following up most of the things I’d say at robotics to people with: “But what do I know, I’m just an elementary school art teacher”. But then I realized I know more than I give myself credit for when it comes to non technical related things, and it took some time to really see the value of that.
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It caught my eye because its something that I've dealt with a lot through my own life. Its called Impostor Syndrome. According to the source of all human knowledge, Wikipedia,
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Impostor syndrome (also spelled imposter syndrome, also known as impostor phenomenon or fraud syndrome) is a term coined in the 1970s by psychologists and researchers to informally describe people who are unable to internalize their accomplishments. Despite external evidence of their competence, those exhibiting the syndrome remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve the success they have achieved. Proof of success is dismissed as luck, timing, or as a result of deceiving others into thinking they are more intelligent and competent than they believe themselves to be.
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As a Social Studies teacher turned Robotics Coach, I spent the first number of years advocating against my experience as both a leader and a coach of such a technical team. Sure - I could offer help in fundraising, writing chairman's awards, and counseling the myriad of weeping students that generally find their way to my door mid build-season, but it took me a long time to feel that I had the right to even call myself a coach, much less the coach of an FRC team. So when questions about design came up: "I'm not a designer," or programming: "I'm not a programmer." This all regardless of the fact that I've programmed before and have definitely designed some pretty amazing Lego castles.
Expanding this further - I often find that when we first get mentors through the door to help our team, the first thing that they have to conquer is this feeling of inadequacy for the task. This is true even if they are employed engineers. Why? I'm not quite sure. I think it may due in part to the completely new environment of building something from scratch. Our students have the same issue.
So with this in mind, how do you (if you do) deal with impostor syndrome in your team or in yourself. How do you internalize your accomplishments and use them to motivate you to greater feats?
Or - what are some times when you've felt like the impostor? What did you do? How did it affect you?
Just curious.
-D