I am actually really excited to talk about authenticity in the teaching profession, because I think it is one of those subjects where most teachers tend to go to one of two extremes. Either they put a wall up in front of students and think of themselves as purely a lecturer, or they (like one of my high school history teachers) talk about their marriage problems and their depression medications. Apparently, teachers have a hard time finding a happy medium when it comes to being authentic.
I think the key here is to be real with reasonable limits. You want to be yourself in front of your students because in my experience, students respect teachers more when they feel like they know them. Kids can smell a faker a mile away. They know when a teacher is being overly cheerful or when they don't laugh at something funny in class to maintain their "disciplinarian" status. People tend to dislike people who aren't themselves, and less respect means less learning.
So how can we set limits? When do we make the transition from being an authentic person who students like to telling our students about how Walgreens messed up the dosage on our depression meds? Mainly, I think it's just common sense. If you have problems, don't hide them, but don't talk about them incessantly either. If the topic comes up somehow, maybe it would be a good thing to talk about what the experience is teaching you. After all, students don't only learn math and music from teachers; they learn about being good people, as well. Maybe you could help your students learn to find the positive side of bad situations.
There are other tricky situations, such as telling students your political views. I think it's important to be diplomatic. Don't only tell students your side. Show them the pros and cons of both sides, allow them to choose, and then tell them your own opinion if they want to know. That way, your point of view isn't the first one they hear.
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