Although a colleague had never worked in an office before, a friend told her it was ridiculous that she taught business English.
Does it mean that doctors need to have cancer before they can treat cancer patients? My colleague laughed it off but couldn’t shake the feeling of being an imposter.
So how do you build credibility when you teach what you have never done and don’t do?
Well-known celebrities can also suffer from impostor feelings.
Credibility Problem # 1
For example, Neil Gaiman (English author) wrote about his encounter with astronaut Neil Armstrong (the first man on the moon)** at a large meeting of internationally renowned people and described how Neil Armstrong…
… points to the hall of people and says, “I just look at all these people, and I think, what the heck am I doing here? They’ve done amazing things. I just went where I was sent.”
Armstrong knew why he was famous but still felt like an impostor as he compared himself to the other celebrities in the room.
Likewise, Neil Gaiman, author of dozens of books and comics, also admitted frequently feeling like an impostor because he wrote in his blog post…
I felt a bit better. Because if Neil Armstrong felt like an impostor, maybe everyone did. Maybe there weren’t any grown-ups, only people who had worked hard and also got lucky and were slightly out of their depth, all of us doing the best job we could, which is all we can really hope for.
So yes, we are not alone in fighting the impostor syndrome.
We … are … not … alone.
As teachers, then we must all be ‘impostors’ for life. Because we’re teaching, it also means we are deepening our own knowledge at the same time. I know many who teach because of this. I am one of them. I consider it to be one of the best methods to learn.
Here is another explanation…
Credibility Problem # 2
Musician or instrument maker
People who make guitars often come to the craft after years of playing the guitar. Yet in Europe, Latin America, and Asia (and most of the remaining world), people are considered either musicians or instrument makers.
In Spain, there is a saying:
Guitarrista o guitarrero, nunca ambos
Guitar player or guitar maker, never both
Taken from this point of view, no serious person can successfully practice both to a high level of quality. But let’s think about this… Is this assumption correct?
It takes time and dedication for both musical careers, and maybe a great musician can be both—a player and an instrument builder. However, in the end, most musicians lean towards the one preference over the other—and mostly, they incline towards the one they love ‘just that little bit more.’
When guitar teachers are right-handed, they play the guitar like any other right-handed musician. Should this prevent them from teaching left-handed students? No, of course not. Before each beginner class, they remind themselves of when they first began playing the guitar—the time when they thought: ‘It’s impossible. It’s frustrating.’ Even breaking a music sequence down into a few notes is a challenge.
Just because they cannot play the guitar as well when demonstrating with a guitar strung for left-handed people does not make them ‘an impostor.’ Certainly not any more than Armstrong felt he was an impostor because ‘I just went where I was sent.’
Your ability to teach is all‑important
What matters is your ability to understand the needs of people coming to you because of your ability to teach. They are not so much impressed by your awe-inspiring, in-depth knowledge of the subject. Instead, it is your ability to transform and adapt course materials by assimilating them to fit the needs of your students.
Your ability to teach the student is what matters most.
Attaining credibility is to be a teacher who understands what it takes to help students reach their goals.
- Teach your student—even if you don’t have the same job as your student.
- Teach your student—even if you don’t know as much about their jobs or hobbies as they do.
- Teach them what is necessary to attain their learning aims.
There are plenty of ESP books available to help you prepare your lesson. Be upfront and tell them, ‘I don’t do this, but here’s why I want you to learn this.’
And here is yet another reason…
Credibility Problem # 3
Experts are often the worst teachers because they cannot put themselves in the shoes of their learners. Their knowledge is internalised. It has become so automatic that this frequently hinders them from teaching others ‘how to do’ what they now do — intuitively
(i.e., play good music after years and years of practice).
Teachers, however, can put themselves in their learners’ shoes. They know how to ‘see’ a particular learning problem from a student’s perspective. This is a highly desirable skill.
The impostor syndrome is a feeling all good teachers have. Your students want to get to an endpoint, and naturally, you want them to get there, too.
- That is your teaching goal.
- That is your teaching skill.
- That skill creates your credibility.
** Read Neil Gaiman’s blog post :