Student Teacher Perfectionism

Today's ASCD SmartBrief had an item suggested that a recent study found that perfectionism, which they define as creating high goals and standards, might help students while in school, but work to their detriment when in the work place. I had a very strong reaction to this work because it defines students as being in elementary or secondary school. My experience, working with student teachers, so called pre-service candidates, is quite the opposite. I far too often came up against students who were almost paralyzed when out  practice teaching in the field precisely because they were far too often too cautious or too shy or too afraid that they would make a mistake. I found myself time and time again reminding them that no one ought to be judging them as if they should have had all the skills mastered before they went out.  They are going into classrooms precisely because they are novices and need to hone their craft.  But far too often, I have to spend so much time boosting confidence, reminding them of this, reassuring them that they are being allowed to fail but with a safety net to catch them. Most of the time they eventually are okay but we lose far too many good student teachers precisely because of mental  health issues. A part of  me feels that we ought to be weeding out those who cannot cut the pressure in the classroom from planning and delivering lessons and dealing with  young students and their issues.  Spending money to prepare them properly and having them spend money on drugs and therapy because they are trying to cope is not necessarily the right answer.  The research however does highlight one important variable - the need to be perfect and reminds us that we are not just teachers but counsellors as well.  We cannot pretend that that role can be eliminated.  Good mental health is key to successful teaching and learning for sure.