The idea that you can't attract students without a track record is a lie

“If you don't have a track record, you won't be chosen.”

I had always thought that.

Unlike my classmates,
I had no experience competing in national tournaments or any spectacular background.

That's why I thought:

“This isn't good enough as it is.”
“I need to create some special track record.”
“I have to have something different from other teachers.”

And so, I:

・Went abroad to study
・Looked for things that would differentiate me
・Tried to become someone special

I headed in that direction.

But looking back now, what I was doing at that time
wasn't building a track record,
it was just adding “decorations.”

And those decorations
did not serve as a reason to be chosen at all.

Why do we think “you need a track record to be good enough”?

I don't think this is just my story.

Many teachers
・Have been in environments where they are compared to others since they were young
・Are in a world where their value is determined by being chosen

They grew up in that kind of competitive life.

・Whether you are chosen by a teacher
・Whether you can compete in a tournament
・Whether you are evaluated

Through that accumulation,
the feeling that “track record = my value”

becomes second nature.

That is why,

you feel anxious if you don't have a track record.
You feel like your classroom won't be chosen either.

And so,
“If I don't have a track record, I have to fill it with something else.”
That is how you end up thinking.

When you reach this state,
teachers' actions generally fall into two categories.

Type 1:
Becoming a 'pushover' because you're afraid of being disliked

Are you trying to fill the anxiety of not having a track record
with 'being liked'?

You watch the mothers' reactions,
offer advice, and act in a way to avoid being disliked.

At first glance, it looks like you are building a good relationship,
but that is not delivering value;
it is just 'effort to be liked'.

Even if consultation time and LINE exchanges increase,
it does not necessarily mean enrollment will increase.

Type 2:
Trying to prove your 'own value' through students' results

・Making them skilled at all costs
・Making them produce results
・Obsessing over grades

This also looks correct as an instructor at first glance.

But if the underlying motive is
a feeling of 'I want to be recognized because I have no track record'.

That is not instruction for the child,
but instruction for yourself.

These two look completely different.
But the essence is the same.

Both determine the value of yourself and your classroom
based on 'external evaluation'.

・How you are seen by mothers
・How you are evaluated by results

As long as you can only measure the value of yourself or your classroom
by your track record,

no matter how hard you try,
your anxiety will not disappear.

What mothers are looking for
is not your past track record.

'How will my child change if they join this classroom?'

That future is all they care about.

The reason you are chosen
is not within you,
but within the worries of the parent and child in front of you.

Building a track record itself is not a bad thing.

However,

it is not necessarily the reason why you are chosen.

If you get this wrong,
you will continue to struggle in the same place forever.

If you are currently feeling,

“It’s difficult because I don’t have a track record,”
if that is what you feel,

please ask yourself this question.

Are they really looking at
your track record?

Or,
are you just focusing on
things you don't need to look at?

P.S.:

I have written about what went well and what failed
in building my classroom.