Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman” can motivate educators to recognize their inner strength, resilience, and power. This poem has three valuable lessons for educators. These lessons are:
- Not everyone recognizes that you are phenomenal.
- You are phenomenal just as you are.
- Hype yourself up and celebrate your phenomenal qualities.
Not everyone recognizes that you are phenomenal.
Educators must learn to stand on their own with pride of purpose and recognition of what they bring to the table. This is important because students, colleagues, and administrators will not always recognize what the educator brings to the table. Students, colleagues, and administrators may not see an educator’s greatness. When that happens, you can reflect on the following lines from the poem:
“When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud”
It is tempting to shout those words from the rooftops when you read them. An educator’s students, colleagues, and administrators should be proud of what the educator has accomplished. However, an educator cannot wait for that pride to show itself. As an educator, if you wait for others to be proud of you, you may be waiting for something that may never come.
Instead, educators must recognize that they do not need validation from others. The phenomenal qualities they have within themselves exist without recognition from others. Those phenomenal qualities may well be an unacknowledged strength. The important thing for you to keep in mind is that your phenomenal character and qualities exist even if you are the only one who recognizes them.
You are phenomenal just as you are.
Often, educators are people who seek improvement and growth in others and in themselves. This may lead them not to recognize the phenomenal qualities they possess. No matter what position an educator holds, they think about continuing their own education and professional development. At the same time, educators must recognize that even if they are working to improve their skills as an educator, they may still be striving to improve—an educator can still be phenomenal.
Take a moment to read the following lines from the poem:
“I’m a woman
Phenomenally.”
These words show someone who is claiming their phenomenal status just as they are. The woman reciting these words is not waiting for someday to call herself phenomenal. She is currently claiming phenomenal status. That is a powerful claim—one that educators should seek to emulate.
Hold your head up and appreciate your phenomenal qualities. Always strive to be a better educator. Improve your skills and take advantage of any professional development opportunities available to you. You do not have to be perfect to be phenomenal. Accept the fact that you can be phenomenal just as you are.
Hype yourself up and celebrate your phenomenal qualities.
Sometimes, an educator’s peers, administrators, and students will not recognize the educator’s value. In fact, the educator herself may be the only person who recognizes all she brings to the table. Furthermore, she may have tried without success to make her value seen by others. Check out these lines from the poem that emphasize that idea:
“But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.”
Sometimes we need to have our accomplishments recognized so that we can push forward and accomplish more, and there is no one to provide that recognition. If you find yourself in this situation, do not fret, do not despair. Instead, learn to be your own hype person. Recognize that you do not need a reason to celebrate yourself and your accomplishments. You can celebrate yourself and your accomplishments simply because you want to. In fact, educators should make a habit of celebrating themselves on a regular basis. That way, when they need to hype themselves up, they are ready to do so.
Ways to Recognize and Celebrate You
There are two regular practices I engage in so that I am always ready to give myself a boost. The first I call the “Alphabet Compliment List.” On the first day of each month, I open an electronic file and write out the entire alphabet, one letter per line. Then, I go back and write a compliment for myself that begins with each letter of the alphabet. Once that list is complete, I print it out and post it in a location I can easily see from my desk when working.
A second practice I conduct is to write down my accomplishments and post them on a bulletin board above my desk. Some of my accomplishments are traditionally seen by others as worthy of attention, such as having a conference proposal accepted. Others are accomplishments only appreciated by me. For example, I may have cleaned my office after a particularly hard week. Or I may have finished knitting a sweater that I had been working on for a lengthy period. It does not matter what the accomplishments are—what matters is that I chose to recognize them and celebrate them.
Start integrating these two practices into your work. Set aside time at the beginning of each month to create your own “Alphabet Compliment List.” As you build this practice in your work life, recognizing your own value and importance will become second nature. You will understand that if others do not recognize your value, it is their failing, not your lack of value.
Conclusion
Use Maya Angelou’s “Phenomenal Woman” poem to celebrate who you are and what you stand for. Use the words of the poem to strengthen and empower yourself to be a better person and a better educator. Embrace the words of the poem and then let today be the day that you:
- Stop waiting for someone else to recognize how great you are.
- Stop thinking you are not great in your current condition.
- Stop waiting for someone else to hype you up.
Start finding ways to make celebrating who you are and what you bring to the table part of your everyday life. When you need help doing this, get out a copy of the poem and read the words to yourself. You will not be able to think of yourself as ordinary or lacking in excellent qualities after you do.
Further Reading
Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women by Maya Angelou
The Complete Poetry by Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Unleash the Fire Within: Maya Angelou’s Lifegiving Wisdom for Educators
About the Author
Dr. Janeane Davis is Founder and Principal Consultant at Janeane Davis and Associates: Educational Consultants. Most of her writing begins at a well-lit desk where strategy meets storytelling and systems take shape around real lives. Her consulting work centers families, scholars, and institutions committed to equity—and she writes to bring clarity to complex questions, especially those often left unasked.
Desk light on. Pages open. Always listening.