Teachers in Transition

Teachers in Transition – Episode 255: Second Acts, Second Changes, and Secondhand Lions

• Vanessa Jackson

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In this episode of Teachers in Transition, host Vanessa Jackson explores the heartwarming 2003 film Secondhand Lions and what it reveals about identity, respect, and rewriting your personal story. Through the lens of this quiet classic, Vanessa draws deep parallels between the character Walter’s journey and the experience of burned-out educators who are questioning their place in the classroom.

Vanessa encourages teachers to examine the stories they've been told—or have told themselves—about their worth, their career options, and their future. With empathy and clarity, she offers actionable reflection prompts and a powerful reframing exercise to help educators reconnect with their skills, strengths, and sense of purpose.

Whether you're feeling stuck, misunderstood, or just ready for something different, this episode is a call to consider your own second act—and to know it’s never too late to be taken seriously or to begin again.

In this episode:

  • A breakdown of Secondhand Lions and its career-relevant themes
  • The link between storytelling and self-concept in career decisions
  • How teachers can reframe classroom experiences into leadership language
  • A guided journaling prompt for LinkedIn summaries or personal clarity
  • Why your “middle chapter” isn’t the end—and how to shape what comes next

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The transcript to this podcast is found on the episode’s homepage at Buzzspout

Episode 255: Second Acts, Second Changes, and Secondhand Lions 

Are you a teacher who is feeling stressed out and overwhelmed? Do you worry that you're feeling symptoms of burnout - or are you sure you've already gotten there? Have you started to dream of doing something different or a new job or perhaps pursuing an entirely different career - but you don't know what else you're qualified to do? You don't know how to start a job search, and you just feel stuck. If that sounds like you, I promise you are not alone. My name is Vanessa Jackson; and I am a career transition and job search coach, and I specialize in helping burnt out teachers just like you deal with the overwhelmingly stressful nature of your day-to-day job and to consider what other careers might be out there waiting for you. You might ask yourself, What tools do I need to find a new career?  Are my skills valuable outside the classroom?  How and where do I even get started?  These are all questions you deserve answers to, and I can help you find them.  I’m Vanessa Jackson. Come and join me for Teachers in Transition.  

Hi!  And Welcome Back to the Teachers in Transition podcast. I’m your host, Vanessa Jackson, and if you’re a teacher feeling burned out, overwhelmed, or just trying to recuperate from the past school year, you’re in the right place.  We’re continuing in our Summer Series which is inspired by my favorite summer activity – movies. 
 
 This week’s movie recommendation is “Secondhand Lions” It’s a quiet classic that speaks volumes about identity, trust, and the power of rewriting our personal narrative. This episode is about the stories we tell ourselves - and how those stories shape what we believe, how we show up, and where we think we can go. 

This 2003 movie stars Haley Joel Osment, Robert Duval, and Michael Caine; and was released by New Line cinema in September – which is why you might have missed it.     September releases aren’t reserved for blockbusters. This movie is about a young teenager named Walter who is dumped off at his two elderly Uncles’ ramshackle home in the middle of nowhere, Texas.  Walter’s mother tells him she’s going to court reporting school, and as a way to amuse himself, maybe he can locate all the money that his uncles are rumored to be sitting on. No one can agree on where this money came from – they just know the uncles disappeared for a long time before retiring in Texas. The house has no TV and no phone.  The only ‘entertainment’ is sitting on the porch and waiting for traveling salesmen.  The uncles don’t even seem to like Walter very much until they realize how much it annoys their other relatives.  Slowly, the two uncles and Walter bond.  And Walter starts to figure out what is important and what is truth. 
 
 I’ll put a link in the show notes to the movie’s IMDB.com page – you can get information on a parents’ guide if you might want to watch with small kids around. It’s rated PG, mostly for scenes of mild violence (there is not gore) and grumpy, old uncle language.  So it is a lot calmer than what I grew up with.
 
 Some fun facts about this movie (skip ahead a minute or so if you don’t like that sort of thing).  It was filmed a little northeast of Austin, which is not too far from home for me, so I’ve always been fascinated with the landscape surrounding the movie.  
 
 The movie was filmed in order – mostly to accommodate the fact that the actor playing Walter was going through puberty and his voice was changing. A nice nod to continuity. 
 
 Haley Joel Osment got attacked by a pig on the set.  Everyone thought the LION was going to be the one to watch – not a pig. 

Other actors involved include: Christian Kane plays one of the uncles in his youth (I love him in Leverage), Kyra Sedgewick plays Walter’s Mom, and Josh Lucas plays an older version of Walter.  You’ll recognize Josh Lucas if you’re a fan of Yellowstone because he plays a younger version of the character played by Kevin Costner.  If all that sounds confusing and knotted up, I just include it to remind everyone how connected we are and to underscore for a moment the importance of NETWORKING!! Summer is a great time for building the network!  We are all connected by just a few people if we can just figure out the connections – like that Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game.  For those who are playing that game in their heads now, Kyra Sedgewick is actually married to Kevin Bacon. 
 
 OK, so… back to the movie
 
 Walter spends the beginning of the movie being very mistrusting. 
 Walter has every reason to be skeptical. He’s been lied to for most of his life. Abandoned emotionally, if not always physically. Early in the film, other relatives show up and tell the uncles what a horrible mother Walter’s mom is and that she’s probably just dumped the boy with them.  They advise him to take the boy to the orphan home. (remember, this was the early 60s where the movie was placed).  Walter walks in just in time to overhear one of the uncles say, “Whether we take him to the orphan home or dump him in the lake, it’s our business,” he runs. Not to anywhere specific—just away.

Walter runs off, makes his way to a gas station which is the nearest phone to call his mom at her new school only to learn that she never went there - that she lied to him again.

We cut over to the uncles and a random relative driving at night looking for Walter.  We infer that Walter has been missing for hours. They find him, and the uncles walk over to talk with him.  They sit on either side of Walter, but not too close. Walter pays no attention to them.  Walter is grasping a page he’s torn from the phonebook just staring at it.  The uncles ask where he’s going.  He points at a place on the map he has torn out, and tells them he’s going to Montana.  The uncles aren’t really sure what to do, and there are MANY faces  and gestures made behind Walter’s back while Walter just stares at his map.  They don’t know how to parent, but they treat Walter in the way they would want to be treated.  At no point in this interchange with these two grumpy, old uncles do they ever treat him with anything less than 100% respect.  They take his plans seriously.  They offer to let him stay over and start his journey the next day.   Finally, after a good night’s sleep, Walter starts to settle into life with his Uncles.  

That’s where the shift begins. Not because life out in Nowhere, Texas gets any easier. But because somebody finally takes him seriously.

As teachers, we get used to not being treated with that quiet acceptance and respect.  In a metaphorical sense, dignity, if you will. Our frustrations with being lied to and wanting to run away to Montana would be greeted with ridicule “how do you plan to do that?”, “Can you afford that?”, “Are you crazy?”, and probably something like  “well, you know that your mom loves you and is looking out for you,”  when clearly none of those comments are helpful. 
 
 There’s a lot of gaslighting out there about respect. I call shenanigans on it. We’ve probably all heard students or parents make some comment along the lines of “why should I respect you if you don’t respect me?”  This story reminds us that respect is never forced or faked. 

The movie is told through flashbacks – his uncles’ stories about the time they were away.  The stories are fantastic – true love at first sight, honor, heroes, and the idea of something bigger than just a small hay farm in the middle of a dry, unpleasant climate. 

The secondhand lion in the story (and the title) is a retired circus lion that the uncles acquire so they can go lion hunting – an attempt to have something interesting to do.  Walter is horrified, and even the uncles don’t think it’s a good idea after they realize that the lion is old and infirm.  Walter asks to keep her as a pet.  Walter is excited to have a pet and he takes on the responsibility for feeding the lion who he names Jasmine – after his Uncle’s true love in the stories. At one point, Jasmine escapes her cage and lives in their cornfield – the closest thing to a jungle she had ever seen. 
 
 Jasmine isn’t just second hand, - she gets a second chance.  Walter gets a second chance at the family he’s always wanted with his uncles, and the uncles get a second chance to do something that matters on a quiet scale.  At no point in this story is age a limiting factor.  That’s important to remember. 
 
 And it all comes from stories. 


 But first, I ran across a joke - at least I'm pretty sure it was meant as a joke, but it actually said some pretty deep things.
 
  So the joke starts: Everyone is sitting in church and the preacher makes a comment about women and men and the dynamics between them. And then he says, “all of you who feel you are controlled by your wife, please move to the left”. And everyone gets up and moves except one guy. 
 
 And the preacher's happy to see that there is this one guy who is strong enough not to be controlled by his wife. And he asks, “Sir, tell me how you were able to stay in this one spot without moving.” 
 
 And the man says, "My wife told me not to move." 

And I find this to be so funny, because we always listen to what people say to us, but is what we're being told, good things or bad things and how do we know who to listen to? Because one could make the argument that the people who felt that they were controlled by their wife were then just controlled by the preacher telling them to move.
  
 At least the man who stayed was only listening to a single voice. But I use the story not to try to cast aspersions at anyone's dynamics. I mean, you could have told the story the same story with different people in different motivations, but the point being is to sit for a moment and consider who you listen to. And are they saying things that help you? Are they saying things that expose you? Are they saying things that hurt you? And make it a point to listen to those voices who are trying to help you, even when it may be a little  hard to hear what's being said because you know that they really do have your best interests at heart.

So here’s a few questions:

  • What’s the story you’ve been told about yourself?
  • Who gave you that story?
  • Is it still true? Was it ever true?

 

Now let’s bring this into the career space 

Here’s what I see too often:
 
 A brilliant but exhausted teacher tells me,
 “I don’t think I’m qualified for anything else.”
 Or,“I’m not even sure what I want - I just know I can’t keep doing this.”

What I hear underneath that is that you have only heard your story told in one way.  
 And it’s usually a story that’s too small, or only from one perspective. Listen, we were raised on fairy tales that said “hard work pays off.” But in the real world, sometimes it just burns you out.  This is especially true when it doesn’t even matter how much hard work you put in – you’re still behind.  

So let me offer you a different framework.

Starting with the job isn’t actually the best way to start when you are searching for CLARITY in what your next career should be. 

Start here:
 “What values do I want my work to reflect?”
“What kind of life do I want my work to support?”

Then reverse-engineer from there.

Also, practical tip this week:
 
 Try writing a LinkedIn summary for you - or even just a journal entry - starting with:

·       “I’m someone who...”
 “I believe in...”
 “The kind of impact I want to make is...”

·       This helps you practice separating identity from job title. It also helps you prepare for job search conversations that are based in clarity, not desperation.

·       And hey - if you’re still figuring it out? It’s okay. You’re not late. You’re just in the middle of the story. And middle chapters are messy.  

Sometimes teachers  think that they’ve wasted their time in the classroom. 

Teachers have not wasted their time in the classroom. You haven’t wasted your time. You’ve led teams, managed crises, facilitated learning, and handled logistics under impossible conditions. That’s not just teaching. That’s a leadership portfolio.

It’s time to start pulling your own classroom stories into your career narrative. 

Think of moments when:

  • You guided a struggling student to a breakthrough.
  • You designed a project that got disengaged learners excited.
  • You resolved conflict with calm and clarity.

 

These aren’t just sentimental wins or warm fuzzies. These are the stories that showcase your transferable skills: communication, leadership, problem-solving, adaptability.

Here’s a quick exercise: In fact, you can go to the homepage for this episode on Buzzsprout - Buzzspout.com (and there’s a link in the show notes) and just copy out of the transcript for the episode if you want to process this through writing.

  1. Write down three classroom moments you’re proud of.
  2. Identify the skills each one demonstrates.
  3. Try rewriting one in professional language. Not to erase your teaching past, but to translate it.

As an example:
 “Stopped students from fighting and kept the class on task” becomes
 “Demonstrated crisis management and prioritized team outcomes under pressure.”

Bonus points if you can create a re-framed story that also contains something quantifiable in your results.  Use hard numbers.  It’s OK to approximate a little - no one expects you to stay that you have improved something 29.43%.  It’s OK to round that to 30% and go with your best guestimate.

You’ve got the receipts. You just need a translation guide.

 

Like Walter, maybe you’re standing in the middle of your own messy chapter—trying to figure out what’s real, who to trust, and what’s next. Maybe you’ve been handed a story that never quite fit… and you’re starting to wonder if there’s more.

If that sounds familiar, I want to invite you to explore what your second act could look like.

Visit TeachersInTransition.com to check out my FREE 5Ps Framework—a roadmap to help you rediscover your values, your strengths, and your direction -  to help DECIDE if you want to stay where you are, shift to a new location, or start to build your exit strategy out of the classroom.

And if you're ready for something more personal, let’s connect. Book a free virtual coffee chat or discovery call with me. We’ll talk about what’s possible—and how to give yourself the second chance you deserve.

Because your story isn’t over. And just like Walter—and Jasmine the lion—you’re allowed to grow into something more than what the world expected.
 
 

That’s the podcast for today! If you liked this podcast, tell a friend, and don’t forget to rate and review wherever you listen to your podcasts. Tune in weekly to Teachers in Transition where we discuss Job Search strategies as well as stress management techniques.  And I want to hear from you!  Please reach out and leave me a message at Vanessa@Teachersintransition.com  You can also leave a voicemail or text at 512-640-9099. 

I’ll see you here again next week and remember – YOU are amazing!