I had the chance to chat on “The Project” last night about the Rate My Teacher website and the destruction, mistrust and lack of collaboration that ensues when such platforms are used to slag off Teachers and School Leaders. Watch the full interview by clicking here.
It’s not on.
But inescapable is that the folk best positioned to do something about the dwindling status of Educators in society are still … you guessed it … Teachers and School Leaders. There are certainly others who can influence, both positively and negatively, such as our elected political leaders. However, I still contend that we hold both the expertise on schools and also the means through which to communicate it.
My interviewer last night, Waleed Aly, knows a thing or two about communicating expertise and opinion. His editorial last week on the NBN Rollout was watched 379,000 times on The Project’s Facebook Page and his more famous “ISIL is weak” speech was watched a staggering 30 million times worldwide. He cops criticism too – but his views are heard. I get the feeling he cares little for the critics … and nor should he.
We need to stop viewing criticism as fault of some kind. If we have something bold to say about pedagogy, screen time, bullying, student learning, parental involvement or student behaviour then we should say it loudly and from the platform of our expertise.
Critics will come, but so will the supporters. And we’ll be heard and renowned for what we know so deeply about schools and educations … as we should be.
The FREE webinar your staff can’t miss.
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This Thursday afternoon at 3.30pm AEST, Real Schools Director Ryan Martin will conduct a webinar that no Australian teacher should miss. It’s titled “How to Survive and Thrive in an Ever Changing Educational Landscape”. Check out the take-aways alone, all tailored specifically for Teachers and School Leaders alike :
- How to bounce back from setbacks
- Strategies to deal with stress
- How to set an example that builds a resilient and productive teaching team
- How to use your strengths to overcome challenging situations
- The way to connect your strengths to improved resilience
Remember – just registering, even if the time doesn’t work for you, means you’ll be personally sent the YouTube recording of this webinar. Meaning, there’s actually no excuse for not clicking here to register and for taking a critical step towards your school success and staff wellbeing objectives for 2016