It is time for teachers to “travel” outside the education sphere by sharing stories of what we REALLY do with a wider audience. Most of you would agree: There is a crisis now in how teachers are viewed. Sometimes we’re seen as martyrs, victims, or ragged saints, while others view our profession as low-level, boring, incompetent, or lazy. However, we can transform education by shifting these incorrect narratives!
To improve the world’s perspective on teachers and thus alter how education is done, we need a Teacher PR Corps. This Corps could create articles, interviews with teachers, art, and short videos to capture slices of the best of what teaching is. These products would then be published in print and online publications that are read outside of the Education Sphere.
Our goal would be for people in other careers to be able to quickly and clearly digest the article or video, then smile and say something like, “Wow! I never knew that teachers were this fun, intellectual, creative, and important!” These pieces must add complexity and depth to the discussion of who teachers are, thus shifting how education is dealt with. Let us surmount the negativity and go beyond the cliches!
So what do you think? What ideas or suggestions do you have about a Teacher PR Corps?
The author, Lillie Marshall, is a 6-foot-tall National Board Certified Teacher of English from Boston who has been a public school educator since 2003. She launched TeachingTraveling.com in 2010 to share expert global education resources, and over 1.6 million readers have visited over the past decade. Lillie also runs AroundTheWorld L.com Travel and Life Blog, and DrawingsOf.com for educational art. Do stay in touch via subscribing to her monthly newsletter, and following @WorldLillie on social media!
Anil Sahu
Sunday 13th of October 2013
Very nice and interesting post. I like it very much. Your ideas are very valuable. Such ideas have a great potential to improve the education. Thanks a lot.
Andrew Campbell
Monday 19th of August 2013
I like the idea but suggest we seek guidance/input from PR professionals. We don't like it when non-educators assume they know our profession, so let's respect the work of the PR professionals. In addition, PR, when done badly can actually make things worse. Let's try and make sure we know what we're doing.
Lillie of TeachingTraveling.com
Monday 19th of August 2013
I totally agree! We are in the process of hiring one with a small grant received. Do join the Facebook group if you haven't - https://www.facebook.com/groups/TeacherPRCorps/ - and share more great ideas! :)
Lillie of TeachingTraveling.com
Monday 19th of August 2013
We now have a Facebook group for the Teacher PR Corps! Request to join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TeacherPRCorps/
Bernadine
Friday 2nd of August 2013
Thank you for initiating this project idea. I would love to be a part of this group to start brainstorming and implementing some ways to let others know and understand more about the work we do. If we show that we value and love our career, others will begin to do the same. Please email me. Thank you:)
Lillie of TeachingTraveling.com
Friday 2nd of August 2013
Will do!
Steve Zemelman
Saturday 27th of July 2013
Lillie-- Your proposal for a teachers' PR Corps is just what I'm hoping to promote at http://teachersspeakup.com -- so I wrote a post about your effort just now. I hope you'll take a look at my website blog for this kind of effort -- though you may already have done so. We should discuss how we can support one another.
I see two big challenges: 1) Many teachers really hesitate to toot their own horn, not realizing how essential it is for us to re-brand ourselves after all the negativity about teachers and public education. And 2) It's really hard to find or create media outlets that actually get our stories out to a wider audience. One effort I'm working on now is a TEDx event here in Chicago to get some more teacher stories onto YouTube. More on that to come.
--Steve Zemelman
Lillie of TeachingTraveling.com
Sunday 28th of July 2013
Such good points! I will be in touch...