How to inspire a teacher...

Photo by Nathan Lemon on Unsplash

While looking through some resources for the second module of my PIDP course I came across a TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson titled "How to Escape Education's Death Valley" and I would like to share some of my notes and quotes from the talk. These notes and quotes roughly follow the order of the video, which I shall also link so you can watch it yourself.

You may be worried at first that you are watching a stand-up comic perform as Sir Ken is a very funny speaker and has the crowd laughing along within seconds, and this is something that appealed to me right away. I strive to bring humor into my teaching and I think Sir. Ken is a great role model for this.

So have a watch of the video below, read my notes too, and let me know what you think by commenting on this post!

Human beings are naturally different and diverse.

Curiosity. If you can light the spark of curiosity in a child they will learn without any further assistance, very often.

Teaching is not a delivery profession. You’re not there just to pass on received information. Great teachers do that but great teachers also mentor, stimulate, provoke, engage.

If nobody is learning then [you] may be engaged in the task of teaching but not actually fulfilling it.

The role of a teacher is to facilitate learning.

Testing is important but often it obstructs learning.

Human life is inherently creative.

High-performing systems individualize teaching and learning. They recognize that it is students who are learning and the system has to engage them, their curiosity, their individuality, and their creativity.

They place a high value on teachers. You have to support and allow for professional development. Investing in professional development is not a cost, it’s an investment.

They devolve responsibility to the school level for getting the job done. Education happens in classrooms and schools and not in the meeting rooms of the government. Teachers and students need their discretion to keep on learning.

Education policy is based on mechanistic conceptions of education. Education is not a mechanical system it is a human system.