How does this help children? I LOVE this question, but it used to scare me. From time to time school administrators will look at what Brave Teachers offers and they think it might be nice for teachers, but we are here for the kids. That leads them to ask, "How does this help children?"
It helps students in more ways than we can count! But that is part of the problem. Many of the benefits are qualitative and not so quantitative. The benefits of Brave Teachers for students is qualitative. The quality of their life and learning increases as the quality of their teachers life and learning increase. It's simple: When teachers are happy, their students are happy. When students are happy family and communities are happy. When families and communities are happy they rally around schools, and schools thrive.
I think about Brave Teachers like a favorite meal. When I think of a favorite meal I think about the place where I am, the people that I'm with, and the way the food is presented by the chef and servers. That is all before the taste and flavors that also make it memorable. I think about a meal I once had in the countryside of France. It was in a wine cellar with a back wall that had been a Roman fortification wall. It was mostly candlelit. I was with a group of people who loved to travel and experience new places. I was served amazing French food, and I sipped the most expensive glass of wine of my life. A decade later my memories transport me back to that meal. These are qualitative ways to view the meal.
The same meal could have started out with counting the steps from the hotel to the restaurant. I could have counted how many minutes we waited to be seated. I could have been told my the server the nutritional information about each dish--calories, protein, sugar, fats, vitamins, etc. I could have weighed each item when it arrived and recalculated the nutritional information. I could have focused on the alcohol content in the wine or the cost per sip. This is a completely valid way to eat. In fact I know people who have lost hundreds of pounds and become healthy eating this way. This is a quantitative way to view the meal.
For some reason the powers that be have turned everything in education into the quantitative to such an extent that most of the qualitative has been completely removed for teachers and students. This unbalanced approach is hurting both students and teachers. Morale is low--the lowest I've ever seen. Older teachers are holding on for retirement, and younger teachers are wondering if this is really what they signed up to do. {Most are leaving the profession in less than three years.}
I think of Brave Teachers as a more balanced and holistic view of teaching and learning. I strive to encourage and empower teachers to care for themselves--mind, body, and spirit. And then they can turn around and care for their students--mind, body, and spirit. Their students are so much more than numbers or test scores. They are human beings.
As I refocus on writing the book, The Transformational Classroom, I am finding it to be a REVOLUTIONARY manual of self care for teachers AND classroom management for how they meet and teach ALL students. I believe teachers are going to be EMPOWERED to be the BEST teacher they can possible be for their students.
And THAT is how Brave Teachers benefits students!
++++++
I am SO grateful for people who are supporting and encouraging me in this journey. HUGE THANKS!
If you want to join that amazing and merry band of people here are two ways:
It helps students in more ways than we can count! But that is part of the problem. Many of the benefits are qualitative and not so quantitative. The benefits of Brave Teachers for students is qualitative. The quality of their life and learning increases as the quality of their teachers life and learning increase. It's simple: When teachers are happy, their students are happy. When students are happy family and communities are happy. When families and communities are happy they rally around schools, and schools thrive.
I think about Brave Teachers like a favorite meal. When I think of a favorite meal I think about the place where I am, the people that I'm with, and the way the food is presented by the chef and servers. That is all before the taste and flavors that also make it memorable. I think about a meal I once had in the countryside of France. It was in a wine cellar with a back wall that had been a Roman fortification wall. It was mostly candlelit. I was with a group of people who loved to travel and experience new places. I was served amazing French food, and I sipped the most expensive glass of wine of my life. A decade later my memories transport me back to that meal. These are qualitative ways to view the meal.
The same meal could have started out with counting the steps from the hotel to the restaurant. I could have counted how many minutes we waited to be seated. I could have been told my the server the nutritional information about each dish--calories, protein, sugar, fats, vitamins, etc. I could have weighed each item when it arrived and recalculated the nutritional information. I could have focused on the alcohol content in the wine or the cost per sip. This is a completely valid way to eat. In fact I know people who have lost hundreds of pounds and become healthy eating this way. This is a quantitative way to view the meal.
For some reason the powers that be have turned everything in education into the quantitative to such an extent that most of the qualitative has been completely removed for teachers and students. This unbalanced approach is hurting both students and teachers. Morale is low--the lowest I've ever seen. Older teachers are holding on for retirement, and younger teachers are wondering if this is really what they signed up to do. {Most are leaving the profession in less than three years.}
I think of Brave Teachers as a more balanced and holistic view of teaching and learning. I strive to encourage and empower teachers to care for themselves--mind, body, and spirit. And then they can turn around and care for their students--mind, body, and spirit. Their students are so much more than numbers or test scores. They are human beings.
As I refocus on writing the book, The Transformational Classroom, I am finding it to be a REVOLUTIONARY manual of self care for teachers AND classroom management for how they meet and teach ALL students. I believe teachers are going to be EMPOWERED to be the BEST teacher they can possible be for their students.
And THAT is how Brave Teachers benefits students!
++++++
I am SO grateful for people who are supporting and encouraging me in this journey. HUGE THANKS!
If you want to join that amazing and merry band of people here are two ways:
- Become a patron of this amazing endeavor at my Patreon Page
- Buy art and other stuff I make HERE
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