Make Teaching (not education) Attractive
As an upcoming Global education consultant, someone I will refer to as "random guy" booked a free call with me at www.edagogyuganda.com This is how our conversation took shape.
Random Guy: How can we improve education in our country?
Paul Naigo, Make teaching attractive.
Random Guy: How can we do that?
Paul Naigo, Tell me, what careers are attractive?
Random Guy: Oh, medical fields, engineering…
Paul Naigo, You seem to be leaning towards STEM careers. Any others?
Random Guy: Sure! Business management, law—there are quite a number.
Paul Naigo, What makes those careers attractive?
Random Guy: (pauses, takes a deep breath) They admit the best at university and invest heavily in their training.
Paul Naigo, Sound attractive, tell me more?
Random Guy: Well, once they graduate, they earn good salaries.
Paul Naigo, Does management micromanage them, dictating every little step they take?
Random Guy: (with sharp & high-pitched voice) Oh no, that would be dangerous!
Paul Naigo What do you mean?
Random Guy: (with serious facial expression) Very dangerous! Patients would die, buildings would collapse—you don’t want to micromanage those professionals!
Paul Naigo Have you ever thought the same could happen when people outside education dictate what teachers should do?
Random Guy: Maybe… not sure.
Paul Naigo, Imagine you need a bridge built or a loved one treated, & you hear that the engineer or doctor barely made it into university, was trained with minimal resources, and takes advice from anyone just to keep their job.
Random Guy: (cuts in sharply) Stop! That already sounds terrible.
Paul Naigo, (smiles) I’m not done. Imagine that same person is so desperate, they’ll work for any amount of money.
Random Guy: Seriously!
Paul Naigo But what if such a person somehow gets the job?
Random Guy: Who would even hire them?
Paul Naigo, Schools do. More than 50% of us fit that description.
Random Guy: That sounds like you’re half-baked and don’t even like your job. Maybe you and your colleagues should just quit teaching.
Paul Naigo, That’s not accurate, we aren't the problem.
Random Guy: Now you’re being defensive.
Paul Naigo, No. We (together) just need to make teaching attractive. That way, we don’t end up hiring the kind of professional I just described
Random Guy: You mean the one who builds bad bridges and puts patients at risk?
Paul Naigo, Exactly. You don’t want teachers to “kill” students, right?
Random Guy: But no student has died
Paul Naigo, And that’s the problem with failed education—the damage isn’t always immediate, so people don’t take teachers seriously.
How did I do as an upcoming Global consultant?
I help teachers enjoy the teaching journey, from their first day in class to the day they retire. Let’s make teaching attractive!
Activate to view larger image,