Unconventional Wisdom: A Talking Blog by Steve Saenz

Take A Stand for Teachers!

9/28/2012

Please pardon my brashness but, you know what? I don't give a flying flip about substitute referees in the NFL. Know what I care about? Teachers. You know why I care about teachers? Because without good teachers we are toast. The very worst problems we face, as a nation and as a civilization, are a direct result of poor education. Poverty, Intolerance, Terrorism and War largely exist because a significant portion of the world's population, including millions of Americans, are illiterate and/or badly misinformed.

I don't care if you are a Democrat, a Republican or if your great great great grandfather took part in the Boston Tea Party, himself. I don't care if you are black, white or glow in the dark; and I really don't care if you speak Spanish or Swahili. If you care about the future; if you care about your kids; heck, if you care about the future of the NFL; you should take a stand for teachers!

Click on this image to send e-cards to teachers you know

October 5 is World Teacher's Day > Watch + Learn + Share

"On this day, we call for teachers to receive supportive environments, adequate quality training as well as ‘safeguards’ for teachers’ rights and responsibilities...We expect a lot from teachers – they, in turn, are right to expect as much from us. This World Teachers’ Day is an opportunity for all to take a stand." ~ Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General

Click on image to download poster size

Challenges

An estimated 5.4 million more teachers are required to reach Universal Primary Education by 2015. While recruiting new teachers, the quality of teaching and learning must also be improved and schools should be supported in their efforts to attract qualified teachers. The challenge of quantity must be met head-on, while ensuring quality and equity.

WTD Official Proclamation
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File Type:	pdf

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World Teachers’ Day is an opportunity to examine issues facing teachers on the national and regional levels from an international perspective and to measure the progress made by national teachers in a global context. A truly international perspective necessitates that all countries accept and celebrate World Teachers’ Day on 5 October.

"There are one billion people who have never felt the power and privilege of literacy. There are hundreds of millions of children who have never seen a book, smelled a book or heard a story and THAT IS NOT OK!" ~ Angela Maiers

YOU MATTER!

On March 9 of this year, Angela Maiers, the award-winning teacher who appears in the video to the right, led World Read Aloud Day. She and her team organized a 24-hour virtual event that connected 66 countries, 88,000 individuals and over 600 classrooms during which they used the power of story as away to connect our humanity.

In less time than it takes to watch a halftime show you can watch Angela's life-changing presentation which she gave at a TEDx event earlier this year. If you want to make a difference, all you have to do is share this with everyone you know and encourage them to do the same. Choose2Care!

You Matter by Angela Maiers (presentation text)
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"We were created for significance and one of the most dangerous things that can happen to us as individuals, as organizations and as communities – is to get the feeling that we don’t matter."
~ Angela Maiers

World Teacher's Day Celebrations > Interactive Map

Register your celebration for World Teachers' Day 2012 and share your plans with other people that might be interested in participating or promoting this important day!
Enregistrez votre célébration de la Journée mondiale des enseignants 2012 et partagez vos plans avec d'autres personnes qui pourraient être intéressées d'y participer ou de les promouvoir!

Click on the map above to submit a World Teacher's Day celebration

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Interactive

Official Site of World Teacher's Day 2012
World Teacher's Day Map [submit your celebration]

Background

Previous editions: 2011 | 2010 | 2009
Frequently Asked Questions

Documents

UNESCO recommendations: EN | FR | SP | AR | RU | CH | PO
Global Demand for Primary Teachers (PDF)
UNESCO Teachers Strategy
UNESCO Strategy on Teachers (2012 -2015) (PDF)
Toolkit on teacher codes of conduct (IIEP)

Click to download poster

3 Comments

Steve Saenz link

9/29/2012 12:37:47 am

So, I woke up this morning wondering what the world would be like if Americans devoted as much time and money to our education system as they do to sports. If they revered (and paid) teachers as much as they do sports superstars. What if every parent reallocated the time they spend watching football this weekend to reading or doing homework with their kids. Seriously, I would like answers to these questions.

It occurs to me that we (our society) are largely responsible for the many woes we lament about. It also occurs to me that this has little, if anything, to do with politics.

I find it very ironic that Americans cherish excellence in every walk of life (and profess to be the the world's greatest power) yet we tolerate mediocrity in the very institution that is largely responsible for a child's propensity to achieve excellence in life.

Please stop tolerating mediocrity. Take a stand for teachers. If it means watching one less football game this weekend so be it.

Bob Cohn

9/29/2012 02:49:42 am

Steve,
I taught for years, sat on curriculum committees, and concerned myself about education. And I am sure that we have failwd our educational system. As you suggest, the problems in our schools begin in our homes. I have no patience with teachers who retire in the job, but i understand how draining it can be when what the teacher is trying ot do in the class room is undercut and unsupported at home and by the society as a whole. It reflects an attitude shift in our society, which only leadership can correct, and I don't have an answer, but I believe that it illustrates one of the biggest problems with democracy - that we get exactly what we deserve.

This is not very helpful, but it's the best I can do.

9/30/2012 03:52:20 am

In an effort to strengthen my "stand" for teachers I went to a local watering hole yesterday afternoon. Like all bars worth their hops, theses guys have big screens on every available inch of wall and ceiling space. Every game of note was on.

As luck would have it, FSU was playing and I sat next to an elementary teacher at the bar. I kid you not. She was a hard core Seminole fan. Two important take-away's from my Saturday afternoon field research:

1. I am getting old. When I told the teacher I attended FSU when Deion Sanders was playing there she said, "Damn, you're old!"

2. People watch college football with a level of focus, attention and enthusiasm that has no rival, if you will pardon the pun.

I go back to my original premise (question) which is, Can you imagine what the world would be like if we could channel all that energy and the amount if money spent on football tickets and tailgating toward working with children and improving our education system?

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Take A Stand for Teachers!

October 5 is World Teacher's Day > Watch + Learn + Share

"There are one billion people who have never felt the power and privilege of literacy. There are hundreds of millions of children who have never seen a book, smelled a book or heard a story and THAT IS NOT OK!" ~ Angela Maiers

"We were created for significance and one of the most dangerous things that can happen to us as individuals, as organizations and as communities – is to get the feeling that we don’t matter."
~ Angela Maiers

World Teacher's Day Celebrations > Interactive Map

Explore More...

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Take A Stand for Teachers!

October 5 is World Teacher's Day > Watch + Learn + Share

"There are one billion people who have never felt the power and privilege of literacy. There are hundreds of millions of children who have never seen a book, smelled a book or heard a story and THAT IS NOT OK!" ~ Angela Maiers

"We were created for significance and one of the most dangerous things that can happen to us as individuals, as organizations and as communities – is to get the feeling that we don’t matter."~ Angela Maiers

World Teacher's Day Celebrations > Interactive Map

Explore More...

Leave a Reply.

RAMBLE ON

Archives

Tags

"We were created for significance and one of the most dangerous things that can happen to us as individuals, as organizations and as communities – is to get the feeling that we don’t matter."
~ Angela Maiers