Hey Jose,
I hope you, Barnett, Emily, Cindi, and Ariel had a great session today at the Celebration of Teaching and Learning in NYC. I know there was a lot going on. I have been engaging in some discussions about Teaching 2030 in an online book discussion. There has been a lot of jostling in the community about the idea of a teacherpreneur. I think it is an idea that is so new that it has not come to it’s final meaning yet. I believe teacherpreneurs offer the education community a great deal of benefit. The idea keeps coming back to, “I’m not in it for the money.” I don’t think that the essence of teacherpreneurism is money, I think it is leadership and innovation that contributes to educational advancement. This contribution should be rewarded. I see it as sort of an evolution of teacher leader. I came up with the image below to offer a metaphor to talk about while we try to figure out these ideas. I would love to get your opinion and the rest of the educational community’s ideas about this image.
Can teacherpreneurs and teacher leaders be on the same team? Is a teacher leader who gets paid a stipend for developing local curriculum on a Saturday different than a teacherpreneur? Does being a teacherpreneur depend on a degree of expertise or can any teacher, no matter how effective, be a teacherpreneur? Has education been a “for-profit” business and teachers working as “hired help”, as Renee Moore would say, for over a hundred years? These are some tough questions. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts.
If you have never considered the idea of teacherpreneur check out this article in Teacher Magazine for some more explanation of the ideas in the Teaching 2030 book.
Take care,
John
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Dear John,
In your blog about ” teacherpreneur” you asked if a teacher leader could be a teacherpreneur at the same time.
In my readings on teacher leadership, and in my thirty five years as an educator, I would have to agree with Danielson, who says because of it’s informal and voluntary nature, teacher leadership represents the highest level of professionalism. Teacher leaders are not paid to do their work, they go the extra mile out of a sense of commitment. (Danielson, 2006).
In 1983 until 1985 I spent two years as a volunteer teacher, being paid only a stipend. I have to say the benefits that came with that project, far exceeded any dollar amount. Some things really are priceless.
Evelyn Canavan
I think it’s time to change the custom of teacher leadership as one of being unpaid. My school is in the process of revamping our salary structure to reflect different levels of leadership. Teachers, community stakeholders, and our principal are involved in this shift. We believe strongly that those who take on more responsibility at the school or community level should have that reflected in their pay.
For too many years, people have considered teachers who want to be compensated for their extra time and work to be sell-outs who aren’t there for the children. I think you can care deeply about improving education AND expect to be compensated well. As it is, there are teachers who qualify for food stamps and who are losing their homes. Why is martyrdom a prerequisite for professionalism?
I’m done. I give my all for my kids, but I’m not giving away my time and creations for free (except to my peers). As the saying goes, no one can mistreat you without your permission.
Ellen! Great to hear from you. I know you are doing and have done some outstanding things at your school. Maybe you would like to talk about them on here. Just send me an email.
There is a new phrase in teacher leadership, Not Afraid to Get Paid. (Renee Moore)
Thanks for your comment Evelyn.
Are saying that being a teacher leader is more professional than being a teacherpreneur? That is in an interesting point. I certainly did not begin my teacher leadership experience as a teacherpreneur. Over time though I have been lucky enough to be paid for some of the work I have done.
I wonder if there are other folks who agree or disagree who could offer some perspective?
Hi Evelyn,
I have added a link in the post to this article in teacher magazine to provide some more information about teacherpreneurs.
John,
You’ve done a terrific job of probing the differences between “Teacher Leader” and “Teacherpreneur.” I like money as much as the next person, but I wonder about the “non-profit v. for-profit” dichotomy.
By associating teacherpreneur with profit, we embrace a extrinsic reward model of education. The implication is that teachers would do more/better only if we were paid better. I certainly would like a higher salary, but I think we’ve got to focus on effective working conditions that help teachers flourish. Nor are many of our colleagues just plain “lazy.”
Besides, in order to garner “profit,” you have to exploit some resource. Is that a model we want for public education? If we insert profit into public education, then the goal becomes more about making money and less about fostering democratic habits of mind and body [& spirit.]
Why not just pay teachers really well for their important, child-rearing endeavors and elevate collaboration, creativity and critical thinking as our aims?
Fellow TLNer Gamal Sherif has posted his own take on the graphic above. Check out his post.
Hey Gamal. I don’t think I am proposing that teaching or education should be for profit. I am proposing that when it comes to teachers “owning” their profession,this is one way to think about it. I am firmly of the opinion that every educational reform has the potential for at least 5 times as much harm as good that is produces. That is why I think we need to play this out before anything changes.
There is also the idea of kids being learning entrepreneurs ie. owning their own learning.
I am not sure if I am for or against teacherpreneurism as a reform. I do know that I am one for better or worse. I became one by blogging about the benefits of Pre-K for all kids for Pre-K Now. I believe in everything I said there. I made a little bit of money and I think I contributed to the pre-k education in some way.
I have posted a follow-up to this on my personal blog with a video to help explain my perspective, at least when it comes to profit as a motivation for better teaching.
Folks, I am a teacherpreneur. I do a bit of policy work, teach online, work with kids face to face, and do some staff development. I cobbled together this odd mix based on my desire to have an impact beyond may classroom and a voice in policy, my skill in staff development and my desire to continue to teach kids every day. The idea of teacherpreneurs is that in some states over 50% of the paid staff (not including custodial/maintence and food service), never teaches a class full of kids. For example…there are talented TAG facilitators who could benefit (as could the kids) from their being in the classroom some of their day. Think if we asked all to teach and then to use a portion of their day in a way that benefits the mission and vision of the school and the kids. What we want is a new way to use the most valuable resource that our schools have…the teachers…in new ways that do not remove them from teaching kids. Currently if you want to have that impact you move to a position that removes you from teaching kids. Many of our best and brightest teachers are now working in offices totally removed from the students day to day. This, “if you want to move ahead in education you have to become an administrator and leave the classroom” is an idea that has produced some negative side effects. Teacherpreneurs is one way to remediate that and to give folks a way to use salary and or time as the curency for compensation.
Shannon Cde Baca
Shannon, on point.
Shannon et al.,
If the problem is that classroom teachers have little opportunity for professional growth or advancement, then why don’t we address that shortcoming through collaboration, negotiation, policy development and/or advocacy?
Lets’ create dynamic teacher leader positions that enrich learning. For example:
1) Districts should invite teachers to co-plan and facilitate professional development (and compensate them accordingly).
2) Negotiate teacher research positions so that teachers can teach 1/2 to 3/4 of their classes (or so) and use the remainder of their time for writing, advocacy, etc..
3) Structure site-based budgeting so that a) all teachers understand the budget, and b) those with an interest can get involved in crafting smart use of funds.
4) Create job-sharing options for classroom teachers so that we can pursue consulting opportunities.
It seems to me that those advocating for teacherprenuership have many of the same goals as those who advocate for teacher leadership, such as those listed above.
Yet teacherpreneurship opens the door to privatization and for-profit models of public education. The problem is that teachers have been marginalized, and teacherpreneurship is, I believe, an off-point response.
If “social entrepreneurs” are alternatives to “entrepreneurs,” then who or what are “teacherpreneurs” an alternative to? What does “teacherpreneurship” say about teachers?