You know I love twitter, the people I follow have given me help, advice, resources, a smile and even non-educational chatfrom time to time but I've not always been a twitterer. Before I started uni I would read through forum posts giving advice for potential student teachers. When you are waiting on beginning teacher training you want as much information and advice as possible. It becomes a need. Yet sometimes on such teacher forums you will come across a certain negativity and that is what has sparked this post.
Every so often a tweet will appear highlighting forum posts that seem negative and today this happened. This prompted me to air the idea that there are two types of teacher on the internet. When asked to explain this further my initial reaction was to call the UN for diplomacy advice but then I started to think about it in more depth. This is what I really love about twitter, the challenge that others in my network give me. Rather than a quick tweet response I asked for thinking time and thought about it.
Thinking hasn't changed my mind about the idea that there are two distinct groups of teacher on the internet. When there are two groups of people with a shared passion, in this case teaching, there will always be crossovers there are those who sit in the middle but at either end there are the polar opposites. The unfortunate truth is that on reading many posts on teaching forums there is a high level of what may be considered negativity particularly toward new ideas. I don't believe that this is a result of an innate negativity on behalf of the poster but rather from a wariness about things that are unknown to them. Wariness can cause fear. Fear of additional responsibility, fear that your skills will not match requirements and a fear of being left behind.
On the whole a well built twitter network is a supportive, encouraging place where you are challenged to develop your thinking to new levels. To date I have never had a negative response to anything I have said, nor have I felt silly for asking a question which has an obvious answer. More importantly I have never seen this happen with anyone in my network (and I spend a lot of time on twitter). The sad thing is I have read responses on forums that were far from supportive including scoffing at typing errors.
One of the main differences is that twitter is more instantaneous and far more conversational. Forums do not have this feature. I really hope that as twitter attracts more and more teachers those who are wary will embrace the positive ethos and leave the negative thoughts unaired.
What do you think, are there two types of teacher on the internet?
I agree. It happens a lot more on forums such as the TES than it does on Twitter. I used to spend a lot of time on the TES but now hardly any, for that reason. Twitter is very supportive and overwhelmingly positive, no matter, as you say, what is being discussed.
ReplyDeleteYou could also say that as far as the forums are concerned, there are two types of teacher using them. One is proactive and puts things up there for people to share, the other is there only to take whatever they can. The MFL pages in particular have turned into an "I want" forum instead of the "Thought you might like to try" forum that it used to be.
I understand now & agree! I do think people are wary of 'new' but twitter can really help. If approached with a fairly open mind it can be so beneficial inb so many ways! Thanks for writing it down! Great post! I'm The Heads Office!
ReplyDeleteI also get comments about my blog on twitter and I have taken the following from there:
ReplyDelete"I think being a teacher is like being in a 'fun house' the walls, windows etc all look normal, but the floor is always moving.
Some teachers enjoy the ride, others are ok to start with but then get giddy/ tired/ disorientated. Some hate it from the start because they thought they were going into a 'normal' house, as thats what it looked like from the outside.
Me? I like the ride! But also knowing when to stay put or when to move to another room is a skill to develop to keep enjoying it."
@TaughtTus
@knikidavies
ReplyDeleteSometimes you fall in the ball pit and end up floundering around, sometimes punchbags hit you in the face. There are funny mirrors that make you look different to how you thought you did (IE observations!!!)
But generally there are a lot of smiles and laughs and fun!